From a fan/parent perspective, it is frustrating that there is no consistency in end games (as demonstrated in this thread) as to (1) whether the "soft" foul is called and if so how soft and (2) where the line is between an acceptable tactical foul and an intentional foul.
While I can see arguments for a wide variety of ways to handle, it is frustrating when in one game the officials calls the phantom fouls on the "don't want to encourage excessive roughness" theory and in the next the officials let the team with the lead play through fouls that would have been called earlier in the game.
While I'd like to see consistency, it seems Fed has been trying to do that (in a variety of ways) for decades--I recall a push back when I was playing (which was before NFHS had a three point shot...).
Maybe basketball needs to take a page from baseball, which recently allowed for the intentional walk by the manager just telling the ump. We can just let the coach tell the ref. "Foul" and a foul will be called on the player closest to the opponent with the ball.
