How far will you go to save a game?

[jbduke]

Team A is down 2 with 10 seconds to go, bringing the ball up-court versus full-court pressure. A1 dribbles up the sideline with B1 running beside him, picking up his dribble when B2 slides over to the sideline, five feet or so into the front-court to cut him off. The slot official is on-ball, having run side-by-side with A1 since the dribble began. A1 is now trapped, and he pivots away from the slot toward the middle of the floor. As/after pivot occurs, B1 reaches in and grabs A1's forearm, dispossesses him of the ball then picks it up. I am sitting in the stands opposite the slot, so I am able to see the grab, the grab that he cannot see. When I don't hear an immediate whistle, I glance back at the trail hoping he has a look, and as I'm doing that, I hear a crack, and I see the lead closing down on the play with a fist held high. He was underneath the basket when the foul occurred. The clock stops with 5.3 left and A1 on the line for two. I'll save the end of the game and the post-game discussion for later, except to say that the trail told his partners that he didn't have any kind of a look on the play.

Would you make this call from lead? from trail? If you do, what is your general philosophy on the circumstances under which you would make it (time, margin, previous plays, etc.)? What's your reaction if you're the slot or trail?



[Edited by jbduke on Jan 4th, 2006 at 03:24 AM]