Quote:
Originally Posted by Pantherdreams
For the officials who think the "bear hug" motion by the defender could warrant an intentional.... If the defender...wants to reach to get the ball and is willing/instructed to risk taking [a] foul[,] Do you feel he can't reach for the ball around the body with both hands to assure he gets to make a play on the ball regardless of which hand it ends up in?
|
Usually, though not always.
Reaching around a ballhandler with one hand is generally a play on the ball. What does one hope to accomplish with using both arms, especially in that scenario? If you're very lucky and have Gumbyesque arms, you might get a held ball out of the deal, but how often do we see steals from behind using both arms?
From my viewpoint, if the defender in the OP's video solely had used his left arm, it would be a common foul, and he possibly (although not likely) could have stolen the ball. As others have pointed out, the reason the IF rule was put into place was to prevent these late fouls to stop the clock. If you're going to foul, fine, but make a play on the ball.
I had a very strange IPF last week: A1 gets a defensive rebound, and while he started dribbling back the other way, B2 reaches around A1's waist and pulls him back, as if A1 were a running back breaking away. It wasn't particularly malicious, just a matter-of-fact hug from behind. What made this excessively strange is Team B was AHEAD 7 points with 2:30ish to go. I had to double-check the scoreboard to make sure I had the right team in the lead. I did. Still baffled.