Questions and Answers

Question #1 (1/20/10)

One referee called goal tending when a player from the opposing team slapped the ball and backboard.  The other called a technical foul for slapping the backboard.  We were only awarded two points.  The rules state that touching the rim is a technical foul, they do not explicitly state slapping the backboard is a technical foul.  Some clarification on that would be appreciated.  Also, I would like to know whether we should have been awarded four points because of it.

Answer from Official

There are several issues that this individual team captain has identified within the paragraph below.  I am going to break each point as I see them out below in a bullet point format for clarification.

1. The captain’s concern with “one referee called goal tending when a player from the opposing team slapped the ball and backboard…the other called a technical foul for slapping the backboard.”  This particular call was the trail official’s primary responsibility, which happened to be me in this specific instance.  Also, the first whistle blown is yielded to – both officials made eye contact prior to the official call which was the appropriate assessment of a ‘technical’ player foul in this case.  As this play was observed there was no contact made by the offending player of the ball, the ball was up toward the backboard and ‘in flight’ on the shot attempt when the defensive player struck the backboard.  This is a player technical foul as stated in the NFHS Basketball Rules under rule 10, section 3, article 2, subsection b…intentionally slapping or striking backboard or causing the ring to vibrate while a try or tap is in flight or is touching the backboard or is in the basket or in the cylinder above the basket. 
2. The second concern was the awarding of 2 points.  This is the resulting penalty with a running clock situation.  A technical foul results in the ‘automatic’ award of 2 points to the offended team and the ball awarded for a throw-in at the division line at center court.  The automatic award of points is to retain as much game time as possible and keep game play flowing.  We do this in lieu of having a member of the offended team shoot free throws.
3. The captain is referencing the Rec League Rules that include a limited number of situations that would result in a technical foul in his statement “…rules state that touching the rim is a technical foul, they do not explicitly state slapping the backboard is a technical foul.”  Please refer to item #1 above for this explanation and it may be prudent to reiterate that all of the officials in the Rec League program are certified in NFHS rules of basketball, which are beyond the scope of your league informational documents.
4. This concern deals with the question as to the amount of points to be awarded.  The confusion here may stem from the question as to whether this was goaltending or a player technical foul.  In either case, the total points awarded would have only been 2 and we would have had either an end line throw in by the offending team for goaltending, or the offended team receives the ball at the division line for a throw in.  With this penalty being a player technical foul we see the advantage as intended by the rule go to the offended team as they received the automatic 2 points, received the ball for a throw-in at the center division line, and the opposing team and player were assessed with a personal foul in the counts.

I would like to close this explanatory note on the fact that this captain should always feel they have the player right to ask for an explanation and we can always call for an official timeout to discuss for clarification.  At the time that an application of a rule occurs is the correct time to question the officials call if there is confusion.  I assumed based upon the years we’ve now had the league and that your preseason notification to officiating per the NFHS rules this would have been understood.  There are many differences between what is seen on TV with collegiate and NBA officiating from the high school perspective.  Several years ago we had two officials attend the preseason captains’ meeting to discuss any questions or general overview with the HS rules – this may be considered in subsequent seasons.

I hope that this outline explanation to the points raised adequately addresses the questions and encourage the captains to ask questions at the time if there is confusion.  We are always happy to clarify, not debate, the rules and our application of them.

Question #2 (3/24/10)

We realized that we had 6 players on the court prior to the ball being inbounded. We attempted to call a timeout to avert a penalty. The referee did not grant a timeout and gave us a penalty for having too many people on the court.

Answer from Official

Rule 10-1-6 was violated. The rule states that a team technical occurs when ... (Article 6) "Having more than five team members participating simultaneously." This situation also dovetails with Rule 10-2 ~ Substitute Technical, stating that a substitute shall not enter the court: (Article 1) "Without reporting to the scorer." & (Article 2) "Without being beckoned by an official, except between quarters." As a league, we also allow substitutions during team timeouts. The rule states that penalty occurs before the ball becomes live - as was the case in this scenario.