Intentionally throwing ball off face
 

I saw something like this in a recent post (player intentionally threw ball off the face of opponent laying on the sideline), but apparently I am having an off day and cannot seem to find it, so I will ask it to get a straight answer.

If a player is trying to save the ball from going out of bounds and intentionally throws it off an opponent's face, do you have anything?

I would think if the same were done during a dead ball such as an inbound you would probably have a technical, and done in retaliation for something you would have at minimum a tech, but if it were clearly and intentionally done during live ball would you have an intentional or a flagrant?

Casebook



10.3.6 SITUATION B:

A1 has the ball out of bounds for a designated spot throw-in. B1 is putting great pressure on and the count is at four seconds when A1 throws the ball and it strikes B1's face. The ball rebounds from B1's face directly out of bounds.

RULING: The administering official will have to make a decision based upon a number of observations. Was the throw-in to B1's face purely accidental or was it a voluntary, planned act? Was the ball contact caused by the movement of the defender? Was the act of a an unsporting nature? The administering official must be aware that players often react negatively in situations where they are *frustrated or are retaliating for something which happened earlier in the game.

Thanks, yea that's what I'm talking about but they conveniently leave any actual ruling out of the ruling.

First thought, a throw in is a live ball.

Second, if it's intentional, bye bye.

Ok, so when I was thinking that would be a flagrant I was along the right lines?

And yea, moment of stupidity, throw-in is only dead ball until the ball is at thrower's disposal, during which time it would be impossible for him to hit someone in the face with it... :o

I have a hard time envisioning a player trying to save the ball and intentionally throwing the ball off a player's face. In the heat of battle, a player isn't jump, turn, and throw the ball off a player's face on purpose to save the ball.

Anyhow, if you have a player throwing the ball off a player's face on purpose, T at minimum and probably a flagrant T.

In the past week I believe (for the life of me I cannot find the right thread) someone posted that exact thing had happened in their game and they were not sure of the intent, but later were told by the player who threw it that he threw it in the guy's face on purpose.

Did the player mean he was trying to throw it off the player's face on purpose because it was the first body part he saw...much in the same vein of when a player is intentionally throwing the ball at a player to knock the ball off of them and hits the player in the groin?

The question I'm envisioning in your OP was one where there's clear ill intent behind throwing the ball at the player.

I wish I could find the other post, because the way I understood it and what made me think of this was that the player intentionally threw it off his opponent's face unnecessarily with the intent of hitting the player in the face when other options existed.

Certainly in the situation you mentioned, intentionally but more or less blindly throwing off a player and it hits accidentally is nothing.

One of the calls I regret not making several years ago was when a player leapt to 'save' a ball that was going OOB, and threw it off his opponent's face. The player making the save was in a position to see the whole court and easily could have saved it onto the court. It was a calculated throw in my estimation, and I should have rung him up.

Here is what my thoughts were directed toward. So if you could go back you would have hit him with a flagrant?

Just Asking ...
 

Even if during a live ball? Is this contact in the sense that it's a personal foul, or is this more like noncontact, as in a technical foul? Fist to face is contact, but ball to face is noncontact? I have lot's of questions. I have no answers.

You know better, Billy. Intentionally throwing the ball to the face is nothing close to a basketball move, and can only injure, intimidate, etc. Flagrant T almost* every time.


* only because I "never say never, never say always"

+1

Sometimes you need to officiate.