Basketball Rules Expert – Episode 2

Welcome back to another edition of the Basketball Rules Expert Show. the show where we discuss

National Federation of High School (NFHS) Basketball Rules with the sole intent of bringing the rules off of the written page, breathing life into them and making them something that you can own and bring with you onto the basketball court.

hello again everybody my name is greg austin with abetterofficial.com.

i’ve been officiating high school basketball for over a decade and i am a basketball rules expert. the purpose of this show is to help you on your journey to becoming a basketball rules expert as well.

in today’s episode we’re going to be discussing intentional foul administration and continuous motion.

let’s get started with this show

question

which is true if a1 commits an intentional foul during b1’s successful try for goal

a b-1 shall be awarded one free throw

b b-1 shall be awarded two free throws

c any team b player shall be awarded one free throw

d any team b player shall be awarded two free throws.

It’s pretty clear what we have here. we have an intentional foul committed against a player who’s attempting a try

and the ball goes in the basket. How many free throws do we award in this situation?

Let’s talk about an intentional foul. this is a great opportunity to take a rule the application of a rule onto the court with you at all times and own it.

what is the penalty for an intentional foul?

repeat after me the penalty is two free throws by the offended player or their substitute unless small asterisk unless the player attempted a three-point try for goal and the try was unsuccessful. so i’m attempting a three-point goal player shoves from behind during the attempt the ball misses the result would be three free throws for the intentional foul.

in all other

instances: the ball goes in the basket, the ball doesn’t go in the basket.

two attempts and the ball at the spot nearest the foul. the two attempts to be attempted by the offended player or their substitute. that’s it always every single time except that one instance where the three-point try and the attempt misses and an intentional foul is ruled. in that instance it’s three attempts. every other instance two attempts and the ball at the spot nearest the foul. the attempts for free throw attempted by the offended player or their substitute.

you can imagine a scenario where an intentional foul occurs excessive contact the player is injured. who will shoot their free throws? their substitute!

so let’s go to rule 10 section 7 and go to the penalty section now the penalty section for rule 10 is oftentimes confusing you look at it in the rules book and it seems to be a bit of a jumbled mess okay we have to actually put together a couple of components here to determine that two free throws if intentional or flagrant plus the ball for throw in that is clearly defined fouled in the act of shooting and the try or tap is unsuccessful two free throws on a two point trier tap three free throws on a three-point try or tap plus the ball for throwing if intentional or flagrant okay so what we have to do here

we have to combine section four and section five two free throws if intentional or flagrant plus the ball for throw-in

okay but that doesn’t address the scenario where a three-point attempt is missed if fouled in the act of shooting and try or tap is unsuccessful

b three free throws on a three point try or tap plus the ball for throw in if intentional or flagrant

so we go out of the court we have it with us in our back pocket.

what’s the penalty for an intentional foul simple two free throws to the offended player or their substitute plus the ball at the spot nearest the foul unless ding little asterisk that’s a three-point attempt that misses then it’s going to be 3 free throws by that offended player or their substitute plus the ball at the spot nearest the foul.

Question 2: How many free throws are awarded for an intentional foul?

Here’s our follow-up question how many free throws are awarded for an intentional foul?

you should have it it’s right there it’s right there for you it’s always two free throws to the offended player or their

substitute plus the ball at the spot nearest the foul unless it’s a missed three-point attempt in which case it’s

three three free throws and the ball at the spot nearest the foul.

and our answer is: d two free throws have committed on a successful two point try and three free throws if committed on an

unsuccessful three-point try

Question 3: which is true of continuous motion?

possible answers are

A) it ends when a shot is either made or has missed

B) it only applies if the player is in the air when fouled

C) it never applies when a player is fouled “on the floor.” 

D) it applies when the shooter is tapping the ball toward the goal when fouled

which is true of continuous motion? In my experience is there’s a lot of confusion about continuous motion. that’s my

experience.  officials have a hard time talking about it or defining it. let’s take a look at the definition of continuous motion which is found at our very good friend rule number four the most important rule in the rules book

rule number four section 11 is going to define what continuous motion is now there are a lot of rules in the

rules book if we look at this rule maybe we have a clearer understanding

of why people may have a hard time discussing it

i’m going to take a big breath here

“continuous motion applies to a try or tap for field goals and free throws but it has no significance unless there is a foul by any defensive player during the interval which begins with the habitual throwing movement starts a try or with the touching on a tap and ends when the ball is clearly in flight.”

that’s article 1 of the rule. that is a run-on sentence that is unclear and a basically a word salad that we’re going to have to parse apart.

so it’s understandable if you you know found yourself, “well i can’t clearly define what it is but i know it when i see it etc etc.

let’s take a moment and break that apart. “continuous motion applies to a try or tap for field goal and free throws…”

So it only applies to when there’s an attempt to score. “but it has no significance unless there is a foul by any defensive player.”

Continuous Motion does not apply to the game of basketball unless there’s a foul by a defensive player during an interval.

so now it’s going to describe an interval of time that the foul must occur. during this interval of time and if we extrapolate this interval into the game of basketball we’re talking about maybe less than a second or a maximum of maybe two seconds this is something that happens in the blink of an eye.

“the interval begins when the habitual throwing movement starts a try or with the touching on a tap and ends when the ball is clearly in flight.”

Imagine a player standing on the court they bounce the ball they begin their habitual throwing motion and then they release the ball on a try for goal the time between when they begin their habitual motion and when they release the ball is the interval of time that we’re evaluating if any defensive player commits a foul during that brief interval if an opponent fouls after a player has started to try for goal he or she is permitted to complete the customary arm movement

and if pivoting or stepping when fouled may complete the usual foot or body movement in any activity while holding the ball these privileges are granted only when the usual throwing motion has started before the foul occurs and before the ball is in flight

those are two almost disastrous articles in their ability to be unclear but what we’ve defined is the period of time during which the foul can occur

but we’re talking about when a foul occurs during this brief interval

if that foul occurs the ball does not become dead and the player is allowed to complete their habitual shooting motion and the result of the try

shall count do we have a clear understanding of what continuous motion is.

So, which is true of continuous motion?

it’s kind of an unsatisfying question but which is true

a it ends when the shot is either made or has missed

that is not correct

it only applies if the player is in the air when fouled

no it applies during the interval when the player has begun their habitual throwing motion. imagine them shooting a free throw or a set shot they’re not going to jump to shoot the free throw or set shot

c it never applies when a player is fouled “on the floor.”

if we parse that out on the floor would be before the shot but it can apply before the shot if the foul occurs during the interval when they have begun their habitual throwing motion which may be simply the gathering of the ball on a layup or beginning their shooting motion

d it applies when the shooter is tapping the ball towards the goal when fouled.

It does say specifically in the rule it applies to a try for goal or a tap, so the answer would be: D) it applies when the shooter is tapping the ball towards the goal.

“any defensive player.”

We’ve defined continuous motion but let’s go back and look at one important point of the equation

Example 1

Say that a player has begun their habitual try for motion the defensive player pushes through a screen in an attempt to block the shot displacing the screener that foul occurs during the interval. This player is allowed to complete the motion even though the the player wasn’t necessarily guarding them.

Example 2

Let’s say an off-ball player begins their habitual try for goal on a layup and let’s say defensive player in an attempt to gain rebounding position displaces another player. The whistle blows before the player has released this player’s release the try then they release the try. The foul occurred by any defensive player during the interval that the offensive player had begun their habitual try for motion and had released the ball. During that time the foul occurred, therefore the offensive player gets to complete their shooting motion.

That is going to wrap up this episode of the Basketball Rules Expert. If you found value hit like, hit subscribe and the notification bell so you don’t miss out and any of our content which is coming out two times a week as we get started with the basketball season.

Take the Quiz about Intentional Foul & Continuous Motion!

You can go take a quiz that discusses what we’ve talked about today. Not just the initial questions, but additional questions to make sure that you have an understanding of the rules involved. The quiz can be found here. Take the quiz see how you do.

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