Keeping Yourself in the Game

[Ironman92]

Fouls.

What are your thoughts? You want to play pressure defense with great hustle and great intensity.

Do coaches coach players up on fouls at all or just let em play?

I feel adapting to the refs is a must in every game. Play hard, be aggressive....but keep yourself in the game. Lazy reach fouls, frustration fouls 80 feet from the basket and my favorite...the bail out foul have to be completely limited. Player driving to basket a bit out of control or just lacking in finishing ability and the defender bumps him and gets that often called foul which just completely bails out the offensive player.

Most SE district teams aren’t blessed with great depth and the difference between say the #2 player and the 6 man is often fairly significant. If you are one of the very key players for your team you gotta be aware. So often a team will be comfortably in control of the game and then a key player gets his 2nd foul in the first half or a 3rd in the early 3rd and the other team just gets right back into it.

I watched a Garaway player tonight be a step late in help side and Oak Hill’s Hale got to him and the Garaway player had little play but a lazy reach and likely foul with a maybe and 1 play....but Garaway player understood they had a 12 point lead and he was a key player and didn’t compound his initial mistake with a 2nd mistake. So so often kids can’t stand it and pick up that kinda tacky, kinda lazy foul.

What are your thoughts on foul trouble within high school games around here?

[yabbadabbadoo]

You for sure have to go on what the ref will give you. In the Burg game tonight I thought the refs did a decent job, not great but decent. They would let them bang like crazy going down the floor and then would call a little ticky tack foul. Inconsistent!! Everyone knows the Regionals are like that and that the refs they get have never done a game in this area. I thought the older guy made 75% of the calls tonight.

On a side note, the refs didn't cost the Burg the game before anyone gets their panties in a wad. Burg only had one player foul out and that was just due to the overall quickness of HP

[Sportsnut]

Until you get a player that will play defense with his feet, you will continue to have them in foul trouble. A lot of them would rather try to reach and slap as the offense dribbles past them instead of moving their feet to be in position to stop the ball. Practice them with their hands in their pockets on defense. Makes them move their feet to stop the ball.

[gametime]

In my opinion, everyone says let them play to officials all season, but when tournament play comes and moving screens and other things aren't being called is that good for teaching players the right way to play basketball. JMO it is not. I've watched high school, college, pros all my life and every coach, player will tell you call it right and be consistent.