Why Matt Barnes’ Charge Was The Correct Call
Last night during the Suns-Lakers game, we saw a play were Marcin Gortat tried to take a charge on a Matt Barnes drive in the fourth quarter, but had a foot planted in the restricted area:
Despite what many people were expecting, the foul was still called a charge. Matt Barnes was clearly upset, but this is the was the correct call. Why? Because of a little known rule involving the Lower Defensive Box (here is it explained by NBA.com):
The restricted area (RA) is the area within the arched line on the court located below the rim. Its purpose is to stop secondary defenders from taking a position under the basket in an attempt to draw the offensive foul when a player is driving to the basket. If an offensive player drives past his primary defender on the way to the basket and a secondary defender comes over, he must establish a legal position outside the RA to draw an offensive foul. If the drive starts inside the Lower Defensive Box (LDB – this is the area from the bottom tip of the free throw circle to the endline between the two 3’ posted-up marks), the secondary defender is legally allowed to be positioned inside the LDB.
So how does that apply in this case? Well, let’s look at when Matt Barnes makes his catch (and officially starts his drive):
The yellow arrow is showing the 3’ posted-up mark that is referred in the rule from NBA.com. And the red line shows that Matt Barnes hasn’t established possession yet despite being inside the Lower Defensive Box. This means that Gortat can legally take a charge inside the restricted area.
