[BillyMac]

When I first started coaching basketball, about forty years ago, if coaches yelled, "Foul him", in a late game situation, it was automatically called an intentional foul. A referee friend told me to come up with a code word instead. I used, "Steal the ball". When my players heard that they knew to "reach in" and hit an arm to stop the clock and force the other team to make free throws.

That old rule no longer applies. If a coach is yelling, "Foul", and the defender simply reaches in and lightly hits an arm, we no longer automatically call it an intentional foul.

When did it change?

Note: Coaching for over twenty-five years, officiating for almost four decades, I've never seen a team use this strategy and come from behind to win. I'm not saying that it's never worked for anybody, but I've never observed it to work in my games. Never. Ever. The team ahead either makes free throws, or the team that's behind misses key shots at the end.