How many times have you heard this in a high school gym? How many times have you uttered these words in one of your high school games? It can look a lot (or a little) like this: an offensive player with the ball drives the basket, there is illegal contact and a quick whistle-from any where on the floor-and then we have a basketball falling through the basket with an official with his fist up and quickly waving off the basket yelling, "No basket, On The Floor!" And, accompanying these words come these spastic referee arm movements-usually a windmill fashion and ending up with fingers of one or both hands pointing to the hardwood. Have you seen it? Have you done it?
I have. Seen it that is. Well, OK, I have also done it. And, unless I am just weird and terribly below average, my guess is one or two readers will have some "personal" experience with this as well. Let's take a look at it. Let's get the call right!
Referees must be intimately familiar with continuous motion. And, not just with the rule, but really consistent with its application. To begin, I am not talking about obvious fouls that occur before the habitual throwing motion begins. Example: you see a foul on a drive, hold your whistle because you are looking at a play in a secondary coverage area and you are waiting for the primary official to put air in the whistle. Not hearing any, you blow-and a little late. Not exactly optimum-but you can get the idea.
Continuous motion is a concept in the rules that applies to illegal contact/foul that occurs after a try has begun, and before the ball is released. Arguably, this is not a great amount of time! In fact, we all know it can be over very quickly, and we have to make the determination quickly. And, the foul does not have to be committed on the shooter, but it/foul must be committed by the defense. Also, the shooter does not have to be in the air.
I heard a referee tell me in a clinic one time that we make judgments on calls in about a half second. I am not a physicists, nor have I researched how long "begins the habitual act of shooting" is! (You can also tell I'm not an English major.) But, what I am sure of is the amount of time that the rule of continuous motion applies is a really short time frame on the floor. It begins quickly, and once the ball is away from the hand, it ends. Not withstanding the air-borne shooter rule.
The rule, according to the NFHS Casebook, has no significance unless there is a personal or technical foul by the defender or defense that occurs after the trying or tapping motion by the offense is started and before the ball is in flight. And, in this case the whistle does not cause the shot to end or the ball to become dead. Hopefully-even in the most obscure of gymnasiums the whistle will stop the clock!
There are other rules that can apply in this scenario, but I am only addressing the rule of continuous motion. Expert knowledge of the air-borne shooter rule would also be good in this situation.
There are several suggestions in the spoken and the written official universe that can be of significant help. Here are a few that I have found helpful. I researched some this, especially after "kicking the crap" out of a call like this in a game last year.
First, one of the most worn out but extremely valuable and correct statements you will hear in our world is "move to improve" or "work to get a better angle to see through the players." I find this to be the number one reason I miss the calls I do. I was not looking through the play, or I was in a poor position to observe the whole play. Working the angles and being mindful of ball lines is so important no matter what rule we are dissecting. I try to make sure I am conscious of when I am statuesque. Yes we move to improve, and stand still to officiate. And, I am not recommending we have "happy feet." But, if I find myself standing still too long, I will move slightly. I don't want to get into a situation where me and the Statue of Liberty have something in common.
Secondly, one mentor used to tell me all the time, "be patient, see the whole play and have a patient whistle." Good advice! And especially in this case. When we slow these type of plays down, we are more likely to get it right. Sure, we don't want to blow consistently when plays are obviously over and play is resetting. But, patiently allowing a play to develop, occur and finish, is of supreme importance.
Thirdly, a good pre-game where the whole crew goes to the floor understanding that when we have a whistle, the on-ball guy/gal is going to get the status of the ball. This can be real helpful to the crew when the off-ball guy blows in a continuous motion scenario. When you hear a whistle, with the ball in your primary, find the ball. Sound silly and simple and a little obvious? OK I will give you that. Now tell me, how many times a whistle goes off in a game of yours, and there is a question about the ball status. Our natural tendency, even as officials, is to look towards the whistle when we hear it. Kind of like the tendency of a lead official to look up, instead of look through plays at the basket or an official in transition watching the pass instead of the players in a fast break scenario.
Lastly, observe the contact/play. Trust your partners to get the flight of the ball. The mechanics book I have read all indicate what coverage occurs when the ball is headed to the basket. Trust the other guys/gals to do their job. While we do wear funny looking striped shirts, none of them in my bag have large red "S" on the chest. I am not Superman! My job is to see through the play, see the contact, determine if is illegal, and blow. My partners will have my back. They will let me know if I need to score the basket.
Here is a link to a helpful summary of the application of the continuous motion rule and high school officiating. There are other resources out there as well. Good Luck!
http://www.arbitersports.com/Groups/105990/Library/files/Continuous%20Motion.pdf
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