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NTBOA

North Texas Basketball Officials Association (NTBOA)

The Chapter of Choice

Dribbling

Dribbling is one of the basic fundamentals of basketball. Too often officials miss-apply dribbling rules because they do not understand all the aspects that are involved. The definition of dribbling can be found in rules 4.15.1-4 which state:

A dribble is ball movement caused by a player in control who bats (intentionally strikes the ball with the hand(s)) or pushes the ball to the floor once or several times. It is not a part of a dribble when the ball touches a player's own backboard. During a dribble the ball may be batted into the air provided it is permitted to strike the floor before the ball is touched again with the hand(s). The dribble may be started by pushing, throwing or batting the ball to the floor before the pivot foot is lifted. The dribble ends when: the dribbler catches or causes the ball to come to rest in one or both hands, the dribbler palms/carries the ball by allowing it to come to rest in one or both hands, the dribbler simultaneously touches the ball with both hands, the ball touches or is touched by an opponent and causes the dribbler to lose control and/or the ball becomes dead.

Consider the following case plays when trying to determine if a dribbling violation has occurred.

While rebounding, A1 touches the ball while trying to gain control, after which: (a) A1 allows the ball to strike the floor to begin a dribble; or (b) A1 catches the ball and then pushes the ball to the floor to begin a dribble. Ruling: Legal in both (a) and (b). The dribble does not begin until A1 has gained control.

After dribbling and coming to a stop, A1 throws the ball: (a) against the opponent's backboard and catches the rebound; (b) against an ¬official, immediately recovers the ball and dribbles again; or (c) against his/her own backboard in an attempt to score (try), catches the rebound and dribbles again. Ruling: A1 has violated in both (a) and (b). Throwing the ball against the opponent's backboard or an ¬official constitutes another dribble, provided A1 is first to touch the ball after it strikes the official or the board. In (c), the action is legal. Once the ball is released on the try, there is no player or team control, therefore, A1 can recover the rebound and begin a dribble.

A1, while advancing the ball by dribbling, manages to keep a hand in contact with the ball until it reaches its maximum height. A1 maintains such contact as the ball descends, pushing it to the floor at the last moment; however, after six or seven bounces, A1's hand is in contact with the ball and the palm of the hand on this particular dribble is skyward so that the ball is resting on top of the hand. Ruling: the dribble has ended and a violation occurs if A1 dribbles again. The dribble ended when the ball came to rest in the palm of A1's hand.

While dribbling: (a) A1 bats the ball over the head of an opponent, runs around the opponent, bats the ball to the floor and continues to ¬dribble; (b) the ball bounces away but A1 is able to get to it and continues to dribble; (c) the ball hits A1's foot and bounces away but A1 is able to overtake and pick it up; or (d) A1 fumbles the ball in ending the dribble so that A1 must run to recover it. Ruling: violation in (a), because the ball was touched twice by A1's hand(s) during a dribble, before it touched the floor. In (b), even though the dribble was interrupted it has not ended and A1 may continue the dribble. In (c), the dribble ended when A1 caught the ball; and it ended in (d) when it was ¬fumbled. Even though the dribble has ended in (c) and (d), A1 may recover the ball but may not dribble again.

While A1 is dribbling in A's backcourt, the ball legally touches B1's leg, causing it to bounce away from A1. A1 quickly recovers the ball with two hands and then starts another dribble. Ruling: Legal. The touch by B1 ended the original dribble and A1 could then recover and dribble again. However, the touch by B1 did not end team control and the 10-second backcourt count continues.

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Rule of the Week

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