I had a situation occur the other evening during a game following NF rules.

While A1 was dribbling she lost control of the ball. The ball bounced higher than her normal dibble and while she was attempting to regain control of the ball she took two steps since the ball was now several feet in front of her. From what I recall, her hand never left the ball and she never touched the ball with both hands to end the dribble nor did she carry the ball (palm upward). A1 regained control and drove to the basket to score. Would this be considered a travel or an interrupted dribble? Please state the rule or case reference.

Thank you for your input.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Geneva">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by secondyear:
I had a situation occur the other evening during a game following NF rules.

While A1 was dribbling she lost control of the ball. The ball bounced higher than her normal dibble and while she was attempting to regain control of the ball she took two steps since the ball was now several feet in front of her. From what I recall, her hand never left the ball and she never touched the ball with both hands to end the dribble nor did she carry the ball (palm upward). A1 regained control and drove to the basket to score. Would this be considered a travel or an interrupted dribble? Please state the rule or case reference.

Thank you for your input. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Secondyear,
I think I understand your question, but I'm a little confused by the description of your scenario. If the ball was several feet in front of her, how is it that her hand never left the ball? And if her hand never left the ball then how is it an interrupted dribble. If the ball got away from her, even momentarily, then it is an interrupted dribble even if she immediately regained control. The fact that it may have been an interrupted dribble though, is of little relevance in determining what to call or not call in this situation. If she never touched the ball with both hands, then it is not a double-dribble. If she did not carry the ball with palms upward, then it is not a carry violation. It is not a travel violation for 2 reasons: If she didn't have both hands on the ball or didn't have her palms upward then she either, 1)didn't have possession of the ball and therefore could not travel, or 2) she had possession and was dribbling, and by rule you cannot travel during a dribble. Either way, I see no violation. So count the bucket and keep on playing.
I don't have my rulebooks with me right now so I can't quote you the rule references but I hope this helps clarify this situation.

Your response helps. I find the situation difficult to discribe, but as I have thought more about the way it occured it probably was a travel. When the player lost control of the ball(off the dribble - the ball was probably shoulder high) the player went to retrieve the ball and in doing so they had their hand on the top of the ball and then took a couple of steps before they were able to control the ball again and re-start their dribble. In that sense I believe that it is a travel since the ball was resting in one hand of the player (even though it wasn't a carry). I would love to have seen a replay, but that isn't possible at this point. In the future I will have to take more care to identify the travel.

I have my casebook here at the office but do not have my rule book (left it in the fieldhouse)It is not addressed in either section 4.15.1, Dribble, nor 4.42, Travel. As long as the hand remains on top of the ball there is no travel regardless the number of steps taken between dribbles.