Illegal Inbound Pass?
 

So I was a ref in a HS game and my partner called an illegal inbound pass.
So what happened is Team B made a basket and then start to full-court press. Player A1 then picks up the ball to inbound it, he's about to pass it to A2 but realizes he's covered and trys to stop passing it. He ends up letting go of the ball but then catching it before the ball hit the ground and then attempted to pass it to A3 but my partner called it an illegal inbound. Also A1 never stepped over the line.

so the ball moved forward but somehow he was able to catch it before it went in play? like a fumble perhaps. I don't see anything wrong with it. I mean the defensive could have hit it if it was in play. But if the ball and the player didn't cross the line, I don't see the violation.

Another question- same situation but say somehow the passing player caught the ball while it was over the line, and then he brings it back without his feet going over. Is that a violation?

From what I read, no violation in either play above.

No such thing as an "illegal throw-in," but was it a throw-in violation?

See 7-6-2. Did the thrower release the ball on a pass directly into the court? HTBT, judgment call. If he fumbled, it's not a pass. Legal. If it was a pass and he somehow caught it, then it didn't touch another player on the court before going out of bounds untouched, and it is therefore a violation.

If he caught it himself it's not a pass.

This is true. 4-31.

However, suppose we have a throw-in in which A1 is by himself and just dumps the ball inbounds, and then he himself goes inbounds and is the first to touch the ball. He wasn't passing because he wasn't throwing, batting or rolling the ball to another player, yet we still consider it a violation if he's the first to touch the ball.

So how is it any different if the thrower starts to throw, bat or roll the ball directly into the court, releases it, and is then somehow able to retrieve it before he himself goes inbounds? Where in the rules does it say that the thrower physically going inbounds becomes the difference between violating and not?

9-2-6 The thrown ball shall not touch the thrower in the court before it touches or is touched
by another player

Nice response. I'm convinced.

So I think we're now all in agreement that what the OP described was NOT a violation (Incorrect call; failure to properly apply a rule).

So it sounds like the ball escaping the grasp of the thrower is an issue here? If so, there's no rule prohibiting him from releasing it and catch it himself, even repeatedly, while OOB for the throw-in.
So even if the thrower dribbled the ball, allowing it to touch the floor, there'd be no violation. Cf. 4-42-6 NOTE.
Right?

How about Basketball Rules Fundamentals 5. Neither the dribble nor travel rule operates during the jump ball, throw-in or free throw? (italics added)

I'm constantly fascinated by the human propensity to bend, stretch and convolute rules, to the extent that more and more rules, regulations, interpretations and explanations are needed.
In the wonderful game of basketball, the players and coaches are always and all ways trying to gain an advantage by doing so. And we, as officials, must deal with it. Thus, from the 20 Rules Fundamentals, we now have five books, and an ongoing process of evaluating, refining and trying to maintain the escence and propriety of the game.

A ref asked me a similar question during a recent car ride: girl has throw-in, thinks about passing ball but holds on to it and the ball is released straight down to the floor where it touches part of the court. It bounces once and the girls picks it back up and keeps looking for a target. Ruling?

Did it touch inbounds or out of bounds? That answer is sufficient to make the proper call using the citations in this thread.

*part of the court inbounds

I already know the answer.

That'd be a fairly large ball
 

[QUOTE=AremRed;955129]*part of the court ??

As opposed to??

Jeez, some of the things that can get discussed here...OP must have a lot of snow on the ground..