<< 9.5 PLAYER OFF UNICYCLE
If a player falls and loses the unicycle, the player must try to get it out
of the way as soon as possible if it can be done without disrupting the flow
of play. If that is not possible, then the player must leave it where it
lands until it can be retrieved without being disruptive. A violation will
result in a technical foul.
snip
9.8 CONTACT OF THE BALL WITH THE UNICYCLE
As long as the player is in contact with the unicycle, riding or not, it is
considered part of a player when a ball bounces out of bounds off the
unicycle. If this happens the other team gets possession of the ball. A
unicycle that is not touching it’s rider is considered part of the court
(for example if he had fallen). What team gets possession will depends on
what happened immediately prior to the ball bouncing off the unicycle.
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Here’s my 2 cents worth on the proposed rules:
On Idling & twisting: Does this mean that it’s not allowed for a player to twist
- then switch to idle ? The one meter radius is very generous. A very big idle
on a 24 inch wheel (almost horizontal to horizontal) gives you about 90 cm of
total travel. The sideways drifting allowance should be no more than half that
each way - giving you a 45 cm radius from where the idle started. It would be
simplest to just make the 45 cm radius the pivot space & leave a rider free to
idle and or twist in there.
Another point to consider - does an idling player get a protected idle space
- say a player is in a front stroke of an idle & another occupies the space
right behind him so that they collide when the first player does his next back
stroke My feeling is that a player in an established idle should have this
space protected. What are your thoughts on this
On Dropped Cycles: A dropped cycle should never become part of the floor. On the
contrary - if a cycle lays in a spot where it may pose a threat to player safety
the ref should stop play - have the cycle removed & award the ball to the team
not responsible for the dropped cycle. Making a dropped cycle part of the floor
seems dangerous to me. Players are looking up at the ball & the rim & shouldn’t
be required to scan the floor for debris. Play should be stopped when a
dangerous condition occurs.
Rather than a technical foul - which should only be called for an intentional
violation - i feel there should be an obstruction call if a dropped or dragged
unicycle causes unintentional disadvantage to the opposing team -
i.e. a player with a free path to the basket is tripped up by an opponent who
falls off his cycle & just couldn’t get his cycle out of the way in time.
Look at it this way: A player on his cycle roughly has right to the space he
physically occupies - roughly shoulder width by wheel diameter. If he gets run
into by an opponent in this space a foul is charged to the opponent. If a player
tries to block the path of an opponent by sticking out an arm and his arm gets
run into a foul is charged to this player. A player next to his cycle takes up
more than his alotted space. It is appreciated that a player often cannot help
being off his cycle - he may be pushed - or crowded - or has to dismount for
safety - so it wouldn’t be practical to call a foul if he inadvertantly gets in
the way - hence the obstruction call - opposing team gets the ball out of bounds
and no foul is charged. This call should be made on offense as well as defense -
a downed cycle can prevent a player from making a defensive play as well
A flagrant foul should be called as well against a player who charges into
another out of control - typically when going after a ball there was clearly no
chance of him/her getting & in the process endangering another player.
One question: What is the purpose of the 4 second zone vs 3 sec in regular
basketball - where does this come from - what’s the thought behind it
I agree we should lose the paragraph on dribbling. Regular basketball rules
combined with the unicycle basketball definition of traveling fully cover all
that already
We can also lose the line about a player off his unicycle being considered
off-side - i don’t think it means anything in basketball - we already
established that a player can only play the ball while mounted on his/her
unicycle. A player not on his cycle touching the ball causes the opposing team
to be awarded the ball out of bounds An issue that does need to be cleared up is
that of a player playing the ball in the process of falling or jumping off
his/her cycle. The ball is life as long as it is played off before any part of
his/her body touches the floor.
In my opinion we should also cut whole paragraph on intentional pushing. Regular
basketball regulations cover this entirely. In reading this paragraph a regular
basketball ref who shows up to whistle a uni bball game assumes uni bball is
supposed to be more physical than regular bball. I don’t believe that’s the
intention. Regular basketball has well defined rules about contact and no
adaptation is required there. I don’t agree that there is any more pushing &
shoving allowed than there would be in regular basketball because many players
are going after the ball - nor is it acceptable for players to push & shove
because they’re looking for balance. On the contrary - because of the nature of
the game - since balance is a major factor and players are supposed to be
mounted without any support - less contact is allowed than in regular
basketball. As far as I know there is much less hand checking - boxing out &
backing up don’t work well because you tend to run each other over or push each
other down - resulting in a foul call for a lot less of a push than there ever
would have been whistled at in a regular bball game
Does anyone know how many teams will be competing in Beijing ?
Ride on,
Sem Abrahams