Basketball Referee

Basketball Referee

Rndballref

20 Years Experience

Chicago, IL

Male, 60

For twenty years I officiated high school, AAU and park district basketball games, retiring recently. For a few officiating is the focus of their occupation, while for most working as an umpire or basketball referee is an avocation. I started ref'ing to earn beer money during college, but it became a great way to stay connected to the best sports game in the universe. As a spinoff, I wrote a sports-thriller novel loosely based on my referee experiences titled, Advantage Disadvantage

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Last Answer on September 20, 2019

Best Rated

On an end line inbounds after a made basket can the inbounder pass it to a teammate out of bounds who subsequently passes the ball in play? I know this was allowed at one point but haven't seen it used in many years.

Asked by Mike about 11 years ago

After a made basket, or after a timeout after a made basket the team with the ball can pass it from one out of bounds player to another, and then throw it in bounds (along the endline only).  Here's the play:

Team B is pressing with no defender on the out of bounds thrower in player A1.  A2 is on the other side of the paint but he is guarded by B1.  A1 has the ball out of bounds.  A2 steps out of bounds leaving the defender B1 no one to guard. A1 passes the ball to A2 who is out of bounds.  A1 steps in bounds and receives the pass from A2.

If you r howling at a game telling the referee he didn't call a fowl can he make u leave the building

Asked by huff over 10 years ago

Yes, of course the ref can. As I have addressed in prior questions, there is a Home Administration function (usually the athletic director, but always a representative of the home team). Home Administration is responsive to the referees needs including safety and timeliness. If a referee asks Home Administration to remove a fan, they will do it. Each referee has a different tolerance so it rarely happens. But if you get personal, or disrupt the game you should be tossed.

If a coach steps on the court of play and a referee runs into the coach while running down the court is it a technical foul.

Asked by Joel Mac over 11 years ago

Yes, it is a direct technical foul.  It is dangerous and unsportsman-like.

On a throw-in, after a basket, the thrower is permitted to run the baseline. We have a live ball situation. Can he/she dribble while running the baseline?

Asked by JiminJax over 10 years ago

There is no restriction on a throw in of a player bouncing the ball - unless the referee interprets the bouncing to be a pass which first hits out of bounds. If it is clearly a dribble, no issue.

If you are dribbling and the ball goes off a teammate's foot -- can you run it down, pick it up and dribble?

Asked by Dave almost 11 years ago

The rulebook states that a dribble ends when the dribbler picks up the ball, the ball is touched by an opponent,or the ball becomes dead.  It is a violation to dribble a second time unless it is after an attempt at try, a touch by an opponent, or a pass or fumble which touches another player.

So, if you dibble off a players foot and retrieve the ball and resume dribbling it is double dribble.  If you would have passed the ball hitting a teammate and then retrieve it no violation.

Answer to your question is no.

Team A is inbounding the ball after a dead ball. They have 5 people on the court and the 6th one is handed the ball from the referee. We immediately started calling for a technical as that meant 6 players on the court. Is this correct?

Asked by tim over 10 years ago

Yes, the ball becomes live when it is at the disposal of the thrower on a throw in.  It is illegal to have 6 players when the ball is live.  Should be a technical.

BUT, it is also poor officiating by the referee crew, because one of the throw in officials' partners should be counting players (after time out for example) and preventing this situation from arising.

Can another basketball over-rule another on a bad call, if he has the better angle to see what actually happened on the floor?

Asked by Karen over 11 years ago

There is no provision in the mechanics or rule books for NFHS.  In fact, although one official is designated as the "referee" and the other two are "umpire 1" and "umpire 2", the referee is not enpowered to overrule the others.  Here's how I handled this: In the pre-game I asked my partners to agree to this.  If they think I got the call wrong, approach me and tell me what you saw, and I will decide whether to overrule myself based on your input.  That way, we could undue a really bad missed call, but if I passed on a call for my own reasons (advantage disadvantage for example) I could ignore my partner's input.  Also, if I changed my call I could better explain to a coach why it was reversed.  Most of the people I worked with agreed to use this system.