The player doesn't need benefit of using the rim to stop if they don't unnecessarily grab it to start with. The body only goes that horizontal because of the grab. Without it, he'd have stayed upright.

There are far too many high speed and athletic dunks where the player doesn't find the need to swing around like it was a gymnastics meet that prove it is not necessary to do as was done in this dunk.

But, as I said earlier, I see this one at the 50/50 point. I could see it called or not.

No way there's a T here. If the player lets go any earlier, he'd be flat on the floor and likely in a lot of pain. High speed dunk is legal, hanging to prevent injury to self or others is legal. Did he add a little extra sauce with a pull up? Slightly...maybe...but I'd err on the side of safety for the player. Leave this one alone...bound to be bigger fish to fry in the course of the game.

The rim grab is to stop himself from going sideways onto the floor.

Whether the grab is needed or not is not for me to decide there. He's allowed to grab it and he's allowed to hold on to prevent injury.

I think some would call a T here, as well, partially because they're annoyed that the player passed it to a teammate off the board "unnecessarily." Those people need to go outside and yell at random passersby to get off their lawn.

If that's BNR throwing it down, then it's a T. ;) If it's APG, it's a play on. :cool:

PLayer is allowed to dunk. Player is allowed to grab/hang on rim to protect themselves. In order for me to call the T I need to see more than that. As others have said this is clost but I don't definitively have anything on this that I can say is more then the player ensuring he lands safely.


Ya he could have not grabbed the rim at all and twisted or bent to avoid backboard but he didn't. He grabbed the rim which he's allowed to do. He's also allowed to maintain that grab until he can reasonably safely land. I'm giving him the benfit of the doubt on this one.

This is why I'm not quick to call a technical foul for 10-3-3 (or NCAA 10-4.1f, as the case may be): http://screengrabber.deadspin.com/ut...arl-1680216852

Like the announcer said, it's mostly self inflicted for lifting his legs up and trying to do what? I don't know. I wouldn't call a T on the OP either, but I also don't feel bad when someone gets a boo boo from doing something stupid.

Perhaps he was unsure if there was a player beneath him and tried to lift his legs in order to avoid contacting anyone who might be beneath him. It's not our job to pass judgment by "feeling bad" (or not) about an injury, but with respect to whether or not a player's behavior following a dunk constitutes a foul, I will err on the side of not calling a foul if there is any doubt that the player's actions were not done in an effort to avoid injury.

I guess I've done this long enough where this is the exception. Players usually do something to make ESPN's top 10. Especially when it came to dunking.

Agreed...

I don't think he hangs too long but I don't like the pull up.

Nope.

If the defender(s) - in this case, black 11, is close enough to put their hands up and react to even their perceived possibility that the dunker might contact them somehow, I'm not going to even get close to splitting that hair.

Sounds like some people are looking for a violation/foul. If I have to think about a play, then chances are I'm not blowing my whistle. If I see a violation/foul I blow my whistle without thinking about it. Like a knee-jerk reaction.

Let's face it... our judgment/opinion matters in whether we blow the whistle. The majority of the time the play is black or white, but every once in a while a play will enter the gray area. And that gray area can bring different calls. It's too bad, as being consistent is our goal, but until the robots take over officiating that's the way it goes.

Just be sure about your call, and be able to explain why you called/no-called it.

I agree with everyone, lol. Yes, could go either way.

The player CHOSE to dunk the ball going in a forward motion and then hung on the rim for safety. It was his choice. He could have dropped in through the hoop with no rim contact. He chose to put himself in that deleterious position so why should the officials allow him to use the "safety" reason for hanging on the rim? Seems a bit strange to reward someone for making a poor decision.

What "reward"? You consider being able to grab the rim a reward?

Dunks are legal. Being able to make sure you don't get hurt is, and should be, legal. So what's the problem? Do you want to make it illegal for a player to dunk the ball while running?