Legal and Illegal By J. Craig Ruby Legal Steps from a Jump-Stop Illustration 1.—The offensive man (in the white shirt) has just taken the ball into his hands before or as both feet touched the floor. This constitutes the “one count,” and the player is therefore permitted to pivot on either foot. (See Rule 7, Section 9 of the Official Basket- ball Rules, 1933-34.) Illustration 2.—In this illustration the offensive player has pivoted on his black foot, whirled completely around and brought his free (white) foot to the floor again. As the white foot touched the floor the “two count” occurred. He is in the act of starting a dribble. For the start of the dribble to be legal, the ball must leave the player’s hands be- fore or as the pivot (black) foot leaves the floor. Illustration 3.—If the offensive player wishes to pass (or shoot), he may lift the pivot foot from the floor as shown. The ball must leave his hands before the black foot touches the floor again. Maneuvers In Basketball Basketball Coach, University of Illinois Legal Steps from the Two-Count Jump Stop Illustration 4.—Here the offensive player (in the white shirt) has received the ball with one foot in contact with the floor. The “one count” occurs at this instant. Illustration 5.—The offensive player has jumped, with the ball in his hands, to this position. The “two count” took place as both feet touched the floor. Illustration 6.—From the “two count” position shown in Illustration 5, the of- fensive player may lift either foot from the floor (the white foot in this illus- tration) but will have traveled unless he gets rid of the ball before this foot touches the floor. Here the offensive player has executed a half pivot on his black foot and is about to pass the ball and bring his white foot in contact with the floor. Reprint from the Athletic Journal, December, 1933 Legal Steps from a Stride Stop Illustration 7.—This illustration shows the offensive player (in the white shirt) stopping in a stride stop. The ball has come into his hands as or after the white foot has taken this position, thus making the “one count.” He may, there- fore, pivot on either foot. If he had taken the ball into his hands before the white foot took this position, he could pivot only on the rear foot. Illustration 8.—Here the offensive player has pivoted on the white or front foot. The “two count” occurred as the black foot touched the floor. If the of- fensive player wishes to pass, he may lift the white foot but must get rid of the ball before it touches the floor again. If he wishes to dribble, the ball must leave his hands before or as the white foot is lifted from the floor. Dribbler Charging Fouls Illustration 9.—The player with the ball (in the white shirt) is in the process of faking his guard in preparation for an attempt to dribble around him. The left foot has been used as the pivot foot during the faking. Dribbler Charging Fouls Illustration 10.— This illustration shows that the offensive man (in the white shirt) did not choose a path for his dribble wide enough around the guard. The dribbler is charging the guard and is guilty of a personal foul. Illustration 11.—Here is a case in which the offensive player, from the starting position shown in Illustration 9, chose a path wide to the side of the guard. The guard (in the black shirt) has crossed his feet and is causing con- tact with the dribbler. A personal foul should be called on the guard for charging. Illustration 12.—When a dribbler is attempting to go around a guard, it is possible for both men to foul, as is shown in this illustration. The dribbler is charging and the guard is both push- ing and charging. Reprint from the Athletic Journal, December, 1933 Guarding a Player Who Does Not Have the Ball Illustration 13.—This illustrates a guard (in the black jersey) touching an opponent in order to make the guard- ing much easier. It is a foul. Opponents are not permitted to “feel” the direction and movement of each other. Illustration 14.—Face guarding, though infrequent, is a difficult ma- neuver for the official to rule upon. This illustration shows a black shirted defen- sive player face guarding his opponent. The position, as shown, is not a foul. A foul will occur if the defensive player shifts as the offensive player shifts, thus interfering with the progress of the of- fensive player. Pivot Play Fouls Illustration 15.—Here is shown a fre- quent foul on the part of a defensive man when playing against the pivot man. The defensive player (in the black shirt) is overguarding by handicapping the movement of the pivot man. The defensive player’s arm, being above the arm of the pivot man, is likely to cause holding when the ball arrives. Pivot Play Fouls Illustration 16.— The pivot man should be fouled when he tries continu- ally to “feel” the location of his guard with his hands. Some pivot men “feel” with their hips and constantly back up to their guard. It is this action by the pivot man and the overguarding on the part of his opponent which cause the pivot play to be so difficult to officiate. When the ball is not in possession of the pivot man, one official should watch the maneuvering on the part of the pivot man and his opponent. In this illustration, the pivot man (in the white shirt) is “feeling” the position of his guard, and a foul should be called against him. Illustration 17.—The pivot man may commit a “dribbler charging” foul as well as the offensive player shown in Illustration 10. Here the pivot man (in the white shirt) is charging his guard in an attempt to get to the basket. Illustration 18.—Some pivot men have learned that if they attempt underhand shots at the basket the guard will be drawn into a foul. This illustration shows such a case. As shown here, no foul is occurring. However, if the guard permits his left hand to move downward and “hack” the shooter, he has fouled. But if the guard merely holds his arm in the position shown and if the shooter throws his arms upward into the arm of the guard, no foul occurs even if the shooter does appear to be “hacked.” In actual play, the guard will foul most of the time, for he will be unable to prevent bringing his arm down on the shooter’s arms. Since these offensive tac- tics are being used so frequently, every conference or league should consider this play in its interpretation meetings. Reprint from the Athletic Journal, December, 1933 Natural Screen Illustration 19.—The beginning of the most frequent of the screen plays is il- lustrated here. The white shirted player on the left has just passed the ball to his team mate. He will continue his course, take the ball from his team mate and dribble or shoot. The player with the ball may fake the pass and keep the ball for a dribble to his own right. No fouls are shown in this illustration. Illustration 20.—A continuation of the play started in Illustration 19 is shown here. The ball has been passed to the running player; he has retreated a step and is preparing to shoot. The passer has held his position and is pre- paring to move toward the rebound. The defensive players (in the black shirts) have been screened from the shooter. This maneuver is legal unless the passer backs up into the defensive men or pushes them in some manner. The defensive men might foul if they attempt to get to the shooter by pushing the passer. Pick-off Screen Illustration 21.—The start of a pick- off screen is shown here. The offensive player on the right (in the white shirt) will suddenly move to the side of the de- fensive player on the left, while the player with the ball dribbles behind the screen established. See Illustration 22. Pick-off Screen Illustration 22.—Here the pick-off is being executed. This is legal so long as the offensive player originally on the right does not touch the defensive man or otherwise hinder his attempts to follow the dribbler. The pick-off man has a right to his spot on the floor and is not fouling in this case. Illustration 23.—The pick-off is being illegally executed here by the offensive man. The pick-off man has no right to use his arms in this fashion to prevent the movement of the defensive player. He can merely take his position and must not cause contact. If the guard causes contact, the offensive man cannot be fouled, although he may desire that con- tact to occur. NOTE.—Pictures were posed by Cap- tain Hellmich, Mills, Rohlen and Stine of the University of Illinois basketball squad. Reprint from the Athletic Journal, December, 1933 Meeting the Fake Shot and Dribble Playing the Dribbler RN asi The Wrong Way (Left) The Right Way (Right) The Wrong Way (Left) The Right Way (Right) The guard (in the white shirt) ap- proaches the man with the ball who— The man with the ball attempts to drib- The guard (in the white shirt) ap- ble past the guard (in the white shirt). proaches the man with the ball who The man with the ball attempts to drib- ble past the guard (in the white shirt). —fakes a shot. The guard attempts to block the shot by throwing up his arms and— The guard moves to cut off the drib- bler— —fakes a shot. The guard attempts to block the shot by tl i : : sell aoa Soe ee aaa ae ee Instead of crossing his legs, the guard : starts his side-shift, keeping his feet well spread and close to the floor. —jumping into the air. The man with the ball, taking advantage of the eee guard’s mistake,— —crossing his right leg over his left as he does so,— —he refuses to be drawn into the air. The offensive player withdraws the ball and— The guard moves sidewards, with short, quick, gliding steps— —starts a dribble. —which allows the dribbler to gain an advantage on the guard. attempts to dribble around the guard, whose upraised arm is an effec- tive barrier against a shot. The guard, keeping his knees bent and his hips down to give him balance, side-shifts and— —maintaining a position four-square with the dribbler and— The guard, who has crossed his legs and thereby placed himself in a weak defensive position, watches the man with the ball dribble around him and— Before the guard can alight and re- cover his balance, the man with the ball has dribbled past him and— —keeping between the dribbler and the basket,— —retains his position between the drib- bler and the basket— —is far down the floor. i in toward the basket. —until the offensive player is forced to pick up the ball or is driven to the side line, —thus forcing the dribbler to pick up the ball or carry it well out toward the side line. Reprint from the Athletic Journal, January, 1934 The Reverse Pivot (Left) The dribbler approaches the guard (in the white shirt). (Right) The man who has been trailing— As the guard closes in, the dribbler— —cuts past the pivoter and — —picks up the ball,— —receives a short pass. —comes to a stop (note the crouched position) and— The pivoter continues his turn,— —begins his reverse pivot or turn. —screening for the team mate— The pivoter turns his head so as to see the team mate who is trailing him. —as the latter dribbles to- ward the basket. The Double Pivot (Left) The offensive player ap- proaches the guard (in the white shirt) ,— (Right) —passing— —picks up the ball and— —to a team mate, who is— —comes to a stride stop. —cutting for the basket. The offensive player then starts his reverse pivot (on his left foot). The pivoter continues his turn — As the offensive player completes his reverse pivot, the guard over- shifts. —so as to screen for his team mate— So the offensive player starts to pivot back toward his original position— —as the latter goes in for the shot. Reprint from the Athletic Journal, January, 1934 The Front Turn (Left) The dribbler, pursued— (Right) —to go on past him. —by an opponent (in the white shirt) ,— The offensive player is then— —picks up the ball,— —free to pass— —comes to a quick stop (note the crouched posi- tion)— —to a trailing team mate. —and starts a front turn (on the left foot),— The latter continues in to the basket— —allowing the pursuing opponent— —for the shot. Guarding the Fake and Reverse (The Wrong Way) The offensive man (in the dark shirt) comes out to meet the ball. Before the guard can recover his bal- ance— He fakes to the right— —the man with the ball is dribbling— —and, as the guard (in the white shirt) is drawn out of position, starts a reverse. —toward the basket, with the guard completely out of position following him in. The guard, of course, would not have been defeated in this manner if he had maintained a well crouched position, refusing to be drawn off balance by the fake. He could have covered the possibility of a break to the right without committing himself so completely. That would have given him a chance to shift quickly to the left to block the dribbler as he started toward the basket. Reprint from the Athletic Journal, January, 1934