I was watching the end of the SC and Stanford womens game last evening and Stanford was on the line. The SC defender was pushing so hard that Stanford player fell into the paint. A lane violation and loss of the second shot was called. Seems odd to me that all you have to do is push someone into the paint and you get a lane violation. My question is how much pushing in the line is permitted and is it possible to foul someone or do they just get a reset?
This actually happened in an intramural game I was playing in. My team was shooting a free throw and it was missed. A teammate grabbed the rebound and put up a shot toward the wrong basket, which was brain dead, and he was fouled on the shot and that was even more incredibly stupid. Laughingly I asked the refs if he would get three free throws for being fouled on a shot outside the arc. This same teammate also got a lane violation for trying to distract the shooter in a different game.
Wow... I have never seen that called but I'm glad to hear it has happened once in basketball history. There is a special place in hell reserved for people who do this.
Kind of an obscure rule. I never saw it called before and tipped my hat to the ref in the game that called it. These intramural refs are not pros. In his defense, our player was an athlete and not a basketball player. He didn't know.
I was an official for over 25 years so I will try to best answer that question for you as there can be some discretion to the official. You can call a foul for pushing someone into the lane to create a violation and most of the time that is what should be called but if the act is unsportsmanlike or deemed intentional the official can give a technical foul for an unsportsmanlike act. Some officials will go with a lane violation on the team that pushed and will wait to see the result of the free throw. If it's made they will probably go up to the offending player before the next shot and warn them not to push again or will have to call a foul or technical. In your case seems like the official missed the push and just called a lane violation on the Stanford player.
Thanks for a great explanation of what can happen. I think SC probably got some good 'ol home cookin' (nothing nefarious) and I say that because the Stanford coach was angered after the game. It flipped momentum and altered the game. Missouri took care of matters. More to follow, hopefully. Dominance in womens hoops has been bad for interest.
