MANAGING FOULS DURING THE GAME
One of the most overlooked things that several coaches need to take into
consideration with game strategy is how they manage their fouls. This is
not just the team fouls, but the individual fouls as well. Coaches make
mistakes in handling player fouls and team fouls and this proves costly as
players pick up their fifth personal foul and they are forced to sit and watch
the rest of the game from the bench.
Take this into consideration: In the 1983 NCAA Championship Game between the
University of Houston and North Carolina State University, the mismanagement of
fouls by Houston head coach Guy Lewis may have helped NC State win the national
championship in one of the biggest upsets in the history of college basketball.
In the first half of that game, Clyde Drexler picked up four personal fouls.
In what could have been a better-managed situation, Drexler was effectively
shelved and Houston struggled to play though the remainder of the game.
Had Guy Lewis managed the situation better, Drexler could have played more
minutes in the second half and that would have likely led Houston to winning the
national championship.
This article will focus on how coaches can better handle the situations
regarding player fouls and team fouls. I will also focus on the
differences between the high school rules, the college rules, and the rules in
professional basketball. I will also discuss how coaches can better manage
the game.
Handling Fouls in High School and College
The goal for any player is to commit no more than one personal foul in the first
half of any high school or college basketball game. The ideal situation
would be to commit fewer than seven team fouls as a team in the first half and
to only foul on made baskets if fouling in the act of shooting. During the
first half, should a player pick up his second personal foul, that should be an
automatic to take the player out of the game no matter what the circumstance.
There will be plenty of time left to get the player back into the game during
the second half.
Entering the second half of games, we want to have our players with one personal
foul or fewer. The second half is the half in which you are more likely to
want to have fouls committed as opposed to the first half. This is because
of late-game free throws that could give your team an opportunity to get back
into the game.
If you are in the fortunate situation of no player with more than three fouls
entering the final ten minutes of a college game or final eight minutes of a
high school game, you are in great shape going forward and you can commit more
fouls late in the game without the risk of players fouling out. That puts
you in the advantageous position of fouling on or away from the ball when you
must foul to lengthen the game to come from behind late.
The difference between high school and college when it comes to fouls is how to
handle the situation with quarters. High school has quarters while college
basketball plays with halves. If a player picks up his third personal foul
inside of the third quarter of a high school game or the first ten minutes of
the second half of a college game, it might be wise to sit that player unless
you know for sure that the player will not be foolish enough to pick up the
fourth personal foul within that same time frame.
Handling Fouls in Pro Basketball
With the knowledge that it takes six personal fouls as opposed to five personal
fouls, you can have your players play with up to three fouls in the first half
and up to four fouls in the third quarter. The absolute limit that you
would want for any player is five fouls in the fourth quarter and the hope that
the player does not pick up the sixth foul.
Also, you have to take into consideration the hack-a-Shaq rule that is in the
NBA when it comes to fouling away from the ball in the closing minutes of a
half. You need to let your players know that if they are going to commit a
foul, make sure that they are fouling the player with the basketball.
Keeping Track of Fouls
On every bench, there should be an assistant coach who is keeping track of
player and team fouls for both teams. This coach needs to check to see if
there are any discrepancies in the foul counts for either the team or individual
players. It also gives the head coach a strategic advantage as to how he
wants to manage the game going forward either by playing particular players in
given situations or attacking players who are in foul trouble.
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