What's The Correct Call ???

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

Even if the rules specifically state that you can't travel unless you're actually holding the ball, you'd still call traveling because you think it's an unfair advantage.

Got it.

And good luck with that philosophy. You're gonna need it.

You bet I am.

As I said, we have at least TWO case plays that result in traveling when a player is not holding the ball. One is 4.44.5B as cited above and the other is case play (don't have my books with me) where a player tosses the ball from hand to hand (not holding the ball) and the ruling is that it is not a travel as long as the pivot foot doesn't move in the process (implying that it is a travel if the pivot foot does move).

These two cases clearly establish the principle that is desired by the NFHS. Most people should be able to extrapolate a few existing case plays to what happens on the floor without needing a case play for every possible variation. It is called understanding the spirit and intent of the rule and intelligently applying the rules, not blindly following the letter of the rule.