Backcourt Violations

[DougW]

A friend and I disagree on whether or not this is a backcourt violation. " Team A moves the ball from the backcourt to the frontcourt and clearly establishes it in the frontcourt. Team B double teams the Team A's point guard at midcourt and he begins to dribble backwards from the front court to the backcourt. His feet cross the midcourt line but the ball never does. He continues to dribble the ball in the front court while his feet are in the backcourt". I say as soon as his feet come in contact with or cross the midcourt line it is a backcourt violation. My friend says it is dependent upon where the ball is. In his interpretation if the ball never crosses into the backcourt it isn't a violation. Whose right?

[Jake80]

NFHS 4-4-1. "A ball which is in contact with a player or with the court is in the backcourt if either the ball or the player is touching the backcourt." The division line is part of the backcourt. The player is touching the division line and the ball = backcourt violation

[hawkk]

Your friend may be confused with the three point rule that applies to a dribbler moving into the front court -- a dribbler is not in the front court until both feet AND the ball are in the front court. But once the ball is in the front court, the midcourt line is essentially an OOB line for the offense -- foot or ball is a violation. (Of course, if B is the last to touch before the ball touches in the backcourt, than A could recover as a dribbler and the three point rule would come back into effect.)

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by hawkk
But once the ball is in the front court, the midcourt line is essentially an OOB line for the offense -- foot or ball is a violation. (Of course, if B is the last to touch before the ball touches in the backcourt, than A could recover as a dribbler and the three point rule would come back into effect.)

The center line isn't really like an OOB line.It's not a violation if the ball touches the line.The ball is still alive.It's only a violation if an A player is the first player to touch the ball after it touches the center line.Anybody on tean B can legally get the ball in this case.
Just a very slight difference to your analogy.