Could someone clarify a rule for me?

This does not pertain to any BYU game this season, but it has bothered me for 30+ years. The rule is in regards to the 3 second "in the key" rule. As an intermural bball player back in my youthful student days, I made the mistake of trying to go to the basket and got trapped under the basket. I was too far under (and too small) to try and jump into the opponent to get to the basket. I got trapped by a double team, but was able to pass outside of the key to a teammate. Knowing that I had to be close to 3 seconds, I stepped across the out of bounds line, thinking that I was no longer "in the key" and would reset the 3 second rule. The referee blew the whistle and called me for 3 seconds in the key. I inquired about the call and he indicated that the key extends out of bounds indefinitely. Is that true? If so, why do the boundaries on the sides and at the top of the key define the key, while the boundary at the bottom does not? Do I get an unfair advantage by standing out of bounds? If they throw the ball to me there, I am whistled for being out of bounds. I am no closer to the basket than the player standing next to the key by the basket. I am, however, out of sight of the defenders. If a player jumps out of bounds and saves a ball from going out, he is allowed to come back onto the court after it touches another player and receive the ball. Does the key really extend out of bounds for ever and ever?

Hmmm...either you were the victim of a poor intramural ref (wouldn't be the first or last time) or the ref had it right.



Kind of makes sense, because the idea behind the 3 second rule is keep players from camping out under the basket. If the Key didn't extend indefinitely, a player could basically stand on the outside of the out of bounds line as long as he wanted and step in to catch a pass or grab a rebound. Two feet behind the rim is closer than 5 feet to the side of the rim.

I believe the key does extend out past the end line. I think the call was probably accurate, but it didn't need to be called because you had no bearing on the play after that. The only reason to have the rule is to keep someone from stepping back into the key to receive a pass after the defense has relaxed. Now, with the change in high school rules, you wouldn't be able to do that. They made the Reggie Miller play of setting a double screen on the baseline and having the player run across the baseline out of bounds off of those screens an illegal play. I wish they would change that rule back, because the defender can still chase out of bounds.