Five Fouls Not Enough?

[MJT]

Originally Posted by Jim Bob

I'm really tired of seeing good players sit on the bench much of the game because of foul trouble. The really bad part is the first half when a player picks up two fouls early and has to sit the rest of the half. ANYBODY can pick up two quick fouls -- and officials can certainly make mistakes. It seems to me that the answer is simple -- up the limit from five to six. Five has been the limit since the typical college score was 25-17 -- it certainly doesn't seem appropriate in the fast-paced, tight-defense game we see today. I believe a six-foul limit was tried a few years ago for pre-conference games somewhere, and apparently it wasn't popular. I wonder why not?

Jim, please take this the right way, and also know I have never seen you work, but are these fouls being called on an advantage/disadvantage basis? Maybe you are and there is nothing you can do then but I see many officials who call little bumps on rebounds and such that had NO effect on the opposing player at all. These do not have to be called and can help somewhat. I am not saying don't call any fouls, or fouls on good contact, but see if the advantage was gained. If it is, and the team is just very aggressive, then you cannot do anything about it and they will have to adjust. Just a possibility I am bringing up.