Todd Von Sossan

[Pantherdreams]

I'm with Nevada on this. Most of the NFHS refs I work with are considering not holding ball as (release) on the dribble. So even though the hand is on top and pushing the ball to the ground most NFHS officials are considering that player to have released the ball to dribble so on a takeoff they may lift their pivot foot.

Most FIBA officials I work with are calling the release from contact with the hands. So when that player takes off if they are leaning forward and trying to accelerate and pound the ball, that ball is in contact with their hands for much longer. Its not until we can see that ball released from the hands that the back foot can come up.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Pantherdreams

Most of the NFHS refs I work with are considering not holding ball as (release) on the dribble. So even though the hand is on top and pushing the ball to the ground most NFHS officials are considering that player to have released the ball to dribble so on a takeoff they may lift their pivot foot.

Not me. That not what the rule states. If the player lifts his pivot foot from the floor before releasing the ball from contact with his hands, I'm calling it a travel violation. I'm comparing when the ball leaves his hand (is released from) to when his foot leaves (is released from) the floor. I've been doing it that way for more than thirty years and I haven't heard any complaints about my calls in this situation. Any other definition of "release" in regard to this situation is news to me.

4-44: The pivot foot may not be lifted before the ball is released, to start a dribble.

Use this new-fangled definition of "release" on a shot at the buzzer, and get ready for a whole nine yards of manure, especially when every grandmother, and the horse she rode in on, has a cell phone video camera.