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Originally Posted by rfp
This past weekend I had a situation where A1 was going in for a break-away layup and defender B1 was making a valid attempt to block the shot. However, not only did B1 come into contact with the ball, there was, in my opinion, excessive contact as she ended up contacting A1 around the neck. I immediately came up with the "intentional" foul mechanic and gave team A two shots and the ball at the point nearest the foul. The call was the correct one to make, so no question there. My point is the name of the foul and the mechanic are confusing.
B coach wanted to know how I could call an "intentional" foul when her player was clearly playing the ball. I explained that the intentional foul was due to excessive contact not because it was on purpose. So, why do we call the same foul for two very different types of fouls? Why don't we keep the intentional foul for "on purpose" fouls, and come up with a new foul type, and mechanic, for "excessive contact" fouls? Lumping them together seems to be a source of confusion for coaches, fans and officials.
"Coach - the intentional foul I called was not because the foul was intentional." Huh? Separating these into two different foul types would be an improvement IMO.
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It has already been said in this forum, but just to recall: the guys of FIBA, some years ago, were debating the same problem. The name, from "intentional foul", was changed into "unsportsmanlike foul"; the criteria for calling a U foul are similar to the ones for the NCAA "intentional personal foul":
36.1.4 To judge whether a foul is unsportsmanlike, the officials should apply the following principles:
• If a player is making no effort to play the ball and contact occurs, it is an unsportsmanlike foul.
• If a player, in an effort to play the ball, causes excessive contact (hard foul), then the contact shall be judged to be unsportsmanlike.
• If a player commits a foul while making a legitimate effort to play the ball (normal play), it is not an unsportsmanlike foul.
The NCAA's rulebook says "play the ball or the player", which is also the common interpretation in FIBA (otherwise any off-ball contact would be U).
Ciao