Leaving the court
 

I'm rereading the NFHS rulebook from 2011-2012 (most recent one I've got, each year I get the hand me down from my dad, so I'm not sure if the rule has been changed for 2012-13) and was wondering how some of you more veteran officials would handle this situation. Rule I'm referring to is 9-3, article 3, "A player shall not leave the court for an unauthorized reason. Penalty: The ball is dead when the violation occurs and is awarded to the opponents for a throw-in from the designated out-of-bounds spot nearest the violation."

Here's my scenario:

A1 shoots, misses, B1 recovers a rebound and holds for a few seconds, obviously not starting a fast break. A2 is winded and steps off the court and sits beneath their offensive basket.

By a strict reading of the rule, the ball should be dead there and B gets to inbound, while A can substitute. If this happens, what would you do? If it happens repeatedly, where team A (knowing this rule) repeatedly steps off the court to create a dead ball for subs, would that be considered unsporting behavior to you?

Players leave the court all the time, to save the ball, sliding with the ball, being bumped... I believe the rule means "to gain an advantage".

No call on the player under the basket to rest.

9.3.3 SITUATION D: The score is tied 60-60 with four seconds remaining in the game. A1 has a fast break and is near the free-throw line on his/her way to an uncontested lay-up. B5 running down the court near the sideline, intentionally runs out of bounds in the hopes of getting a leaving-the-floor violation called.

RULING: B5's intentional violation should be ignored and A1's activity should continue without interruption. COMMENT: Non-contact, away from the ball, illegal defensive violations (i.e. excessively swinging the elbows, leaving the floor for an unauthorized reason) specifically designed to stop the clock near the end of a period or take away a clear advantageous position by the offense should be temporarily ignored. The defensive team should not benefit from the tactic. If time is not a factor, the defense should be penalized with the violation or a technical foul for unsporting behavior. (10-1-8)

This is even assuming that whatever A is doing would even be called violation. Realistic application of this rule means it usually takes more than just a player stepping out of bounds to have an official even think about calling this.

In the OP I'd be more inclined to call an official's time out to assess whether the player was injured.

Exactly, but not until his team got the ball back. I'm not even stopping a 5 on 4 offense for this.

To the OP, this play is not what the rule is designed to address. And if you think A1 is doing it as the case play suggests, to get a violation called, then hold off until either B scores or A gets the ball back. Then call it and give B the ball at the spot where A1 sat down.

That's a sasquatch, though, and you'll need to be very clear about how you justify it to your assigner.

That rule is intended to prevent a team from gaining an advantage from going OOB.

The main situation where I've seen (and called) this violation is Team A player running OOB on the offensive endline from one side to the other to get open on the wing without running into traffic in the lane.

I'd be hard-pressed to call a violation on your sitch. By leaving the court, A1 is actually leaving his team at a disadvantage... why stop the game and take the advantage away from Team B?

Though I know the rule, I'd be hard pressed to call it in any sitch.

I respect that you have that conviction. What do you use for a signal? Have you ever warned kids who do it, in the hopes of nipping it in the bud?

1) Open palm up...verbalize violation for running OOB...point to spot and show direction.

2) Yes

(I saw it called once this year)

I remember calling it once in a BV game. Coach asked at halftime what the call was.
When I told him he nodded and said calmly, "I think he got pushed out."

I answered just as calmly, "Could be."

I've called it once, on the sideline, when the offensive player was caught in a trap. He threw the ball around the trap, then ran out of bounds to get around the trap before coming back in to retrieve the ball.

Before the rule change, I saw a player running down the sideline execute a play that would now be illegal (and I'd call it). As he as approaching a defender with great position along the sideline, he bounced the ball slightly inwards towards the center court (just enough to get the ball around the defender). He then ran OOB around that defender before coming back in bounds and retrieving the ball.

I definitely warn them first, if I can. "Hey, 22, make sure you stay in bounds when you're cutting across the court".

Called it once this year, without a prior warning, when a kid ran BEHIND me as the Lead (I was 5 feet off the end line), then caught a pass for a wide-open 3-point attempt.