Let's make this thread short and to the point. Playing basketball. Loose ball. You run to grab the loose ball. You save it by dropping it off inbounds, while your momentum takes you out of bounds. Nobody else gets to (touches) the ball. You re-establish both feet inbounds, then grab the ball. Legal or illegal?
I would guess that is illegal because it seems like you had passed the ball to yourself since it never touch any other player. But I am not 100% sure.
What if the ball wasn't passed, but sort of batted, or dribbled instead? How is this any different than dribbling the ball upcourt, letting it bounce on its own a few times, then resuming the dribble (without picking it up with both hands)? I see this all the time.
The difference that you went out of bounds, meaning you no longer had control of the ball. Someone else must touch it first before you can regain control, much like a pass.
If you don't have control of the ball before going out of bounds, I do not think that it would be a pass to yourself.
Yep, No worries is right....Posey did this the other night. Knocked the ball free....towards in bounds...ran out of bounds...came back in.....established position picked it up and dribbled on his merry way. No traveling.... DD
But, the original post said "You run to grab the loose ball. " If you grab the ball, drop it inbounds, then re-establish position and re-grab it, that's passing to yourself. DaDa, no worries' (and Posey's) situation was different than the original question.
Behad, Think of it this way, you have not used your dribble so the drop could be considered a dribble. Still...no traveling. DD
I don't think so. To intentionally drop the ball while going out of bounds is considered a pass. You knew you were going out of bounds, so you passed it.
Nope....not a pass at all....just a dribble.....you come back in dribble the ball or pick it up, either one is fine......no traveling. DD
I haven't found an exact interpretation (yet), but read this from the rule book, noting the bolded part: 1. A1 blocks a pass near the end line. The ball falls to the floor in bounds but A1, who is off balance, falls outside the end line. A1 returns, secures control of the ball, and dribbles. RULING: Legal. A1 has not left the playing court voluntarily and was not in control of the ball when leaving the playing court. This passage can be assumed to mean "out-of-bounds" if the player did have control.
Found it: http://www.nba.com/analysis/rules_10.html?nav=ArticleList (Section III) : a. A player shall not run with the ball without dribbling it. b. A player in control of a dribble who steps on or outside a boundary line, even though not touching the ball while on or outside that boundary line, shall not be allowed to return inbounds and continue his dribble. He may not even be the first player to touch the ball after he has re-established a position inbounds.
Thanks for the responses. I guess I wasn't so clear in the original post, so let me clarify. The loose ball was not really "grabbed" and thrown back inbounds, it was closer to being "batted" in with both hands, but it may have been somewhere in the gray area in between "grabbing" (implying more control) and "batting," (implying less control) like the gray area between a legal dribble and illegal palming, I guess. Does this matter? Was it illegal regardless? I didn't see the Posey play. Which game was that in? I've got it taped unless it was in the last Seattle game.
Then it's a judgement call. Control implies holding, passing, or dribbling the ball, which would have been illegal. Hitting or batting the ball is not considered control, thus it's legal. I'm a coach, it's my job to know the rules.
i know that it's illegal, because during a game in the league i played in a few years ago, i was called for that. i dove out and saved the ball. no one picked it up, so i trotted back on court and picked it up. i got the call against me.
So it depends on whether or not the player had control of the ball on the initial touch. Got it. Thanks for the help, Behad, and everyone else.
