Trueblue23 wrote:
Manhattan Buckeye wrote:
Guilty! If you can't pick up a ball from the floor without turning it over to the other team, what is the point of picking up the ball off of the floor?
And this is the second time I'll mention this, this is the only place where I've seen anyone claim it was a travel. Not from the real-time broadcast. Not from the half-time show. Not from the post-game show. Not from the post-post game show. Not from anywhere else.
You can pick the ball up off of the court dude, but you cannot get up with the ball when you've fallen down. If you do, it is a travel, which is what Rondo was not called for.
And that rule is where here (note it isn't)?:
Section XIV-Traveling
a. A player who receives the ball while standing still may pivot, using either foot as the pivot foot.
b. A player who receives the ball while he is progressing or upon completion of a dribble, may use a two-count rhythm in coming to a stop, passing or shooting the ball.
The first count occurs:
(1) As he receives the ball, if either foot is touching the floor at the time he receives it.
(2) As the foot touches the floor, or as both feet touch the floor simultane- ously after he receives the ball, if both feet are off the floor when he receives it.
The second occurs:
(1) After the count of one when either foot touches the floor, or both feet touch the floor simultaneously.
c. A player who comes to a stop on the count of one may pivot, using either foot as the pivot foot.
d. A player who comes to a stop on the count of two, with one foot in advance of the other, may pivot using only the rear foot as the pivot foot.
e. A player who comes to a stop on the count of two, with neither foot in advance of the other, may use either foot as the pivot foot.
f. In starting a dribble after (1) receiving the ball while standing still, or (2) coming to a legal stop, the ball must be out of the player's hand before the pivot foot is raised off the floor.
g. If a player, with the ball in his possession, raises his pivot foot off the floor, he must pass or shoot before his pivot foot returns to the floor. If he drops the ball while in the air, he may not be the first to touch the ball.
h. A player who falls to the floor while holding the ball, or while coming to a stop, may not gain an advantage by sliding.
i. A player who attempts a field goal may not be the first to touch the ball if it fails to touch the backboard, basket ring or another player.
PENALTY: Loss of ball. The ball is awarded to the opposing team at the sideline, nearest spot of the violation but no nearer the baseline than the foul line extended.
There is nothing here about getting up from the ground, the vast majority of the rule has to do with establishing a pivot, probably the closest rule is (f) with (h). He didn't have possession of the ball prior to his fall. Pursuant to (h), he didn't gain an advantage by sliding....thus by the time he had possession he had established a "legal stop", and pursuant to (f) all he needed to do was start dribbling before he lifted the pivot he established.
Granted, the supermajority of the time someone is on the floor with the ball it is a travel, mainly because the player gains an advantage while being on the floor. But there is nothing in the rule book that says you can't get up from the floor. Such a rule doesn't even make sense. Hypothetically, a person chasing after a ball on the ground could keep tapping it without establishing possession and get up with it, but they couldn't just grab it and get up with it?
The NCAA rules are similar, but arguably tighter, it is more clear that you have to start your dribble before your pivot is established.