we screwed this up royally
 

Last night in men's wreck league game this action occurred and it was whistled a travelling violation--we screwed it up (I say 'we' because me an partner are viewed as a "crew"):

Player A1 obtains the defensive rebound and is quite off-balance due to some jostling for the free-ball, then while holding ball with both hands he falls down but [no pun intended] just before his bottom hits the floor (while he's falling down) he initiates a dribble with one hand. He lands on his bottom while bracing his self with left hand, then sits on his bottom for a second and then stands up all while uninterruptedly dribbling the ball, then advances up the court while still dribbling. Partner in the trail position calls ''travel''.
I was sprinting back upcourt to occupy my lead position, but my head is turnt back looking at the action. Hmmm...

Pivot Cheek ???
 

Did anything other than a hand, or foot, hit the floor before his bottom?

NFHS 4-44-5: A player holding the ball: May not touch the floor with a knee or any other part of the body other than hand or foot.

If you have knowledge of this action, why not get together with your partner before administering a throw-in and discuss going with an inadvertent whistle?

It beats negating a good play by this guy.

Two things...

1) Not sure I'd call this "royally" - I've seen far bigger screwups that would earn that moniker, and even with your own description of the play, it's only incorrect by a VERY small fraction of a second...

2) Perhaps partner (who was closer and had a different angle) saw the timing of this play differently - i.e. the butt hitting before the dribble was initiated or some other body part (knee perhaps) touching before the dribble started.

Did the player's pivot foot get lifted before he stated that dribble. If he had a foot on the ground while holding the ball before falling, he probably did lift it....making it a travel for staring the dribble after lifting the pivot foot.

Since it was apparently called after he got up, that doesn't sound like what was actually called but maybe it should have been.

If the partner though the butt hit the ground first, the fact that he apparently called it after the player got up tells me that wasn't what he called either. It seems he just called it for the player getting up, forgetting that you can't travel while dribbling...confusing it with the case play loosely related to this situation.

If this is considered "royally" screwing up a game then I have royally screwed up every game I have ever worked.