Hoops

Subbing Off after Personal Fouls

And in the NBL let's face it a LOT of fouls aren't fouls also!

So a player picks up his/her second foul with 6 minutes left in the first quarter. The coach leaves the player on and gets a bad foul called on them like not even their fault with 2 minutes left in the 1st. How long does that payer have to sit now? Not all fouls are black and white. Some are just wrong place at the wrong time. Coaches have to evaluate the situation the defensive assignment, the offensive aggressiveness of the player among other things. Does he want to press or trap or play man to man. There has to be a sense of foresight and a quality decision made. Yes a player may be able to adjust and not foul but it doesn't protect him from bad calls and now his focus is not just on the game.

Best strategy for a player is to understand that once they get their second foul, they REALLY have to focus on changing their style (if necessary) to ensure not getting their third. That's the one that is the dangerous one.

Coaches usually "get" this concept, player often don't.

"facts" in my view

1) if you are an active player , at some time in the game you WILL just get unlucky, a bad call by a ref or just a "wrong place wrong time" situation, or a 75/25 that should have gone your way does not. Assume that will always happen at some time in the game.

2) if they already are on zero or 1 fouls , when the above happens its not a big deal. - privided they "learn" from it.

3) If they are already on 3 this gets them the 4th, and makes them a target. This can be a game changer.

4) if this is their 5th, then you have to hope that 1-4 were not just that player cruising through the game without taking any "avoidance" measures

4) if the player has just gotten a "lazy" or continued as business-as-usual and achieved 3 fouls then as a coach you know they are already a weak point in that game for you.


So - many coaches pull their players at the 2 foul count to get the players to tighten up and foucus on not getting that 3 rd foul.

YMHO

This is a good discussion topic. I've had the same thoughts as the OP in that you want your best team on the court as much as possible.

Perth vs Cairns last week was a good example, where Redhage only played 10 mins for his 5 fouls. If he had stayed on I'm sure he would have been more aware of his situation and played a little less aggressively. If opposition players keep attacking players that are in foul trouble the refs actually notice that and start calling offensive fouls instead.

If you get two fouls then it is your opponents duty to try to give you your third. The reason you don't receive anymore fouls after your sat is because you got sat. It does not allow you to become a focal point of attack nor does it allow a ref to subconsciously target you for continuing the same actions that got you the first two fouls. It also depends on when you get the fouls, how much time is left, what type of fouls, your reaction to the fouls and if your coach trusts you to make an adjustment and not get anymore. Most coaches don't trust younger players to make adjustments. To leave a player in at that point and they happen to get a third foul then the coach was an idiot for leaving them on. Then the player has to sit longer than they would if they just sat after two fouls.

Sometimes taking a player off the CRT after a couple of quick fouls actually removes them from the refs radar, in other words, refs can and do focus even unwittingly on a player for what ever reason.