Have Ball, Will Travel: Andray Blatche

Posted by on Saturday, November 13, 2010 6 Comments

‘Have Ball, Will Travel’ is a recurring video feature here at Hardwood Paroxysm, in which we take a closer look at debatable traveling calls and non-calls with documented rule in mind.

In this installment, we’ll look at a play in last night’s game between the Wizards and Bobcats, in which Andray Blatche was whistled for a traveling violation on a drive to the basket.

The NBA’s Video Rulebook states that “an offensive player with the ball may not hop consecutively on the same foot upon ending his dribble.” Upon closer inspection, that’s exactly what Blatche does. He uses his first “collect’ step as a hop off of his right foot, and follows it up with another step of his right foot. Had Blatche alternated feet on his path to the basket, this would be a perfectly legal maneuver.

We get so caught up in counting steps that it’s easy to overlook a sequence like this one. There’s nothing wrong with Blatche’s step-count, but the referee was on top of the illegal move nonetheless. Kudos to the officiating crew.

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About Rob Mahoney: Rob Mahoney is the author of the Dallas Mavericks blog The Two Man Game, a regular contributor to NBC Sports' ProBasketballTalk and the New York Times' Off the Dribble blog, and co-editor of Voice on the Floor. In a past life, Rob owned and operated the generalist NBA blog Upside and Motor, which has since been retired from the noble blog ranks. Rob enjoys Diet Coke, The Room, and baby hook shots. You can contact Rob at: TheTwoManGame[at]gmail[dot]com

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docta1977

his first step counts when both of his hands touch the ball. the video clearly doesn't show if both hands touch the ball on his first step. if the ball is still hovering in the air going upwards on his left hand his first hop isn't considered a step. it looks like his second hand touches the ball while his foot is still on the ground but camera doesn't actually show it.

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Bosco

I see that he violated the rule, but I don't get why this is a rule at all. What advantage do you get by using your two steps with the same foot? Just awkward.

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Leo

I'm glad someone caught that too.! Obviously he entered the drive with good intentions but he never had the ball under control.

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Eugene

He also traveled before he even put the ball down. He shuffled his feet on the up-fake.

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Trackbacks

  1. Video: Did Blake Griffin travel? | Hardwood Paroxysm says:
    November 23, 2010 at 10:00 am

    [...] Griffin commits the same error that Andray Blatche committed earlier this month: he takes two consecutive steps by hopping on the same foot. According to the NBA’s Video [...]

  2. Video: Did Dwyane Wade travel? | Hardwood Paroxysm says:
    November 30, 2010 at 11:03 am

    [...] player with the ball may not hop consecutively on the same foot upon ending his dribble.” Andray Blatche has pulled the same maneuver before and was whistled for a violation, whereas Blake Griffin (by [...]