Time out, no possession
 

Middle school game between two historically heated rivals. Two opposing players on the floor after a loose ball. A1 is sitting upright with his legs in a "V" and the ball winds up between his legs with neither of his hands on the ball. He verbally requests time-out and I grant it. My "flash reasoning" is he has the ball "collected" AND, the next thing to happen will be really ugly. Did Yours Truly err? Would you have granted the TO request?

Sure -- grant the TO after you whistle the violation for a kicked ball.

Absolutely correct. That is a kicked ball and grant the timeout

-Josh

Nothing in the OP says there was a kicked ball. If there was one was it intentional

You beat me to it.

Sorry, gents. As you know, things happen quickly in our game. The ball was never held between the legs or purposely touched by the legs of A1.

Then you should not have granted the time-out.

Then it wasn't "collected" as you indicated in your first post.

Follow up...
 

Just so I can get this straight in my brain...if the ball ends up between someone's legs, and he/she brings his/her knees together to "collect" the ball, then we've got a violation for kicked ball?

Intentional contact, with one's legs, on the ball
 

The general understanding is that any intentional contact with the ball, using one's legs, is considered a "kick." Such contact is often seen as a "non-basketball action."
Recently, a player, sitting on the floor, put his leg on top of the ball, to control it, when he saw that an opponent was about to grab the ball. I called the violation, to the great disapproval of many of the fans, who voiced their opinion that, "That wasn't a kick!" . . . Smile, throw-in for the other team. Game continues.

Nicely done!

Interesting. Post a situation. Don't like the response. Change the situation. Hmmmm.

Did he or did he not contact the ball intentionally with his legs. If yes - kicked ball. If no, then how did he have the ball "collected" without having it in his hands?

Yes, you erred... we just don't know which way yet.

To simplify the thread.

Yes, you erred either by granting the time-out or by not calling a kicked ball.

Lesson learned, on to the next one.

Thank you!!!

It's essential not to read too much into what someone says and just read their words. The OP never changed the scenario. You (and others) just read it wrong. The OP never said the ball was being controlled by, or touched by, the player's legs.

"Winds up" sounds like the ball must have bounced there and come to a rest, without any action by the player's legs.

Then he went on to clarify the same point, and still people are misunderstanding.

I have no kicking violation on this play.

But, no timeout should have been granted either, as the player did not have possession of the ball. The ball resting between the player's legs does not constitute player control, any more than a ball sitting next to a player on the floor does.

No timeout. No kicking violation.