Travel or Not (with video)
 

Long time reader and just starting to be a first time poster.

Been a basketball official for about 13 years now and making my climb up the proverbial ladder. One of the college level camps I went to a summer or two ago really stressed the value of film in improving your game but also how to break down film as well.

This clip below came from a BV game I worked during the Christmas break. Before I watched this game I wanted to check about 7-9 plays to make sure I got them right, but while doing so I came across this play which was not on my list and I didn't recall it until I watched the film.

I probably spent a good 15-20 minutes looking at this particular play. I'm the lead on the play and I initially thought it was right no-call/non-travel, however when I kept re-watching the play and slowing it down I'm pretty sure I missed the travel. Watch it and let me know if you agree....

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/y5CQRx9Uhf8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Ball secured with left foot down used to advance toward the goal. Travel when he steps again with that left foot.

Definitely a travel. Just something to look for in the future.

Both feet established new spots on the floor. Always a travel.

Yeah - it looks like you missed that one. It happens...the question to ask is "why" it happened. In no way am I trying to pick on you here, just maybe help you not miss that kind of play next time...it appears that you did not hustle to the end line to be in a position to see this play. On the near steal prior to this play, you hustled back, but then on the actual steal, you seemed to stop short of the position you needed to get to in order to referee this play. Making sure that doesn't happen again is way more important than whether or not you missed the travel, imho.

Thanks for sharing this - it's a lesson for all of us.

yeah I agree with what you said...I'm not too concerned about the missed travel, but you are right that my positioning wasn't great. I don't remember getting screened out on the play, but I needed to be deeper more. I noticed that when I first watched the DVD. Film defiantly doesn't lie!

It does look like a travel, but you cannot see the ball in this video to know when exactly he grabbed or controlled the pass. I cannot even say definitely which foot was the pivot based on this angle alone.

Peace

I think the rule of thumb should be, if you have to replay a scenario over and over and actually slow it down to determine what happened, stick with the original call.

Yeah, he traveled. But it was so close that probably nobody would have noticed it to begin with. Or at least nobody that was being honest about it anyway.

It also appears that you're looking up at the shot and not lower, where you should be looking.

First of all... I miss plenty of calls. I do my best but it happens.

The point I want to make is that we should not say it is okay or it happened to quickly to see. Most basketball plays happen quickly and we get paid the big bucks to see the play and make the call. It was a missed call and one team was mistakenly rewarded with 2 points. We should not berate the poster because it happens to all of us but it should be called and it is not okay to miss.

On a side note but on this subject. I have been thinking that on these types of inside scoring plays, possibly the 3 man mechanics should be updated so that the center, if not on the ball can look for travel calls while the on the ball lead would focus more on contact. Currently, the on ball ref needs to see contact as well as travel which is very difficult when there are multiple players around a ball handler driving to the basket. I realize this would put 2 refs on-ball in this situation but something really should be done about the rash of missed travel calls. I believe it was on this web site where I read about the huge number of missed travel calls in many state finals proving that this is a national problem.

The off-ball officials can and should always be involved in plays like you are talking about. We want the T or the C to pick up that travel call while the L is watching for the contact. So I am really not sure what point you are trying to make here.

Watching the video, this is a play C should have had.

Except that this game was in Oregon where they refuse to move to 3 person mechanics.

Ah, then it's a bit understandable. T's going to be further away. Although given what was happening, the T should have been staying a bit closer to the play.

True. And then could have helped with the travel call.

If I might add (without piling on...)

You were in position to see everything with the pressure, which was great, but you may not have anticipated a possible steal and then got caught flat-footed. When that 50/50 pass went up it seemed like there was a good chance it could get picked off.

If you - or any of us - isn't flat-footed on that play, we make it to the endline with no problem. If we make it to the endline, it would give us a chance to close down on the play and look across the lane at the other player as he came in for the lay-up. It doesn't guarantee catching the travel but it'll make it easier.

It would've been nice if the camera angle showed where the new L was but I doubt he/she would've been able to get into position to make a call regardless. At the time the pass was picked off six players were in the frontcourt so I'm figuring he/she would've at least been by the top of the three-point arc.

As a previous poster stated, you cannot see when he gained full possession of the ball in this play so its hard to make a true determination. Another thing to consider is whether or not the player gained an advantage from this. IMHO he did not. The defenders were out of position to do anything and I don't see this giving him an unfair advantage if he did indeed travel. I sure wouldn't be beating myself up over this one.

While I agree you can't quite tell from the angle, I would add that the OP also has his game memory, and it seems as if he remembers enough to add to the video and determine the player traveled.

I also disagree about the advantage. The offensive player used this (assumed) travel to get his feet under him to get his shot off more quickly. A dribble would have slowed him down slightly, and his shot would have been more awkward without moving that pivot foot. That's advantage enough, IMO; especially since a travel is still a travel even without an advantage.

The OPer was asking what our opinion was on the play, not to base his opinion on his memory alone. That is why I said it looks like a possible travel if the ball was caught cleanly, but that is not something I clearly see. I would not beat myself up over this kind of play on this angle unless I know for a fact there was no issue with possession. I would not even be surprised if on this play the coach or players even thought this was a travel based on their lack of knowledge or they splitting hairs over which foot was the pivot foot.

Peace

In the League the T is already picking up feet as the L has body contact & the C is prepared for the curl play. It's called Team Officiating. I doubt you'll see it in any HS books anytime soon as WE are too hung up on PCAs at that level. There are a few type of plays that the League require 2 sets of eyes on. There are 2 sides to a screen, aren't there? When you're working with likeminded individuals, I see nothing wrong with incorporating higher level philosophies for court coverage into any level game to make it better. Working HS games, sometimes the R wants double whistles to go to the L sometimes to T. Those are NCAA M&W philosophies in the HS game, right? Nevermind, I've said too much...