[drinkeii]

I have the same concern - people around here seem to ignore the "act designed to stop the clock or keep it from starting", or pushes from behind, as intentional, and just call them common. In many cases, there is no attempt for the ball, and I just get blank stares when I'm coaching and I ask for an intentional. And yes, i expect it to be called on my players the same way at the other end - I tell them to try to get the ball, not just foul if they're trying to get in the bonus.

This leads back to a general thread running through most of my posts - a large number of officials choose to ignore the rules as they are written, in favor of doing what is commonly accepted or what they feel is right. As I've said a number of times, it's not "me-sketball", it's "Basketball", and the rules are defined by a committee, interpreted by interpreters, and expected to be enforced by the officials. I wonder what the game would be like if we actually enforced the rules as written. When a rule gets changed because refs refuse to enforce it (the change from swinging elbows T to violation), something is wrong. Maybe the majority should rule in this case, but the rules committee put it in there in the first place... who are we to just up and choose not to enforce it. (BTW, I never had the opportunity to enforce that one - never came up in the games I officiated)