Jump Ball - Movement Prior to Touch

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by HokiePaul

I was under the impression that moving away from the circle into an occupied space would be illegal. Am I reading this wrong?

Yes you are. It is only illegal to move into an occupied space on the circle. Players can move as near to players off the circle as they want, short of contact. Spin it any way that you want, but a player is not holding his spot when he moves away from the circle.

Also. I'm not questioning your knowledge of this rule. It sounds like you understand this rule better than me, or many other officials. I'm questioning why you would instruct players to do something that is not factually correct. Sometimes it's better just to keep your mouth shut.

One good outcome of this discussion: I haven't "dissected" this rule in this manner since the institution of the alternating possession arrow. Like many officials, I figure that we're probably only going to have one jump ball a game, hopefully it will go well, if not, I hope that it's an obvious violation that's easy to call, if not, I hope that it's a subtle violation that nobody will care about, so I spend my time studying other parts of the rule book. Back when we had a dozen jump balls a game (dozens in a middle school girls game), I knew all the jump ball rules like the back of my hand. Thanks for giving me the incentive to review these rules in great detail.

[bd41flpk]

Thanks much for the history of this question and the correct interpretation of what the true 'rule' is as far as movement on and off the circle prior to the ball being 'touched' by the jumpers.