Curious. If the shooter had started his shot, couldn't the shot have been counted, even though the whistle blew before the release? Or is the ball dead at the whistle, even if the ball was in the air?

Adam

Re: An inadvertent whistle
 

I must commend the ref for owning up to his error and moving on with the game rather than trying to BS his way out of it.

Nope.
An inadvertant whistle makes the ball dead unless the ball is in flight on a try/tap.

The only other case where the ball remains live after the whistle is when there is a defensive foul commited while offense was in the act of shooting.

I know I have called this correctly, most the time. I had several outstanding officials watch me. I studied many tapes of mine and watch videos with other officials whom I know call it correctly. I premise this because everytime I make the call, coaches tell me that no one calls it lioke I do.. They appreciate that I reward the team with who plays legal defense. But you stick out like a sore thumb, most high school offcials don't know how to call it correctly. In college Div III and NAIA, about 50% get it right and it gets better as you move on up. That has been my experience

Ok, what if a Defensive player stands straight up arms over head and jumps straight up, while in the air the ballhandler jumps into the defensive player on a try for goal and knocks him backward. Anything?

...Trick question?
If the defender is legal, we shouldn't nail him.
With regard to the ball handler, we should judge if the contact was enough to call.

mick