IT'S A BEAUTIFUL THING

I have been researching various rules and topics for the last several posts.  It is hoped that they have been beneficial to the readers.  Please allow this diversion into the forgotten corners of basketball history

I have been trying to think about what parts of the basketball game I find the most appealing.  Part of that thought is wrapped around the idea of why one might continue to run up and down a basketball court, chasing young people, at such an advanced age.  I recently have met officials that are in their late sixties, who still get out there and give it their best every night.  Now, I am nowhere near sixty, but as I look at the calendar-it shows me every day I need to value each hour I live "cause" the clock is ticking.

When thinking about what I enjoy about the game, I was drawn to what I believe is one of the prettiest sights in the gym on any given night.  AND NO, it is not a particular person or gender I refer to - like some of my referee buddies will kid about.

I think one of the most beautiful pictures I like to see on the court in a game is the one-handed jump shot.  There is just something about watching a perfectly executed jump shot from start to finish.  No matter what the level of play, or the length of the shot, seeing that shot is just thrilling.  And, it is even more rewarding, at times, to watch it go in.

In today's game, so much of the TV hype and highlights swirl around the dunk.  Take a look at ESPN's top ten any night during a basketball season, and chances are very high some of the plays you watch over and over and over again, are pictures of very tall men, maybe women next WNBA season, getting close to the basket and throwing the ball "down."  That is all well and good, nothing here against a good dunk.  They get the crowd, in any gym, going.

But, give me the jump shot.  The player coming to a stop, squaring up, jumping to his/her maximum height, extending the arm/ball upwards and towards the goal, with a flick of the wrist at the end, and then floating back to the floor. Wow, what a moment.  That small amount of time, even maybe as long as a second or two, as the ball follows a trajectory towards the goal.  Then falling, sometimes perfectly, through the net.  That, also takes skill.  I mean think about all the mental functions in a human being that must occur in order for a jump shot to be successful.  I wonder if it takes more skill to shoot over 30% from the three point line, than 99% from the restricted area in the paint.

I was curious about the jump shot so I looked it up.  It seems the NCAA website had a whole story on who they credit with introducing and perfecting the one-hand jump shot at the college level.  His name is Kenny Sailors.  And, he was still alive last year 2012, at the right smart age of 92.

The story goes, that Kenny had an older brother as a kid.  And this older brother was much taller than he was, about 6' 5" to Kenny's 5' 7".  Kenny got tired of his brother's swatting his set shots out of the sky in their backyard playing one-on-one.  It dawned on him one day to add the jump while shooting just to get the ball over his brother.  And, the rest is as they say, "history."

Kenny would later travel to an AAU tournament where he would see a player using a one-hand set shot.  You see in that day, most shots were executed with two hands, and in fact, Kenny used two hands in his first jump shots.  He fell in love with the one handed shot.

Later he would go to the University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, and using his 36" vertical leap, and his new love of one-hand shots, along with some other great skills, and become an All American.  In fact, Kenny was so good he led his team, the Cowboys, to the NCAA 1946 title game, where the Cowboys prevailed over Georgetown 46 - 34.  Kenny scored 16 points in that game at Madison Square Garden.

Now a days, you see various iterations of the jump shot all over high school, recreation, college or pro sports.  And I guarantee you, almost none of the people taking the shot you see, know anything about Kenny Sailors.  But, without him, we would not have what I think is the most beautiful shot in basketball today.

WHICH CAME FIRST? THE CHICKEN...................

Here is one for the those rules aficionados amongst us.  Think about this "play" scenario, and see if you would have gotten the play right!

B1, in a marked lane space, enters the lane prematurely.  The administering official properly signals the violation, seeing the occurrence, A1 quickly launches the prettiest arcing free throw one has ever seen.  The ball does not go through the basket, and does not hit the rim.  The slot official "toots" his/her whistle, and asks for one of those impromptu meetings that officials sometimes engage in on the floor.  Amongst the discussion, they try to figure out, "which violation" occurred first.  They decide on a strategy-come out, and since B1 violated first, they award A1 a new free throw, and play on from there.  One official actually mentions to the Team B coach that his player violated first, and he buys it.

Question:  Did they get it right?  Have you ever been in a camp or clinic where during on-court observations the clinician discusses a situation where he/she exhorts you to decide what happened first?  Usually something like, "hey, did the foul cause the walk, or did the walk occur before the foul?" Many times this discussion occurs on double whistles.  That is all well and good.  In some cases we really do/should determine what happened first on the play.

BUT, in this case, you need to forget that.  The officials above got it wrong.  This play is addressed in the NFHS 2012-2013 CASEBOOK on page 53, SIMULTANEOUS VIOLATION, 6.4.3 SITUATION A.  The ruling states: " The violations by B1 and A1 constitute a simultaneous free-throw violation.  Unless another free throw follows, play resumes with an alternating-possession throw-in from a designated spot outside the end line."

SHAZAM!  It is considered a simultaneous violation.  If you are familiar with the high school casebook you know that there are over a dozen "cases" about free throws addressed.  This is the only one about violations being simultaneous.  And, it is temping to look at this play, and justify penalizing the "first" violation we see.  After all, we are "programmed" that way.  But, in this case-we need to know the rule, and the remedy.  Being the best team on the floor, means we strive to get the call right.

CORRECTABLE ERROR AND POINT OF INTERUPTION!

I had this happen in one of my games.  It underscores, at least for me, the importance of making sure you are mentally awake, and determined to get the call right.  In the ebb and flow of any game, sometimes things can happen, and doing the wrong thing makes sense.  Read the post, and decide for yourself, have you ever had to get this call right.

NFHS BASKETBALL CASEBOOK, p. 10; 2.10.1 SITUATION E:
A1 is fouled.  The scorer informs the official that Team B has committed ten team fouls and that the two-free-throw penalty is in effect.  The official administers the free throw and states and indicates "two" throws.  The first free throw is unsuccessful and the second is successful.  B1 has the ball out of bounds for the throw-in.  The scorer informs the official that there were only nine team fouls on Team B and that the penalty should have been one and one.

So, what do you do?  I mean besides wondering if the official scorer can count.  The situation calls on you to be very familiar with the concepts of both correctable errors and point of interruption.  And, it is of supreme importance, in this situation as described, that we apply what we know in exactly the right way.

So, before I go further, what do you do with the free throws? And, what is the point of interruption?

First of all, you know that this situation of awarding an unmerited free throw is a correctable error.  But, are you really clear as to the timing of the correction?  We must first determine the time frame of the sequence of events.  B1 has the ball out of bounds for a throw in, and your partner has the count.  The scorer is yelling/signaling that there is a concern to be addressed.  Are you going to blow the play dead?

Yep, as a matter of fact the error is discovered within the correctable error time frame.  So you correctly blow the ball dead, then get the crew together to talk about things.  Now, you discuss the play.  You know the free throw is canceled.  Why?  The, second free throw was an unmerited free throw attempt.  You granted/indicated two, but it should have been a one-and-one.  AND, the first free throw was missed.

Now, the real test comes.  What is the point of interruption?  Is it the B1 throw in?  NO it is not!  In this situation, the second free throw is canceled.  The error was the two free throws instead of the one-and-one.  The first free throw was missed.  So, your point of interruption, by rule, is a missed free throw. 

Now, what do you do?  We have a point of interruption as a missed free throw.  Who gets the possession?  Here is the ruling:  The error is discovered within the correctable error time frame, and shall be corrected.  The second free throw is canceled and play is resumed at the point of interruption.  Since "no goal" has been scored, play is resumed with an alternating-possession throw-in at a spot nearest to where the ball was located when the stoppage occurred. (2-10-1b; 2-10-6; 4-36-2c)

So, now we have it. we got the time frame, the correctable error, and the point of interruption all in the right order nice and neat!  And, if my experience is any judge, we have some conversations going on with coaches to help them understand why we took a way a point, and went to the arrow for the possession.

Now for you really smart ones out there-Where is the "spot nearest to where the ball was located when stoppage occurred?"