A Rule Change That Would Really Help the Game of Basketball

Speaking as an old retired high school basketball coach I have the following queestion:

What other high school sport does a player become disqualified after they commit an act a certain number of times?

I have written about this before, but an article in todays Bangor Daily News reminded me of it.

In a local high school game Saturday, two key players on each team went head to head and both nulfied each other for much of the game….that is until one key player fouled out early in the overtime and at that point the key player who had been limited by the other teams key player who was whistled for his 5th personal foul took over the game and lead his team to a tough overtime road victory.

This game was probably decided by who was not playing.

Over the years, how many games have been decided by who is playing or who is not playing, especially in tournament games where the games have a tendency to be called tighter then regular season games, because they have 3 officials instead of two.

However, when I was coaching our scorebooks usually showed that 20% more personal fouls were called in tourney games then in regular season games and that was with 2 officials handling the game.

In football, it is a personal foul if a player holds an opponent (just like a hold in basketball) as many times as he gets caught, unless he is taken out of the game by his coach.

To eliminate basketball players fouling out, I would suggest that the game go to the Old CBA Pro Basketball league rule.

When a player commits his 5th foul and the coach takes the player out there is no additionalk foulk. If the coach leaves the player in the game then the penalty is 2 shots and the ball out of bounds at the spot of the foul.

If the player is taken out and then returns to the game and committs a prsonal foul then you go to the 2 and the ball penalty. This is just like a technical or intentional foul.

It is the coaches choice. It would add some additional game coaching strategy.

1. Is the player that important to the team keeps him/her in the game?
2. Does his/her team go zoone to protect the player from fouling?
3. Does the opponents take the ball to the player with 5 plus fouls?
4. What does the player in the 2 and the ball situation do? …..A. Let the player go who has the ball?
………B. Foul the player which means the opponents get 2 shots and the ball?

This rule worked well in the old CBA. It was used to keep the star players in the games. I know it worked well as. I officiated some of these CBA Games that were played by the Maine Lumberjacks at the Bangor Auditorium. I was filling in as I was a college official and they used us as substitutes if the regular officials flights out of Boston/NY were cancelled.

Usually the visiting teams came in on Thursdays or Fridays to practice and played games on Satiurday and Sunday in a weekend series.

I saw that this rule worked very well and the games were not decided by who was or was not playing, because a player either was in foul trouble or had fouled out.

Also a high school game is 32 minutes long and a player is disqualified when he/she commits their 5th foul.

A college game is 40 minutes and they still have only 5 personal fouls. The game is 8 nminutes longer then a 32 minute H.S. game, so maybe it should be 6 fouls for 40 minutes.

The NBA games are 48 minutes long and they get 6 fouls before they foul out and that game is 16 minutes longer then a high school game and 8 minutes longer then a college game. So, maybe they should have 7 fouls before they have to walk the plank.