Late Game Fouling
 

How much leeway do we give teams who are fouling to stop the clock late in a game? What has to happen before you call an intentional foul?

I had a game last week where the defender whiffed on the steal attempt/foul attempt with his left hand and then in the same motion grabbed the dribbler's jersey with his right hand as the dribbler. Intentional? What about the "arms around the dribbler" foul?

If it would be intentional in the first qtr, it is in the 4th.

Sounds like I might call this intentional (whiffed on the steal attempt/foul attempt with his left hand and then in the same motion grabbed the dribbler's jersey with his right hand), but you probably HTBT.

A bear hug is almost always an intentional... (I just don't want to say always)

It sounds cliche but if the defender is making a play for the ball I usually call it a personal foul, just grabbing the jersey as the dribbler beats them, would constitute an intentional.

2006-07 POINTS OF EMPHASIS
#4
Intentional Fouls. The committee continues to be concerned about how games end. While there has been some improvement in the application of the rule, there is still need for further understanding and enforcement. An intentional foul is a personal or technical foul that neutralizes an opponent's obvious advantageous position. Contact away from the ball or when not making a legitimate attempt to play the ball or player, specifically designed to stop or keep the clock from starting, shall be intentional. Intentional fouls may or may not be premeditated and are not based solely on the severity of the act. A foul also shall be ruled intentional if while playing the ball a player causes excessive contact with an opponent.

Fouling is an accepted coaching strategy late in the game. There is a right way and a wrong way to foul. Coaches must instruct their players in the proper technique for strategic fouling. "Going for the ball" is a common phrase heard, but intentional fouls should still be called on players who go for the ball if it is not done properly.

Additionally, in throw-in situations, fouling a player that is not involved in the play in any way (setting a screen, attempting to receive the in-bound pass, etc. ) must be deemed intentional. Far too often, officials do not call fouls as intentional when the act clearly meets the criteria.

Yeah you gotta be solid with your calls
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For late game management and when the opportunity presents itself (like coming out of a timeout) how many of you will go to the teams huddle that is trailing and as they break remind them if they are going to begin fouling make them basketball fouls. Not sure my wording is 100% but you get the idea.

I have on occasion gone by a bench and told a coach to watch his fouling (They know what I mean. Not sure the kids do). But, only at the Rec League level.

Nope, not my job to coach the teams.

I will frequently (50% of the games in which such a situation occurs) remind them to "keep making basketball plays."

That's a great phrase bob; consider it stolen.

Along the same lines, when we are in an obvious fouling situation, my crew talks about making sure we get the first foul, because if you don't get the first one, the second attempt to foul is usually going to be ugly.

Is it legal for the coach to say "Give the Foul" or "Foul!"

Yes.

If a team is fouling at the end of the game, unless its over the top, and if the kid was borderline intentional I remind them to make plays for the ball. If not then I dont need to say anything, most kids and coaches at the varsity level know this.

Yes.

I don't call 3-second-violations just cause the coach asks for them. :D

Seriously, that used to be an interpretation - thankfully, it no longer exists. Judge the play on its merits.

I have said this at least once in another thread, but I believe the "bear hug" done in the right way is perfectly fine. The fouler is just wanting you, as the official, to know that he is trying to commit a foul and sometimes, especially at the HS level, for whatever reason, alot of us don't think that repetitive touching of a player is a foul so they then go to the bear hug. If we know what the team's objective is (to foul) then any amount of contact should be deemed as such. There is no need to referee with purity here. They want a foul, so just give them one as soon as contact occurs.

After saying that though, you also have to referee the way the boss wants you to. If he says that the bear hug is intentional, then the bear hug is intentional, no IFs ANDs or BUTs about it!

I also personally don't like the terminology used for an intentional foul, but if i could understand what the NFHS was saying i could apply it. What is an "ADVANTAGEOUS POSITION" anyway. Is a kid, curled up with the ball, in any more of an "advantageous position" than the defender? just a question for thought...