Quote:
Originally Posted by truerookie
I don't totally agree with the call.
From my position, I seen a player go for the ball and prevented the other player from further injury by wrapping his arms around him.
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Players need to stop wrapping up their opponents in bear hugs. The excuse given is ALWAYS that he/she was trying to prevent the other person from falling and being injured. But if the player hadn't fouled in such a ridiculous manner and instead had made a clean attempt to prevent the basket, then there wouldn't be a possible injury situation. In other words, don't buy the cop out excuse. We have far too many officials who fail to penalize actions as intentional fouls because they try to rationalize some excuse. (Note: not saying that you are in that category, just a general observation.)
On this particular play, the wrapping up afterwards isn't even important to the decision. If one watches the video of the play, one will see that the offensive player has a clear path to the basket for an easy score and the defender comes running in and takes an out-of-control chop at his arms. This action was intended for one purposely only--to foul to prevent an easy score. Therefore, the only proper sanction for that action is an intentional personal foul. That defender was making sure that he made enough contact to ensure that the opponent could not make a basket. He clearly negated the opponent's obvious advantageous postion through an illegal tactic. That approach is what the NCAA brass wants stamped out of the game.