Understanding Out of Bounds: A Key Training Play Review

Play #43 Arkansas Little Rock vs SEMO Out of Bounds Stop the clip with 1:14 on the game clock on notice the score and the possession arrow. This setup gives us a good idea that the Black team is likely going to try and get a steal first, a held ball second and then a take foul if their first and second option don’t happen. Knowing the game situation is extremely important. The crew is setup in a great starting position. As players start cutting to get open we need to make sure we stay diligent on enforcing freedom of movement as we know the defense is being more aggressive due to the game situation. As this play unfolds you can see the ball get deflected and then saved from going out of bounds. In pursuit of the ball #4 Black reestablishes himself on the playing court after going out of bounds and legally gains control of the ball. As he passing the ball to a teammate the Lead official blows his whistle for an out of bounds violation. Although the ball is not in the hands of a Black team player at the time of the whistle we know that there is still team control. The Center official which has a big picture view of what just happened has the courage to come provide definite knowledge and get the play correct. In this case this would be an inadvertent whistle. Because there was team control by Black at the time of the whistle we would give the ball to the Black team and set the shot clock to 29sec since this was a live ball turnover. This is a great example of team officiating and showing courage.