Backcourt or not
 

Trying to clarify a "ball has front court status" situation as we have been hotly debating it during training with new refs.

Player is dribbling from back court to front court and has both feet in the front court but is still bouncing the ball in the back court (it has not broken the plane of the mid-court line).

Player is dribbling from back court to front court and has both feet in the front court but is holding the ball extended into the back court (it has not broken the plane of the mid-court line).

What are your opinions on this?

Play 1: No front court status. Three points (two feet plus ball) must be established in the front court while dribbling.

Play 2: Front court status. The three points rule does not apply when not dribbling the ball. When the ball is being held only the feet location matters.

Unless I'm forgetting something, the plane of the division line has no significance in any play.

It matters on the 10 second back court count, doesn't it?

+10

MTD, Sr.

No. The ball has to touch something in the frontcourt to gain frontcourt status. If it's in the air from backcourt to frontcourt it retains the same status as when it was last in contact with a player or the court. (NFHS 4-4-3, NCAA 7-5-1.1).

"Make up your mind, dude, is he gonna sh*t or is he gonna kill us?"

(Jeff Spicoli)

I was told early on in my training "The ball and players are where they were until they get where they are going."

Seems to work fine...at least in my simple mind. :D

The plane of the division line never has any significance.

Officials aid?
 

Visualize that plane to make a straight toss on opening (and/or OT) tip?:D

When the dribbler is moving from BC to FC, the ball does not have FC status until both feet are in the FC and the ball is dribbled in the FC. If either foot is in the BC or the ball is still being dribbled in the BC, BC status still exists.

As someone else posted, you can't be dribbling the ball and holding it at the same time. If a player is holding the ball and neither foot is in the BC, the ball and player now have FC status.

No opinion, these are facts.

And as others have said, the plane is of no consequence.

And such a player may step back into the backcourt with one or both feet.

I seem to recall re-tosses in jump ball situations where the ball was tossed poorly. (This is not the original topic, and not a big issue, but never and always, are highly suspect.)

What is used to determine a jump ball was thrown correctly by the official?

That would be a straight line, not a plane. :) The toss could be completely within the plane and still horrible.

It's like pornography. I can't define it very well, but I know it when I see it.

I guess, basically, if one or both of the jumpers is at a disadvantage due to a bad toss it should be re-done.