Elbow Swing

[maven]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

The effect of the POE is to prohibit players from holding the ball in front of or above their faces, which is just nonsense.

Holding the ball cannot possibly be a foul on the player in control. I suppose the defender might throw his nose into the big guy's elbow, but that would be on him.

I did not miss your point: you're saying that contact that would hit a 6'6" big man in the chest and be a PC foul will hit a 5'10" guard in the nose and be INT. That makes the "severity" of the foul turn only on player height. You regard this result as nonsense.

I disagree. The rules makers have put the burden on the player who wants to "clear out" to be responsible for where his elbows go. This choice, as you know, is rooted in a desire to minimize contact to the head. If you don't want to risk hitting the guard in the face, don't clear out.