chops

National championship game played last night Memphis is up 9 with 2 minutes left in the game. Kansas is forced to foul Memphis to have a chance to win the game. I think this is bullshit! Fouling should not be used to give a team an advantage yet it is done in every close ballgame. Instead of trying to play defense, teams just foul, take no time off of the clock and hope the other team misses freethrows. Even if the other team hits the free throws the fouling team can chuck up threes and still get more points. I think there is a simple fix for this. If a team is fouled and could be put on the line they should be able to turn down the free throws and retain posession. This would ensure the team that played best would win. Let me know what you think. By the way I had no money on the game and I don't care for Memphis!!

Jayman

This is why I refuse to watch basketball. The final minute of any basketball game is such a bore if the game is remotely close. Ball is inbounded, foul, free throw shots. Rinse and repeat for 60 seconds. There is another fix for this that I would like to propose: if there is a foul with under 2 minutes left in the game, award the team that got fouled the 2 points and possession.

Like you said chops, that way teams would actually play defense instead of just fouling and hoping the other team misses it. It would make it a much more enjoyable of a game for me to watch, that's for sure.

Necro

That is like saying the team in football shouldn't be able to kneel in the final few minutes of a football game.

To me it makes it interesting. It sets up situations where someone has to hit free throws. Even if it turns out to be a 3 point lead, or a 2 point lead. You know how hard it is to hit a 3 pointer? It's still only around a 35% chance they get it in...

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Toaster Oven

How is that anything like a kneel? A kneel down is to continue the clock so you can win a game. Fouling is a cheap way to get out of playing defense when you're losing. Also kneeling down prevents injuries that could happen to a player because technically all you'd have to do if you couldn't kneel down is run a HB Dive and have the HB hit the ground and wait for him to be touched. Would you prefer that method?

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Necro

I was simply saying it's as dumb of an argument as saying people shouldn't kneel. Saying that kneeling is cheap, and they should continue playing until the end. I'm glad you did a whole comparison of it though seriously.

So instead of fouling the team should play solid defense right? What if there's 23 seconds left, and a full shot clock. Are you supposed to hope the other team will shoot? Or some how make a steal even if the team is playing keep away.

What if you are done 4, and there's 37 seconds left. What should you not foul? Let them hit another basket, run out 24 seconds, and have it be a 6 point game with 13 seconds left.

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Toaster Oven

No I think you're supposed to play defense...
I understand playing defense is a novel concept to stop someone from scoring or holding on to the ball... but I hear it works every now and then!

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Jayman

In football, when there's time left on the clock, the defense doesn't jump offsides and just plow into other people to cause a penalty. As SS said, they play defense and try to get the ball back. If the other team kneels, then so be it.

If there's 20 seconds left on the game clock in basketball and the player is just bouncing the ball to waste time (just like in football), then either try and steal the ball LEGALLY or accept the loss. Don't just blow right into him and possibly cause an injury. Last I checked, basketball wasn't a full contact sport.

Necro

I'm so caught off guard at people on here having an issue with intentional fouling. lol ok my football analogy has fallen short. But I stand by argument that fouling at the end of the game is a strategy that is acceptable.

For years this has been a common practice.

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Necro

Well I didn't know that about College Basketball.

In the pro's though seems like common practice...

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Brandon

First of all, Kansas is the best defensive team in the nation, so to say that they needed to foul because they couldn't stop Memphis from scoring is absurd. Anyone see the North Carolina game when they held the most explosive team in the nation to 12 points whilst scoring 40 of their own?

It was a great strategic move on Kansas' part. You know.. instead of you people bitching about the fouling, why don't you bitch about how Memphis is fundamentally flawed? You think it sucks when a team fouls on purpose? Well, I think it sucks when a team can't shoot a fucking free throw to save their lives and these are supposed to be the elite players in division I basketball and yet, they can't excel at the simplest of task. Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derek Rose are both going to be high 1st round draft picks if they come out.

You know what else sucked for Memphis? Dorsey fouling a Kansas player thirty feet away from the basket, fouling out in the process where they could have used his wide body in overtime, and giving KU two free throws. They then throw away an in-bound and Kansas hits a three. All of a sudden KU is only down 4. Down 3.. Kansas has the ball with 10 seconds left. Instead of calling a timeout to make sure everyone on the court knows what they should do, Calipari declines.. So, instead of the team fouling Kansas with under 5 seconds left to nullify a three point attempt, they let KU shoot the three, and Chalmers ties it. Then.. if that's not enough..with 2 seconds left, Calipari again doesn't utilize a timeout so instead of setting up a play, Memphis heaves a halfcourter and eds up in overtime.

Face it.. KU deserved to win the game. Even if you don't agree with anything I've just said, Memphis STILL had five minutes of overtime to play where they SUCKED. Completely outplayed.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!