Palming and interference?

Palming?

Few seconds from the start of the game, the pass to 2red is intercepted by 6white who starts transition, near the centre line he finds 23red but he easily overtakes him palming the ball. 23red recovered and hit the ball with a “paw” that bounced on 6white leg and goes out of bounds: ball to White team!
On the restart the referees would be in a good position to call the palming by 6white, while at the moment of the touch by 23red they are in a bad position to read both a possible contact caused by 23red and the bounce of the ball that touches the leg of 6white. Score: one missed call and one wrong call.

We are witnessing a return to the abuse by some players, especially “small” ones, of palming! This is obviously because there is a lack of calls. Palming is a small movement that creates a huge advantage: by putting his hand under the ball, in a moment the player can change direction and often change speed, forcing the defender to let him pass or commit a foul.

Probably in this specific case, the lack of a call is due to the fact that the referees have not yet entered the game, but this cannot be a justification: the brain must be switched on even before the jumpball!

Interference?

5white lay-up rests on the backboard and the ball rolls into the ring but for the unpredictable laws of physics. The basket “spits” the ball out. 31red, while the ball is still above the level of the ring, slaps the net, 10white in the background claims interference and a valid basket! No referee makes a call.

Technically 31red intervention is dangerous: touching the net is not automatically an interference violation unless the ball is in contact with the ring and has a chance to enter the basket. The ball makes two small bounces on the ring and one on the backboard. By decreasing the moment of inertia, which makes the ball “float” above the ring, 31red touch arrives when the ball is starting to fall. The movement of the net has no effect on the possibility of the ball entering/exiting the basket! Correct: not to call an interference violation.

A very difficult situation to read and evaluate, in a topical moment of the game. If the referees had called interference, the action could have been reviewed on instant replay. If the decision had changed, the game would have resumed with the assignment of the ball through the alternating possession arrow. Offensive and defensive players, even in a rebounding situation, must still be careful not to touch the net if the ball is in contact with the ring and, above all, to avoid grabbing it when the ball still has a chance to enter the basket, the gesture can cost points.