Newbury Park Basketball Association

Playing Rules 2008 Season

 I.                     General Rules:

A.      The National Federation of High School Rules (current edition) shall govern all players, coaches, managers, and officials except as modified below.

B.      Coaches and Directors should keep a copy of these rules with them at every game.

C.      Each division will employ a section of specific rule exceptions attached to these rules.

D.      For purposes of simplicity, he means both he or she.

II.                   Basketball Court:  Depending upon availability of gym time and space, games may be played either full length court or cross court.  Games will be played at either Newbury Park High School, Sequoia Middle School or Borchard Park.  Games will be scheduled on Friday night, Saturday and after 11am on Sunday.

III.                  Minimum Play Rule:  All players on the official roster of a team must play a minimum of two full periods (based on the four or five period game) in each league scheduled game unless he is injured or fouls out.

A.      All players must play a minimum of one full period in the first half of the game, and one full period in the second half, unless player becomes ill or is injured. (full period means from beginning to end without substitution)   

B.      All players must sit out one full period unless one or both teams has 6 or fewer players available. With 6 or fewer players on one or both teams, players on both teams can play all 4 periods. 

C.      For time/score keeping and team foul purposes, the half,  for 5 period games, shall be defined as the first two periods for  the first half, and the second three periods shall comprise the second half.  Stop clock will be in effect for the last two minutes of the last period unless otherwise noted in the Division rules.   

D.      A coach may for disciplinary reasons request that the League Director allow a player on his official roster to be used less than required (as stated above) during a game.  However, such request and the resultant agreement must be made at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled time of the game.  

E.      Except as limited by the minimum play rule, there will be free substitution during the game.  Substitutions are to be made when the action of play has been stopped and the referee directs the substitution.  Players must report to the official scorer prior to the substitution.

IV.                Specific Rules:   (See Exceptions rules for specific Divisions)

A.      Back Court Press is not allowed until the final two minutes of the Final Period.   

B.      Defensive players may not guard another player until they have crossed the designated in play line.  This rule is in effect during  fastbreak play .  The in play line is located between half court and the top of the KEY.  Once a player has crossed the in play line, defensive players may guard another regardless of their location.  Zone defense is not allowed, only man to man.  A defensive player is playing man-to-man when he or she is within 6 feet of an offensive player inside the in play area.  After two official warnings, a technical foul will be assessed for each violation of this rule.  Players may not obstruct, reach in or contest the ball handler during fastbreaks.  This does not preclude intercepting passes or recovering balls that are not under the control of a dribbler. 

C.      The ten second (10) rule shall apply for the offensive team to move the ball past the mid-court line.  The twenty second (20) rule shall be allowed for the offensive team to move the ball past the in play line. 

D.      The offense may not return the ball beyond the half court line.

E.      Offensive players may not remain in the Key area for more than five (5) continuous seconds.

F.      Double teaming a player with the ball may only occur in the key area. If, however, an offensive player with the ball is being guarded by one defensive player and moves toward another offensive player being guarded by a second defensive player, then second defensive player may attempt to stop the offensive player with the ball.

G.     Players on defense must be within six (6) feet of the offensive player that they are guarding, unless the offensive player is beyond the in-play line.  When a offensive player is beyond the in-play line, the defensive player cannot be in the key.  After two official warnings, a technical foul will be assesed for each violation of this rule. 

H.      All fouls will be in accordance with the National Federation of High School Rules including Bonus (one plus one) Free Throws on the Seventh (7) team foul, and all succeeding fouls of each half up to 10 fouls.  On the Tenth (10) team foul two shots are automatically taken. After the first half,  all team fouls shall be reset to "0".

I.         Each player shall be allowed a maximum of four (4) personal fouls.  On the fifth personal foul, the player is out of the game.  If a team has only 5 players and one of those players fouls out of the game, that player may continue to play.  Any fouls committed by that player  shall result in an appropriate free throw plus awarding of a technical foul free throw followed by the ball being awarded to the team fouled.

J.       Intentional Fouls - If, in the opinion of the game official, an intentional foul has been committed, the player against who the foul was committed will be awarded two (2) free throws and possession of the ball.   If the official deems such a foul as a flagrant foul, the player committing the foul may be ejected from the game.

V.                  Regulation Game Length: 

A.      There will be five (5) periods of seven (7) minutes each or four (4) periods of nine (9) minutes each depending on Division rules. The timekeeper shall monitor rest periods between periods and time-outs.  At 45 seconds the timekeeper will sound the horn.  this gives the teams 15 seconds to return to the court and resume play.

B.      Each team will be allowed four one (1) minute time outs per game, and only one (1) per overtime period.

C.      The Overtime period will be three (3) minutes, continuous running clock or 2 minutes with stop clock if so stated in division exception rules.  If the score remains tied at the end of the 1^st overtime period, then a sudden death playoff period will start.  Sudden death playoff is defined as the first time that scores wins the game.  All team fouls, personal fouls and technical fouls roll forward into the overtime period(s).  So, if a team is in the bonus situation at the end of the game, that bonus situation would continue through the overtime period(s).

D.      The clock will continue to run except in the final 2 minutes of the game  (Not in Gremlin Division).  There will be a one (1) minute rest between the last period, overtime period and Sudden Death.  Their will be a three (3) minute half time rest period for 4 period games unless games are falling behind schedule.

E.      Each team must be able to field five (5) players by  the scheduled time of game or forfeit.

F.      Coaches may call time outs from the bench.

VI.                Dress Code:

A.      No jewelry of any kind may be worn during the game.

B.      Finger nails must be neatly trimmed to avoid injury to other players.

C.      Shirts are to be tucked in and the appropriate uniforms are to be worn. 

D.      The appearance of off color shorts and / or other improper attire will not be allowed.

VII.               Postponed Games:  All postponed games will be rescheduled in accordance with the opposing coaches, the division director, and availability of referees and gym time.  Any rescheduled games must be approved by the NPBA Board of Directors.  Sunday Games will be scheduled in the event that adequate gym time is not available on Friday or Saturday.

VIII.             Tournament Rules:

A.                  Rule 3B is amended as follows for all divisions:

1.       Each team will submit to their respective director their roster for the playoffs.  Teams with a roster of 8 or more players at the beginning of the tournament but have 6 players in attendance at a tournament game, player participation shall be limited as follows:  the opposing coach shall select the two players that will be permitted to play all four periods. The opposing coach may waive this rule.

B.                  Tournament Seeding Criteria (added Nov. 2002)

1.      Teams shall be seeded from #1 (highest) down to the number of teams in the division. The team with the best record shall be seeded higher.  Best record is defined as the highest winning percentage (games won divided by games played; ties count as ½ game won). If any teams have the same winning percentage, ties are broken in the following manner:

2.     Tiebreaker #1 – Applicable only to teams with 1.00 or 0.00 winning percentages – If teams are tied with 1.00 winning percentages, the team with the most wins shall be seeded higher (Example: a 10-0 team vs. a 9-0 team). If teams are tied with 0.00 winning percentages, the team with the fewest losses shall be seeded higher (Example: an 0-9 team vs. a 0-10 team).

3.     Tiebreaker #3 – Strength of schedule. The cumulative record of all opponents of each tied team shall be figured. The team whose opponents have the highest winning percentage shall be seeded higher.  If a tied team has played any team more than once, that other team’s record shall be used multiple times (once for each time the two teams have played) in figuring the cumulative record. [This tiebreaker becomes irrelevant if each team has played every other team an equal number of times.]

4.     Tiebreaker #3 – Strength of schedule. The cumulative record of all opponents of each tied team shall be figured. The team whose opponents have the highest winning percentage shall be seeded higher.  If a tied team has played any team more than once, that other team’s record shall be used multiple times (once for each time the two teams have played) in figuring the cumulative record. [This tiebreaker becomes irrelevant if each team has played every other team an equal number of times.]

5.     Tiebreaker #4 – Random method to be determined by Division Director (e.g. coin flip, drawing lots, etc.)

6.     At any time during Tiebreakers 1-3, if one or more teams or group of teams can be “un-tied” by a tiebreaker, but are still tied in any way, the tie-breaking shall start again with Tiebreaker #1 for each group of “un-tied” teams. Example: 4 teams end the season tied for 4^th place with 5-5 records. Using Tiebreaker #2, teams A & B have a 2-1 record against the other 3 tied teams, while teams C & D have a 1-2 record. In this case, teams A & B are considered to be seeded higher than teams C&D, and they restart the process over at Tiebreaker #1 to determine the 4^th and 5^th seeds. Teams C&D also start over at Tiebreaker#1 to determine the 6^th and 7^th seeds.

7.     The tie breaking criteria are only to be used to seed teams for tournaments, they are not to be used to determine league standings or awarding of trophies if there is no tournament.  Example: 2 teams tie for 1^st place with 8-1 records – these teams are considered “co-champions” of the regular season, regardless of any tiebreakers.

C.                  Tournament Seeding Chart (added Nov. 2002)

1.                   Any tournaments shall include every team in a division, be single elimination, and played according to the following schedule:

1^st Round  –       G1:S1-S16, G2:S8-S9, G3:S5-S12, G4:S4-S13,
G5:S3-S14, G6:S6-S11, G7:S7-S10, G8:S2-S15

Quarter Finals – G9:W1-W2, G10:W3-W4, G11:W5-W6,G12:W7-W8

Semi Finals –    G13:W9-W10, G14:W11-W12

Finals – G15:W13-W14

            3^rd place – G15a:Loser13-Loser15

Legend:  G = Game#, S = Seed#, W = Winner of Game#   Example: “G9:W1-W2” means Game #9 will be the winner of Game#1 versus the winner of Game #2. (See bracketed tournament chart below)

2.                   If there are fewer than 16 teams in a division, the teams scheduled to play non-existent seeds automatically “win” their game and move on to the next round. For example, in a 13-team division, seeds 14, 15, and 16 don’t exist – move seeds 1,2, and 3 up to the Quarter Finals. In a 7-team division, seed #1 moves up to the semi-finals, the other teams play each other in the Qtr. Finals (4 vs. 5 with the winner playing 1, 3 vs. 6, and 2 vs. 7).

IX.                 Protests:

A.                  Protests on matters of judgment as rendered by any official will not be considered.

B.                  Protests in cases where a rules infraction was wrongfully assessed by an official based upon interpretation of the approved rules governing the League, and which has a direct bearing on the outcome of the game, will be heard when properly submitted.

C.                  Submission of Protests:

1.                 The coach of the protesting team will notify the game official at the first opportunity, and not later than the completion of the game, that it is being protested and state the reason or reasons therefore.

2.                   Submit the protest in writing to the applicable Division Director with a copy to the Basketball League President, within 48 hours after termination of the game which is being protested.

3.                 A copy of the protest shall be mailed by the protesting coach to the opposing team coach.

4.                 A protest will include the specific play, period of play, official's name calling the infraction, and the specific rule/rules of the league that were violated.

D.                Upon receipt of a protest duly submitted, the President of the League and the Division Director involved will form a Protest Committee, formed from three (3) members of the Board of Directors and, based on a two thirds vote of the committee, will deliberate the issue.

1.                 The coaches of the protesting and opposing teams will be notified of the Committee's findings in writing within 96 hours after the receipt of the protest.

2.                 Coaches, team members, or officials may be called before the committee in order to arrive at a decision.

X.                    Scorekeepers and Timekeepers:

A.                The names of the persons who have agreed to assume these positions shall be submitted to the Director of the Division prior the first scheduled game.

B.                 If a team does not have a Scorekeeper present during a contest, that team must rely entirely on the opposing team's Scorekeeper.

C.                Home Team will be responsible for Official Score book.

D.                Visitor Team will be responsible for Official Clock.

E.                 Home Team will be so designated by Schedules drawn up by Division Directors prior to start of season.

F.                Home Team responsible during last game to return Game Ball to Division Directors home in the even the Division Director is not at the game.

XI.                 Conduct of Coaches and Players:

A.                Coaches may not leave the team's bench area while the game is in progress except to approach the scorer's and timer's table.

B.                Coaches shall not, at any time, resort to unsportsman-like conduct.  At the discretion of the game official, any upsportsman-like act may cause a technical foul or fouls to be called against the offending coach's team.

C.                All team members not on the playing floor shall be confined to the bench area.  No player shall approach the scorer's or timer's table except when reporting a substitution.

D.                There shall be no balls in the gym except those of the teams playing.

E.                All persons are to remain off the gym floor during intermissions unless that team is playing.

F.                Persons found running around the gym and causing a disturbance to others will be asked to leave the gym.

G.               No Liquid of any kind is allowed in the gym.

General Philosophy of NPBA Basketball

The league consists of approximately 550 to 600 boys and girls from the Newbury Park Area.  The primary goal is teaching basketball and good sportsmanship.  We are used as a feeder system for the local High School.  Winning is not a primary goal.  Good Sportsmanship is stressed at all times.  Every participant plays at least 2 full periods per game.  

 No abusive language or profanity will be allowed from the coaches or the participants.  Such behavior could subject the team to a Technical Foul or Forfeiture of the Game. The Directors of the Division handle problems between coaches.  Participants learn to be good sports by watching how adults react to situations that might stress our normal good humor.  Positive reinforcement will be emphasized and expected from the coaches.

 The coaches will be appropriately dressed.  Clothing with suggestive, drug, alcohol or sexual messages will not be allowed to be worn.  Boys/Girls are to wear their appropriate uniforms and proper tennis/sport/basketball shoes.

 Referees are either high school students or certified.  They should be treated with respect.  Coaches may submit in writing a complaint or concern about a referee to the Division Director.  Verbal abuse and intimidation by the coaches, players and spectators will not be tolerated.  Violators are subject to being barred from NPBA events.

Division Exception Rules