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Late in the fourth quarter Team B is trailing by six points. Team B’s head coach begins to yell to his or her players to “foul, foul, foul!” B1 responds by
(a) grabbing A1 from behind, or
(b) reaching for the ball but illegally contacting A1 on the arm.
In
(a), an intentional foul shall be ruled. In
(b), a common foul shall be ruled as B1 was making a legitimate attempt to “play the ball.” COMMENT: Fouling near the end of a game is an acceptable coaching and playing strategy. Officials must determine if a foul is intentional by judging the fouling act itself, not whether or not the coach instructed a player to perform the act.
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