A basketball Rules Question (with $50 riding on the outcome)

[SossMan]

I play basketball at 5am 3 times a week at my gym. The same bunch of crappy old dudes, crafty old dudes (there was a legit hook shot this morning) and good, young high school varsity level players.

So here's the play and the argument that ensued (these facts are not disputed):

Player A drives the lane
Player A goes up for a lay up
On his way up, Player B swipes at the ball and gets a piece of it.
The swipe was enough to make Player A lose control of the ball in the air (both hands were off the ball and the ball was in the air being touched by nobody)
While still in the air, Player A regains control of the ball.
Player A lands with both hands on the ball, passes the ball to a teammate who drains a 3 to end the game.

Here's the argument:

1) It's a Jump ball since he didn't let the ball bounce to the ground
2) It's a travelling violation since he didn't ever let the ball bounce to the ground
3) It's a non-call and a live ball, therefore the bucket counts


We have $50 riding on the outcome (not here, but I wanted to see if I was on the correct side of this commonly disputed call).

What's the call?

[TheWorstPlayer]

3 and it's not close. If he goes up and comes down without losing control of the ball, but gets tied up, it's a jump ball. If he goes up and comes down without losing control of the ball and without getting tied up, it's a travel. If he goes up and loses control of the ball, he may then regain control and land and it's a live ball a la Charles Smith against the Bulls.

[swede123]

The answer is clearly 3, the ball is live with no penalty to the offensive player. What the defender did is the same as blocking a shot, knocking the ball up in the air. Clearly the offensive player loses possession and if he regains possession he isn't guilty of travelling. It definitely can't be a jump ball since only one person (the offensive player) is in control of the ball.

Swede

[Sully]

I am almost positive that it is number 3.

As long as the otehr player forced him to lose control of the ball, he can't be called for travelling.

[PokerBob]

[ QUOTE ]
I play basketball at 5am

[/ QUOTE ]

I stopped reading when I got here.

[PokerBob]

OK, I read it all. It's 3. I can't believe that there is an argument here. Maybe if you guys got some sleep you'd be able to think clearly. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[freehat]

3

[TheWorstPlayer]

Yo, my answer was first, best, and definitive. Why are there other posts in this thread?

[SossMan]

Ok, so I'm not crazy. You wouldn't believe how often people think that you are required to 'let the ball drop' before you can touch it. I always try to explain that what would happen if you went for a shot and it was blocked? Would you be forced to wait for the ball to drop while your opponent could snatch it from the air? Still nobody got it...it was like 12-3 of people who said that it was travelling (but they were willing to let it be a jump ball). I smelled an opportunity to put these ego's to use, so I led one of the other guys down the natural road to wagerville. And it finally came..."why don't you put some money on it, hotshot".

Now I just have to find a rulebook (though this scenario will likely not be in there since it's a non-call). Since I'm quite sure that he won't take OOT for an answer, anyone have any bright ideas of how to prove this? I'll try googleing.

I have a buddy who knows an NBA ref...maybe we can get him on the phone....

[SossMan]

[ QUOTE ]
Yo, my answer was first, best, and definitive. Why are there other posts in this thread?

[/ QUOTE ]

Your answer is exactly what I kept saying to them...it didn't get through.