Officials are taught to NOT chase a loose ball in ANY sport. In basketball .... if an official goes to get a loose ball and someone in his/her area of responsibility gets elbowed, pushed, jabbed or even spit on.........all will wonder what actually happened. The official responsible to have seen it didn`t ...... all because he was chasing a loose ball during dead ball action. This does look lazy HOWEVER ......please trust me that it is ACTUALLY preventive officiating. Also....alot of times it is really interesting to see how the ball got to where it is at that moment anyway.