Late game foul to stop clock
 

All of us deal with fouls at the end of the game by the losing team to stop the clock.

Is an off-ball foul a legitimate way to stop the clock, or do we need a foul on the dribbler?

They can foul anyone.

But it should be a legitimate foul, nothing flagrant. Often you'll see a hold off ball.

Need to see the play but hold off the ball late in the game when a team needs or is trying to foul could be intentional.

Agree. If it was away from the ball and clearly intended to stop the clock, it's most likely intentional.

4-19-3 reads in part:
Contact away from the ball or when not making a legitimate attempt to play the ball or a player, specifically designed to stop or keep the clock from starting, shall be intentional.

Late game foul strategy is part of the game. Best way for them to do it is fouling the player with the ball while making at least a token attempt on the ball. We need to be ready to recognize when it is likely to occur and call the foul quickly to avoid the contact escalating.

It depends....and use some common sense. If the game is close...you may want to call this. (but.....is it intentional?) If the game is a blow out, you may want to let it go. You are probably not wrong in calling a foul, but is it doing anyone any good to stop the clock?

Isn't this concept part of the reason why intentional fouls exist?

It's rare to see this strategy in anything but a close game. If for some strange reason they're using it in a blow out, I still think we need to call the foul. If they're clearly trying to foul to stop the clock and we don't call it, they'll likely just escalate the contact until we do.

No