players with 4 fouls

[TheOracle]

Originally Posted by icallfouls

One thing that could be said is have a patient whistle, see the end of every play before making a decision to put air on something. This will hopefully lead to calling obvious fouls and decrease the likelihood of the cheap foul. Part of my pregame is precisely: call the fouls that are obvious, dont guess, stay in our primarys (unless it is a non basketball play).

This usually assures that a player earns their fouls.

And by the way, a foul early is not always a foul late, as the game changes so does the call selection. I know that there are plenty here that will disagree, but it is a fact and for anyone here to say that they call it the same every play is .... I will withold my comment

Couple of thoughts. I want to know if a player has 4, and usually I never have to ask because I'll know. The talk about star players getting protected is bogus and a weak argument. First, the only time fouling out is an issue with the players, coahces, and schools is when the game is close down the stretch and a player is important to his team. That said, when this occurs, knowing ther player has 4 gives you the option of trying to prevent him from getting his 5th. "Hey, you got 4, be smart" has helped me a lot, but unless the player likes and trusts you, this tool is unavailable. The other one is "high certainty". I know everyone here is so good that they are always on super focus mode, always 100% certain of all their calls, and never guess because they are always in the best position at all times. I'll never protect any player--star or not--but I will remind myself and work very hard mentally in a close game down rthe stretch to have "high certainty" on every whistle. That maximizes your chances of being successful anyway, but also helps you with how the crew is perceived when a player does foul out.

The trouble always starts when "high certainty" is not obvious on these types of calls. Both sides are right. A foul in minute 1 is a foul in minute 40, but you do control your focus and can apply "high certainty" every single time in the last 2-3 minutes of a close game. None of us can do that for 40 minutes every time we work. That's why we're human.