What ever happened to lengthening a game by fouling?

[FanSince17]

I rarely see it. It's not super exciting, but IMO you gotta do what you gotta do.
Kim Caldwell stood there for the last 2-3 minutes down by 12 or so and just let the clock run out. Denise has a wonderful program at Nova, but management down the stretch was suspect. Coaches will even go into these situations with only 1 or 2 team fouls, which means they have to foul 3 or 4 times even to get the opponent into the bonus. I think that happened to either Kim or Denise last night.
As a coach, I used to bark out, "steal then foul" in these situations. Go haywire for a steal, then immediately foul. Lengthen the game. This is pressure time. 1 out of 2 at the FT line, push it downcourt for a 3, boom, you've cut 2 points off the lead in 10-15 seconds. The flow and momentum of the entire game can be disrupted. Helter-skelter, pressure, nail-biting....
BY, help me understand? Game coaching, adjustments, strategies. It looks like in 2026, timeouts in the second half are reserved for advancing the ball to half court, even when it's good to eat up some clock advancing to the front court.
One more old-school move: when trailing, substitute immediately after a made hoop to stop the clock and get your defense set. How often do you see offense, defense subbing. It stops the bleeping clock. Players kneel next to you, waiting for the move. Help!

 

[nwhoopfan]

I definitely still see lengthening the game. Sometimes I have to quit watching, because the last 45 seconds of clock will take 5 minutes of actual time.

 

[and one]

I see it all the time. If it's a close game it is enjoyable to watch. If it's only just possible it may work I put up with it. When the game is obviously over it's time to change channels anyway

 

[Centerstream]

I rarely see it. It's not super exciting, but IMO you gotta do what you gotta do.
Kim Caldwell stood there for the last 2-3 minutes down by 12 or so and just let the clock run out. Denise has a wonderful program at Nova, but management down the stretch was suspect. Coaches will even go into these situations with only 1 or 2 team fouls, which means they have to foul 3 or 4 times even to get the opponent into the bonus. I think that happened to either Kim or Denise last night.
As a coach, I used to bark out, "steal then foul" in these situations. Go haywire for a steal, then immediately foul. Lengthen the game. This is pressure time. 1 out of 2 at the FT line, push it downcourt for a 3, boom, you've cut 2 points off the lead in 10-15 seconds. The flow and momentum of the entire game can be disrupted. Helter-skelter, pressure, nail-biting....
BY, help me understand? Game coaching, adjustments, strategies. It looks like in 2026, timeouts in the second half are reserved for advancing the ball to half court, even when it's good to eat up some clock advancing to the front court.
One more old-school move: when trailing, substitute immediately after a made hoop to stop the clock and get your defense set. How often do you see offense, defense subbing. It stops the bleeping clock. Players kneel next to you, waiting for the move. Help!

Didn't USC do that last season to UConn in the tournament? Took 20 minutes to play the last minute of game time.

 

[FanSince17]

Didn't USC do that last season to UConn in the tournament? Took 20 minutes to play the last minute of game time.

I’ll rewatch. I mean, all games used to end that way. I watched Tennessee (enthralled with what’s going on down there) and Villanova (to follow a BigEaster) last night and it struck me how Kim and Denise looked like “deer in the headlights” down the stretch. Heck, did Kim even have a zone offense. I remember working camps back in the day and some of those fellow coaches would do the works to win.

 

[Bone Dog]

A legacy of Jim Valvano. He road it to a NC with the lowliest Cinderella of all time. They only got in to the tournament because it had just been expanded.

The game changes… eventually. Jim was criticized for it at the time. But he found a way for his players to win.

Remember Dean Smith’s Four Corners? The shot clock ended that.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Ssshhhh. Don't remind people.

 

[JellyBean]

It is really up to the coach and their philosophy. In my 25 years of coaching basketball at the high school level, I have never done the whole prolong a game by fouling tactic.

 

[FanSince17]

NC-MD
NC leads 68-62 with about 1:10 to go. NC ball. They spread the court and they are holding the ball. MD not really pressuring or of course, fouling. What could possibly happen for MD to catch up. 2 stops and 2 3's. Not enough time for that. Besides, that's the ideal result. You gotta muddy things up. Long story short, NC drives to the hoop for a layup. 70-62 :49 seconds left. PU

 

[nwhoopfan]

I think we're gonna see it in the Oklahoma-Michigan St. game. Sooners by 5 w/ 44.8 seconds left. I bet the TCU-Washington game, that just started, will be about thru Q1 by the time this one finally ends.