Team A is leading by three points with 10 seconds left in the game. A1 has the ball and is part of a two-on-one fast break.

As A1 crosses the midcourt line he accelerates past the last defender B1. The lead sees B1, who is now behind A1, reach around from behind A1 and try to slap the ball free - somewhat hitting A1's arm in the attempt.

The lead notes the ball was not dislodged and A1 did not seem to be affected (put at a disadvantage) as he accelerated for the lay-in which basically put the game out of B's reach.

B is screaming: "Why didn't you call a foul on us and stop the game? We didn't want to clobber A1!"

The lead had been taught to "see the whole play" and not unneccessarily call fouls that would kill a fast break.

My question is: Should the lead have ignored a minor-to-medium foul at midcourt that seemed not to affect the fast break and thus allow A1 to reap the benfit of superior speed and play.

Or should the lead have called the foul - realizing that B was trying to stop the clock & lay-in with a foul but did not do a very good job of it - not wanting an intentional foul or to injure anyone?

If you subscribe to the advantage/disadvantage principle, then calling this foul would be a disadvantage to team A - which is clearly unfair seeing that they are the ones who were fouled.

Even if this was called an intentional foul, it would probably put team A at a disadvantage, because the clock would be stopped, and team B would have time to talk and set up its defense and some sort of "Hail Mary" play.

I compare this to the situation where A1 is on a fast break, and B's coach starts mouthing off - wait until the basket is made (or missed), then give him the T.

Yes, B1 may have been trying to stop the clock, but B1 made a 1/2-fast play on the ball, and it wasn't just a push.
I know that B will try to stop the clock, but I will give credit for the clean effort.
I am calling the foul and disregarding the possible lay-up from 1/2-court.
mick

Hmmm, what happened to "if it ain't a foul in the first 2
minutes it ain't a foul in the last 2 minutes"?

I'm thinking if B1 only wanted to stop the clock but
didn't do a good job of it (not my words) then let it
go. I'm not helping the defense prolong the game.

Dan,
I do not disagree. If we saw the same play, it's probably going the same way.
Besides, I got a good look at it... from my side Center.
mick

1.) My judgement: Would this play have been whistled a foul at any other time during the game? If yes, foul; if no, no-call.

2.) My response: "I did not see a legitimate foul to warrant a call." (See #1)

3.) Again, if in your judgement a foul is committed you make the call. It is about consistency.

4.) You have to call what you see, NOT what you thought the player intended to do.

I agree with all Willie has to say. His first point, was contact of this nature called or not called all during the game, is really the definitive statement.

Please understand the game...If this isn't called: the player will come after them even harder and harder untill the foul is called.That is when players get hurt!!!! We are hired to work the game: no matter how long it takes. You said that it was still a three point game. Anything can happen at this point...If you think that they were making an effort to stop the clock...please give them the foul before sombody gets hurt.

Bobby - I say to you, please understand the game. When did intent become a foul? The only time you penalize intent is if someone takes a swing at someone else.

You will need to watch for esclation in this sitch, but if there was no advantage gained, you create a disadvantage by calling the foul. Calling this nickel-dimer would take two points off the board for A and stop the clock for B letting them set back up. Congrats you just made yourself part of the game.

Hold your fox, watch the whole play through, and then determine if you need to call something. In this case a "no-call" is the best call, becuase there was no foul.

My guess is if B was fast enough to actually foul A it would have been an intentional (Just my gut based on the description of the play).

Brian... I agree somewhat to what you are saying but.. It also said that he did hit his arm. Can we agree that this may be one of those plays that we would have to see to be able to make the call correctly??? I just think that everybody in the gym knows that he is trying to get a foul to stop the clock.. if he does make contact I think that I would give it to him most of the time. But like I said.. I would really like to see it in person before I can make the call {if any}.

True we would have to see it, but contact on the arm when it is not a shot? That happen 400 time a game on screens and rebounds. We don't cal it there.

The one thing I will not agree in is bailing out the defense because they are not as good or are being lazy. If he took a weak chop hoping for a cheap whistle, he will be waiting all day long in one of my games.

I believe...
 

We all have a pretty good understanding of what happened in this situation AND it would ultimately be one of those that you call based on your JUDGEMENT. As I said earlier.

[B]
Would this play have been whistled a foul at any other time during the game? If yes, foul; if no, no-call.
[B]