Goaltending

noun · Defense · Basic

1. A violation where a player touches the ball while it is on its way down toward the basket, inside the cylinder above the rim, or after it has touched the backboard on its downward path, resulting in the basket being awarded to the shooter.

“The referee waved off the block and called goaltending instead, awarding the basket.”

Opposite: Block

See also: Block

Related: Backboard, Basket, Inside, Shift, Rotation

Origin

College basketball banned it from the 1944 to 1945 season because of DePaul center George Mikan, who could knock shots away as they dropped toward the basket.

Sources: BBIQ History: George Mikan Changes the Rulebook

In the rulebook: Goaltending, Basket Interference

In basketball history: George Mikan Changes the Rulebook