I just wanted a ? answered by a pro if you possibly can. The question is - if a player on offense shoots an air ball (hits nothing and is unblocked) can he or she pick it up or catch it and shoot it again or is that traveling? I had someone explain to me that if the ref judged it a legit shot attempt and not a pass, that you could grab the air ball and shoot agin or pass it AS long as you DON"T put it back down on the floor again. Can you please help me? Thank you for your time and consideration!

I got it guys :)

High School and NCAA: Catching your own airball is completely legal. You can catch it, then dribble, pass, shoot or request time-out.

NBA: Illegal. Traveling.

All levels: You now owe BktballRef $5!! :D

Chuck

You can also just hold the ball(as long as you are not closely guarded or in the lane)until the quarter ends,the universe implodes upon itself,or the Bosox win a World Series--whichever comes first!

Welcome to the board,Brooklyn.

[Edited by Jurassic Referee on Nov 4th, 2002 at 02:45 AM]

Like Chuck said:

The pro ruling on this situation would be a traveling violation.

If you want reference to it, the rule appears on pg. 36 of the NBA rule book.

Rule 10, section XIV, part i
A player who attempts a field goal may not be the first to touch the ball if it fails to touch the backboard, basket ring, or another player.

LOL. Boston Globe headline, say, 3 billion years in the
future:

Sox Win Series! Babe's curse finally broken!

In a related story, hell freezes over...

Mayor Sez Big Dig Still Years From Completion...

In NFHS rules, the player may certainly regain possession and do anything: dribble, shoot again, pass. The reason for this is that a when a shot occurs both player and team control ends. The ballis then up for grabs by any team. The difficult part is deciding if it was indeed a shot on goal and this is a judgement call by the official.