Rule 6-4
 

A question came up in our crew last night in regards to whether or not to switch the alternating possesion arrow. The situation is below:

Jump ball is called
Team A is inbounding the ball and the ball is kicked by Team B on the throw-in

Question was whether or not Team A should retain the possession arrow after the throw-in by Team A or if the possession arrow still switches to Team B after the throw-in by Team A??

Any thoughts/clairifcation on this would be appreciated.

Team A keeps the arrow. The very next throwin after the "kick" whistle is for the violation of kicking the ball. I keep this straight by thinking, Team B needs to be "punished" for kicking the ball. Team B's punishment in this case is A gets a non AP throwin. 6-4-4

See casebook play 4.42.5

Thanks Loudwhistle. That is what we ended up doing, much to the chagrine of Team B's Head Coach.

Another situation related to this topic:

Jump ball is called and it is Team A's possession
Team A is inbounding the ball and throws it off of the backside of the backboard.
Team B is awarded the ball due to Team A throwing the ball off the backside of the backboard.

Does Team A retain the possession arrow in this situation or is it switched to Team B after Team B's throw-in??

A really easy way to keep this straight is simply to remember the rule for when the arrow changes. The arrow only changes if one of two things happens:

1) The alternating possession throw-in is completed; or
2) The throw-in team commits a throw-in violation.

That's it. That's the list.

So now the question in your original post becomes a very easy one. Was the AP throw-in completed? No, because it was not touched LEGALLY inbounds. So the arrow doesn't change. And since the ensuing throw-in is the result of a violation and not a held ball, the arrow won't change after that throw-in either.

Keep that very simple list in mind, and you'll never have to wonder about whether to switch the arrow.

With reference to the very easy list I mentioned above, what would your answer be? :)

We did look at the rule book after our game and were a bit confused by the rule, in that it states, "The throw-in ends when the ball TOUCHES or is legally touched by another player inbounds." In theory it TOUCHED a player inbounds. That is where the confusion came from. Thanks again for the replies!!

6-4-5 basically says if the throwin team violates on an ap throwin they lose the arrow. In your case above, its a violation to hit the back of the backboard.

Thanks Scrapper!! I didn't see your post before I posted the 2nd situation. Very helpful!!

The difference between "ball touches" and "is legally touched" has to do with which one is the active party.

Example: A player is touched by the ball when it bounces off their back when they don't see it coming...or bounces off their leg/foot but it is not a kick.

A player touches the ball when they intentionally make contact with the ball.

As posted in another thread you need to remember that a AP throw-in is not the same as a throw-in.