Advantage/Disadvantage

[drinkeii]

Here's a question I have always wondered about:

The rules do not specify advantage/disadvantage. It is a consideration added on at the end of the rules. (Unlike Soccer, where "Advantage" is an actual rule component)

Obviously, if a player is fouled, and there is a disadvantage caused by the foul (such as hitting a player's arm during a shot, bumping a player and they lose the ball, etc), it should be called.

But what about fouls which don't appear to create a disadvantage to that player at that particular moment. Here's what I mean: A player is fouled, but not specifically disadvantaged, but in the grand scheme of the game - a foul called would give a player one more foul in their count to 5, the team one more foul on the way to the bonus, and possibly have an effect on the game.

In a sense, it is always to the fouled team's "advantage" to call the fouls, because it gets them closer to the bonus, and gets the fouler closer to fouling out of the game (which, if it is a good player, will become a significant advantage to the fouled team).

Opinions?