Intentional Foul Help

[btaylor64]

Originally Posted by PAT THE REF

Hello everyone,

I attended my local assc. meeting last night and one of the topics for discussion was the aspect of intentional fouls as it relates to the game.

It was stated that...
A) If a player is trying to strategically foul (stop clock or get into bonus situation) and is not going for the ball (i.e. instead of trying to steal the ball – just grasping the player or jersey to commit a foul) then it should be ruled intentional…Regardless of how much contact their actually was.

B) As with the above situation, if a coach is screaming “foul them, foul them” and they commit the same act or some other foul and not playing for the ball – this must be deemed intentional.

I was always thought that the purpose of an intentional foul is to use as a “tool” in our lovely little “toolbox” much like technical fouls or flagrant fouls. However, they are stating that if ANY foul was to be committed as in “b” or if the player grabs the body or jersey at all it needs to be intentional. In which commonly we would have just called it a common foul…

These players see this at NCAA games frequently. I have seen some lately myself. I wanted to know everyone’s opinion on this and whether or not does the amount of contact actually designate an “intentional foul”.

Pat I disagree with both of these. Fouling at the end of game to prolong the game and give your team a chance to get back in the game has and always will be a legal and strategical tactic used by coaches from now until kingdom come. If you know a team is trying to foul and the coach is even yelling it then just blow the whistle as soon as the player touches him (whether you think he is going for the ball or not) and you won't worry about calling an intentional on the next kid when he comes over just to clobber the kid.

Now I would call it an intentional if team A is throwing the ball in and it looks like Team A is grabbing the worst shooter by the jersey or hugging him up, cause then they are A) trying to send the worst free throw shooter to the line and B) They are trying to do so by preventing the clock from properly starting.

[rockyroad]

Originally Posted by btaylor64

Pat I disagree with both of these. Fouling at the end of game to prolong the game and give your team a chance to get back in the game has and always will be a legal and strategical tactic used by coaches from now until kingdom come.

First off, fouling is NOT legal, so please don't say that it is...it may be strategic, but it's not legal...and the key in both of the Op's situations is that the defensive player was NOT making a play on the ball - those types of fouls have got to be called intentional.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by btaylor64

Pat I disagree with both of these. Fouling at the end of game to prolong the game and give your team a chance to get back in the game has and always will be a legal and strategical tactic used by coaches from now until kingdom come. If you know a team is trying to foul and the coach is even yelling it then just blow the whistle as soon as the player touches him (whether you think he is going for the ball or not) and you won't worry about calling an intentional on the next kid when he comes over just to clobber the kid.

You really should read POE #4 on p69 of this year's rule book. Really!