A new low in coaches questions

[eg-italy]

Originally Posted by crazy voyager

Erhm, that's not really true, let's see if I remember this (I learnt this a few weeks ago).
"Not every foul is a contact but every contact is a foul. How ever due to the game flow and spirit of the game we can not call every foul."
Something like that,
you can have a foul without contact ( A Technical is still a foul, and it never (in fiba at least) involves contact.
But since you can't touch another player without entering their cylinder, every contact is a foul.

Not at all, it's exactly the other way round. Contact is, by itself, not a foul. The cylinders may touch each other, without having a foul. During a screen there is frequently contact, but many screens (the majority, I'd say) are not fouls. Think to rebounds: there is contact, when two or more players are trying to get at the ball; how many rebounding situations end with a foul call?

A dribbler who stops just when contacting the defender, without displacing him/her, does not commit a foul, in general. A defender who contacts the dribbler while maintaining LGP does not commit a foul.

A contact which might be a foul can be disregarded if it doesn't cause either an advantage to the responsible player or a disadvantage to the non responsible player. Such a decision must take into account the game flow and the spirit of the rules.

Technical fouls are a different matter, as they never involve contact (for FIBA rules), but rather unsporting behavior or administrative infractions.

Just to point out the current interpretation, as some of our American friends don't have so high an opinion about FIBA basketball.