Unusual Basketball Rules Most Coaches Get Wrong

Unusual basketball rules are the ones nobody argues about until the last minute of a close game. A blocked shot that grazes the ring, a free throw that only hits the backboard, a throw-in that runs no time off the clock: each has a clear answer in the rulebook, and the answer is not always the same at every level.

This guide takes six of them and gives each one by level, labeled NFHS (high school), NCAA men, NCAA women, NBA or FIBA.

Every rule here comes from the current official books, with one exception. The current high school book is not free to read, so high school lines come from the NCAA's published comparison chart or are marked as the 2017-18 high school text, and anything newer says to check your state association rulebook. The full rules by level are on basketball rules and regulations, and every rules page is on the rules and terms hub.

Unusual Basketball Rules: The Blocked Shot and the Shot Clock

A shot that is blocked and then hits the ring resets the shot clock the same way any shot off the ring does. A blocked shot that never touches the ring resets nothing. The ring touch is what counts, not the block:

• NCAA men. The clock resets to 20 when the offense is first to control the ball in its frontcourt after "a try, pass or deflection" touches the ring or flange, and to 30 if the defense gets it (Rule 2 Sec. 11 Arts. 6.d.1 and 6.b.4). The shot clock keeps running when a try fails to hit the ring or flange (Art. 9).
• NCAA women. The clock resets to 20 when the shooting team is first to control the ball in its frontcourt after a missed field goal or free throw touches the ring or flange and stays live, and to 30 when the other team gets it (Rule 2 Sec. 11 Arts. 6.d.1 and 6.b.4).
• NBA. For the 14-second reset, any live ball from the court that touches the ring of the team in possession counts as a missed field goal that touched the ring (Rule 7 Sec. IV(d)). The clock is never reset on a field-goal attempt that fails to touch the rim, and a defender who touches the ball without gaining possession does not stop it (Rule 7 Secs. IV(b)(5) and II(g)).
• FIBA. After the ball touches the ring, the clock resets to 24 if the opponents gain control and to 14 if the same team keeps it (Art. 29.2.7). An opponent merely touching the ball does not start a new shot-clock period when the same team keeps control (Art. 51.1).
• High school. The NCAA comparison chart lists the shot clock as a state adoption of 35 seconds and gives no high school reset rule. Check your state association rulebook.

Blocked, then the ring. 2 shoots from the right wing and X2 blocks it, but the ball still hits the ring. At every level that reads the ring, the touch is what resets the shot clock.

Shot clock lengths and every reset are on basketball shot clock rules, and the state-by-state question is on high school shot clock.

Teach your bench to watch the ring, not the block, when the shot clock is low.

A Free Throw Off the Backboard Only

A free throw has to go in or touch the ring. A try that hits only the backboard does not meet that requirement, so it is a violation and the point cannot count:

• NCAA men and women. The try must enter the basket or touch the ring or flange before the free throw ends (Rule 8 Sec. 5 Art. 1.a and Rule 9 Sec. 1 Art. 1.a). The book has no backboard example. The backboard-only answer is a reading of that ring requirement.
• NBA. The attempt must enter the basket or touch the ring within 10 seconds (Rule 9 Sec. I(a)). Same reading for a try off only the backboard.
• FIBA. The free throw must enter the basket from above or touch the ring (Art. 44.2.3), which a backboard-only try does not.
• High school. The 2017-18 high school text says the try must enter the basket or touch the ring before the free throw ends. Check your state association rulebook for the current wording.

Backboard only. 1's free throw hits the backboard and never touches the ring. The try has to go in or touch the ring, so this is a violation.

The rule matters most on the intentional miss late in a game. The ball has to hit the rim, and the shooter cannot cross the line until it does. Intentional misses tend to come up short, and a miss to the left or right side of the rim works better than one at the front. Lane spaces and the rest of the violations are on basketball free throw rules.

Practice the intentional miss before you need it. A miss that only hits the backboard gives the ball away.

The Clock Starts on the Touch

On a throw-in, the game clock does not start when the thrower lets go of the ball. It starts when a player on the court touches it. That is true at every level whose book was read:

• NCAA men and women. The game clock starts when an inbounds player legally touches the ball after the throw-in is released (Rule 5 Sec. 10 Art. 2.a).
• NBA. On a throw-in, the game clock starts when the ball is legally touched by any player within the playing area (Rule 5 Sec. VIII(a)(2)).
• FIBA. During a throw-in, the clock starts when the ball touches or is legally touched by any player on the court (Art. 50.2).
• High school. The 2017-18 high school text starts the clock when the ball touches, or is legally touched by, a player on the court after the thrower releases it. Check your state association rulebook.

The clock waits for the touch. 3 throws in from the left sideline to 1. The game clock starts when 1 touches the ball, not when 3 lets it go.

Late in a game this buys time. One long pass to half court costs only the second or so it takes to catch, so with three or four seconds left a team with a timeout can throw it long, call timeout on the catch and run a half-court play.

The NCAA books add a floor under the trick: in the last 59.9 seconds of a period, when the ball is touched inbounds and an official stops the clock at once, at least .3 of a second must come off (Rule 5 Sec. 10 Art. 2.d). The NBA's rule is the same .3 on a ball thrown in and hit straight out of bounds (Comments on the Rules II.L).

Know how much time a catch costs, and draw the late play around it. More is on basketball game clock rules.

Running the End Line

The thrower may run the end line after a made basket, and in the NBA and FIBA after certain made free throws (the NBA also at the start of a period). On other throw-ins he takes the ball at a spot. What happens after a timeout that follows the basket is where the books split:

• NCAA men. After a goal the thrower may move along the end line and throw in from any point out of bounds there (Rule 7 Sec. 4 Art. 6.a). He keeps that right if a timeout is granted, a technical foul is assessed against either team, or the defense fouls near the end line before the bonus, commits a flagrant foul there or kicks the ball. Only in those cases may he pass along the end line to a teammate also out of bounds (Art. 6.b).
• NCAA women. The same right after a goal, kept when a timeout is granted before the throw-in pass is released, when the defense fouls near the end line before the bonus, or kicks the ball. The pass to a teammate out of bounds is allowed in those cases (Rule 7 Sec. 4 Art. 6).
• NBA. After a made field goal, a free throw from a personal foul, and at the start of a period, the thrower may run the end line or pass to a teammate also out of bounds there (Rule 6 Sec. I(c) and Rule 8 Sec. III(c)). The sections read do not say whether a timeout after the basket keeps that right. Check with the league.
• FIBA. After a goal or a successful last free throw, the throw-in is from any place behind the end line, even after a time-out that follows the goal. The thrower may move along it or backwards and pass to a teammate, and the five seconds start when the first thrower has the ball (Art. 17.2.10).
• High school. The 2017-18 high school text lets any player throw in from any point outside the end line after a goal or pass along it to a teammate, and keeps the right if the scoring team commits a violation or a common foul before the bonus. It does not mention a time-out. Check your state association rulebook.

Run the end line. After a made basket, 4 takes the ball out under that basket and moves along the end line to a better angle before he passes in to 1.

Players often do not know whether they may still run the end line after a timeout. Tell them in the huddle. The full throw-in rules are on basketball throw-in rules.

Make it part of every late timeout: who takes it out, and whether he may run.

The Thrower Cannot Move on a Spot Throw-In

Away from a made basket the thrower stands at a designated spot, and the room he has to move is small:

• NCAA men and women. The spot is 3 feet wide with no depth limit. The thrower keeps one foot on or over it until he releases the ball, and pivot-foot and traveling rules do not apply to a throw-in (Rule 7 Sec. 6 Art. 8).
• NBA. The designated spot is one step to his left or right, and leaving it is a violation (Rule 10 Sec. III).
• FIBA. He may move sideways no more than a total of 1 m from the place, and straight back as far as circumstances allow (Art. 17.3.1).
• High school. The 2017-18 high school text sets the same 3-foot spot and the one-foot rule. Check your state association rulebook.

Spot throw-in. 2 takes the ball out on the right sideline and keeps a foot on the 3-foot spot until he releases it. X2 keeps every part of his body on his side of the line.

Moving off the spot and stepping inbounds before the release are two throw-in violations players miss. The thrower also has five seconds, at every level whose book was read. The defense knows all this, because an out-of-bounds play is 5 against 4 with a passer who cannot move. How to use that is on how to defend inbounds plays, and the offense's side is on basketball inbound plays.

Make the inbounder a position you practice, not whoever is closest to the ball.

The Ball Held Over the Boundary

A defender may not break the boundary plane before the ball crosses it. When the thrower holds the ball out over the line, the books answer differently:

• NCAA men. No opponent may have any part of his body over the inside plane until the ball crosses it (Rule 7 Sec. 6 Art. 9.b). Doing it again after the team warning is a Class B technical. Reaching through the plane to touch or knock away the ball while the thrower holds it, or while it is passed to a teammate out of bounds on the end line, is a Class B technical foul (Rule 9 Sec. 4 Art. 4).
• NCAA women. The same plane rule, one team warning, then a technical. Reaching through to touch the ball while the thrower holds it, while it is passed along the end line, or while it is passed toward the court before it crosses the plane, is a player technical foul (Rule 10 Sec. 12 Art. 4.g).
• NBA. A defender crossing the line within the designated spot before the release is a delay of game, a warning first and then a technical foul. In the last two minutes of the fourth period and overtime it is a technical foul at once (Rule 12A Sec. II(a)(5)).
• FIBA. No player may have any part of the body over the line before the ball is thrown across it (Art. 17.3.2). With 2:00 or less in the fourth quarter or overtime, the referee shows a warning signal before the throw-in, and a defender who then crosses to interfere commits a violation that leads to a technical foul (Art. 17.3.3).
• High school. The comparison chart says a defender may not cross until the thrower releases the ball, a team warning and then a technical foul. The 2017-18 high school text adds the unusual part: the thrower may push the ball through the plane, and when he does, the defender may legally touch or grab it. Reaching through to touch the ball while it is in the thrower's possession is still a technical foul. Check your state association rulebook.

Boundary plane. X3 guards 3 on the left sideline and reaches over the line before the ball crosses it. Each level has its own warning and penalty for that.

Sideline and end line differ in one way. On a sideline throw-in the plane rule covers one thrower at one spot. After a made basket the end line is open, and both NCAA books also protect the pass between two players out of bounds there, so a defender who reaches across to knock that pass away is charged with a technical foul.

Tell the inbounder to keep the ball back from the line. Then the only rule left to argue is the five seconds.

Teaching the Rules to Players

Throw-in violations happen even in the NBA, and a few minutes of team rule review can save a game. The simplest tool is a short self-quiz on the throw-in rules: the five seconds, the spot, touching the ball again before another player does, the end line after a made basket and the defender reaching over the plane.

The rest of the violations are listed by level on basketball violations list, and the words players hear from officials are on basketball terminology. The late-game side of these rules is on basketball clock management.

Every one of these rules is worth one possession. Teach them before the first game.

More Rules Guides

• Basketball Throw-In Rules: Spot, End Line and Boundary Plane
• High School vs College vs NBA Rules: What Changes for a Coach
• FIBA vs NFHS Rules for Coaches Who Play Internationally
• Basketball Game Clock Rules: When It Stops and When It Starts

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