Rules of the Game

[MN Gopher Fan]

Hopefully there is someone out there that is a real "expert" of the rules of basketball, since I know there are a lot of amateur "experts" out there, that can help me with this rule.

I've seen it called each way many times and each way this tournament including the championship game.

Situation:

Player catches with, with their ability to dribble still alive.
Player jumps and dribbles before they hit the ground.

Travel or play on?

Wisconsin had a player do this with no call, and a Kansas player tonight did this and was called for traveling.

I was at a bar tonight and couldn't hear the announcers so I'm assuming the ruling wasn't the player landed before he dribbled.

Thanks.

 

[CrocShots]

Travel 100%

 

[Cayman]

Well, a jump shot is not considered a travel, so the movement in the air is not a travel. If you catch a pass and jump into the air to shoot, it is not traveling, so I would think that beginning to dribble would not be considered a travel, but that's just my interpretation. I see no reason why it would be a travel.

 

[Lurchmonkey]

According to the NCAA rule book, if a player gathers his dribble and hops off one foot to two feet, he does not have a pivot foot, and is not allowed to leave the floor to start a dribble. He can however shoot.

 

[CDH27]

This is a good question because about 95% of the time I see it called as a travel and on a rare occasion I see a player get away with it.

 

[AO54]

"Art. 4. After coming to a stop and establishing the pivot foot:
a. The pivot foot may be lifted, but not returned to the playing court, before
the ball is released on a pass or try for goal;
b. The pivot foot shall not be lifted before the ball is released to start a
dribble."

 

[scher215]

Are you talking about the play near the end of the game where the Kansas player started to shoot and then saw Anthony Davis coming so he came back down from his jump and tried to dribble again?

 

[aero74]

Traveling (i.e. pivot foot leaving and returning to the floor)
The hard part for the refs at game speed is determining the pivot foot.
Some are better at it than others and some don't have a clue.

 

[bleedgold]

The easiest way to answer it without reciting rules for the non-officials is this...

once a player on offense has established control of the ball, regardless if they have used their dribble or not once your pivot foot leaves the ground you must pass or shoot the ball.

 

[cncmin]

"Art. 4. After coming to a stop and establishing the pivot foot:
a. The pivot foot may be lifted, but not returned to the playing court, before
the ball is released on a pass or try for goal;
b. The pivot foot shall not be lifted before the ball is released to start a
dribble."

Thanks, I still play organized basketball and I never knew the origin of this rule. Now I do! Needless to say on rare occasion I have tried to do what the Kansas player did last night, and I always felt that if the ball touched the floor before my feet came back down that it wasn't a travel. Occasionally I am wrong :-D

 

[MN Gopher Fan]

Are you talking about the play near the end of the game where the Kansas player started to shoot and then saw Anthony Davis coming so he came back down from his jump and tried to dribble again?

Yes...from the sounds of it, you are traveling by leaving the ground and then dribbling. Thanks guys.