Rebound coverage
 

Working 3-person. Second of 2 free throws. I'm the trail, tableside.

The ball comes off the rim to the strong (officiating) side of the floor. The defense gets the ball and immediately gets bumped or jumps out of bounds right in front of the lead, who is probably (1) too close, through no fault of his own and (2) would probably never see a bump from behind.

I had stepped down on the free throw, but saw no bump as the angle I had put me in a position where I was looking through the back of the shooter's teammate who either (1) did or (2) did not bump the defender. I wasn't about to guess, so I had no whistle.

The visiting coach, at the other end of the floor with a very similar angle to me was fairly upset and when we ended up shooting free throws a few seconds later, the old L went back and had a l-o-n-g conversation with the coach.

One thing I'm certain, though, is this was no "two handed push in the back" as the coach (who could've never seen such a thing) claimed.

I'm thinking that the only person with an angle on this contact, provided it did happen, would've been the center, who would've had to come across the lane to get this right in front of the L. I would've had no problem with that, personally, as if there was contact that pushed the player out of bounds, it would've been better for anyone to get it. When we talked about this post-game, the C said it looked to him like the player jumped out on her own. I do not think I could've gotten deep enough and wide enough to get a good look at this myself.

A good official (football/softball, doesn't work basketball anymore) was at the game and when I ate breakfast with him this morning mentioned only this play as something that *might* have gotten missed, but even he wasn't sure.

Thoughts?

**** happens.

Did you type the asterisks or let the software do it for you? :D

You're probably right, BTW, as usual.

No film??

Bob said it best, **** Happens. (I typed the *)

My thought is that your buddy's question and the coach's reaction indicate it's a play you might want to reflect on. And guess what? During the postgame the crew did just that by discussing the play. Nothing more you can do. Lead straight-lined, C had a look and saw no contact, Trail was not in a position to see the play.

And on this type of play the C is going to have the best look so there definitely should be no qualms for him to get it if he saw a foul.

Nope. Not on this one.

I hate when theres a play I could use one more look at but cant :(

I don't have a problem with the C coming to get a foul there in that situation, precisely because s/he is probably the only one with a look through the play. If I'm the C in that situation, though, I think it has to be pretty obvious for me to come all that way to get it. It has to be that 2-hand push in the back (which you say clearly did not happen). Otherwise, I think I'm probably going to let the 2 guys who are right there live and die with it.

Typical coach response. Coaches think they have the miraculous ability to see through bodies much like Superman. I had a play last weekend where I was center and I was standing about a foot away from the visiting coach. We both had the same view of a big pile up of bodies across the lane and the lead called out of bounds due to the ball going off a visiting player's foot. He says to me, "didn't you see that foul?" I said all I could see was backs of bodies. I then asked him, "Who do you think committed a foul?" He says, "I don't know you're the ref!"

+1

Expanded version: 3 officials are better than 2, but some plays still occur where nobody gets a good look. That's not a good reason to start guessing based on the outcome. :shrug:

We get preached at that the T should never, ever call a rebounding foul in 3 man. Mainly because the angle you have and snipy pca guys.

Wow. Completely the opposite of what's usually taught (T&C should get most of the rebounding fouls; L should rarely have a rebounding foul)

I assumed he typed T when he meant L -- I could be wrong, though.

I sure hope not.