Posted by Bonn1997:

I've thought a bit about this issue and I wanted to see what posters here, especially those with coaching experience, think. Usually a player is *automatically* benched when picking up his 2nd foul in the 1st quarter, 3rd in the 2nd, or 4th in the third.

Question a) What's the best way to maximize the number of minutes an important player is on the court for?

I think it's to play him *until* he fouls out. Then you avoid scenarios where you bench a player for the remaining 10 minutes of the first quarter, just to find out that he didn't even pick up another foul the rest of the game.

Question b) If a player gets in early "foul trouble," what's the best predictor of how many fouls he'll commit in the rest of the game? I think it's not simply his foul rate for the current game but rather a rate that uses a much larger sample: Perhaps fouls per minute for his career, or his current season, or career wise against the man he's guarding or team he's playing.

Question c) Then why do coaches invariably bench players as soon as they get into "foul trouble"? Perhaps
1) they view minutes at the end of the game as more important than minutes earlier. I think this claim is hard to justify, though;
2) there is a psychological advantage to thinking that you'll be able to close the game with your best player on the court. (A friend suggested this idea.) This idea seems plausible, although there's probably a big psychological disadvantage to falling behind by double digits early in a game because you benched your top player.

Let me know what you think.

Posted by Solace:

Posted by Bonn1997:

I've thought a bit about this issue and I wanted to see what posters here, especially those with coaching experience, think. Usually a player is *automatically* benched when picking up his 2nd foul in the 1st quarter, 3rd in the 2nd, or 4th in the third.

Question a) What's the best way to maximize the number of minutes an important player is on the court for?

I think it's to play him *until* he fouls out. Then you avoid scenarios where you bench a player for the remaining 10 minutes of the first quarter, just to find out that he didn't even pick up another foul the rest of the game.

Question b) If a player gets in early "foul trouble," what's the best predictor of how many fouls he'll commit in the rest of the game? I think it's not simply his foul rate for the current game but rather a rate that uses a much larger sample: Perhaps fouls per minute for his career, or his current season, or career wise against the man he's guarding or team he's playing.

Question c) Then why do coaches invariably bench players as soon as they get into "foul trouble"? Perhaps
1) they view minutes at the end of the game as more important than minutes earlier. I think this claim is hard to justify, though;
2) there is a psychological advantage to thinking that you'll be able to close the game with your best player on the court. (A friend suggested this idea.) This idea seems plausible, although there's probably a big psychological disadvantage to falling behind by double digits early in a game because you benched your top player.

Let me know what you think.

I generally agree and have felt the same way for a long time. The automatic benching is too automatic -- I guess some of it may come from not wanting to be criticized for going against the norm. I think Blue makes some good points too, though. If you leave a player whose frustrated with the refs in too long, he may get additional fouls out of frustration. So, that could be a factor. I guess part of it is knowing your player and how he will react. If the player is Rasheed Wallace, you take him out right away. :P

Posted by DaMano718:

when someone is in foul trouble, its a liability to keep them in there, becuase the person on offense is just going to be goin at them hard, playing more aggresive to draw more fouls... its like an open target to be aggresive, and drive to the hole...

Posted by Allanfan20:

I guess it depends on many things like:

1) Is the defense looking to still take charges?

2) How is HIS defense and has he been taken out of his element? Is he playing too passively? Has he learned his lesson about the other team and is he going to adjust? Or is he still playing too aggresive?

3) Has he been argueing with the refs too much and gotton on their bad side? Hence, they'll call anything on him b/c they are pissed at him.

4) Did the opposing team possibly forget he was even in foul trouble?

There are some players who get 2 fouls in the first quarter and they might as well be benched for the rest of the game because they just keep getting more fouls as soon as they get put back in the game, or just can't adjust to the refs and the opposing teams game plan.

It's all about the situations my friend. It's all about the situations.