Closely Guarded Dilemma

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

Those who suggest that we're penalizing the defense by not starting an immediate count...who suggest a five second count is the defense's "reward" for playing good defense...well, I disagree. The intent of the rule is not to "give" the defense anything except the opportunity to play defense, to obtain the ball through their own efforts. Good defense is its own reward.

As always, my just $0.02

As I am the one who brought the whole "reward" concept into this discussion, I'll admit it's a poor choice of words. I will alter it, then.

Failure to properly apply the closely guarded rule leads to players playing tighter and tighter defense, which leads to rough play. If a defender thinks he's getting the count, he's less likely to get stupid and start slapping at the ball. Well, not all, as we've all had to call a foul on the defense just as our count was hitting 4 and the offensive player looked completely trapped.

Now, this has nothing to do, really, with the OP.