Too Many Fouls

[BoiseBen]

OK - So here is another question that I need answered, as the game play is getting to be annoying. My team gets called for about 15 fouls each half. The opposing team is in the bonus from about the 10 minute mark in both halves, so they are getting TONS of free throw opportunities. On the other hand, my team seldom gets into the bonus situation. I try to "work the ref" but it doesn't seem to do anything, and if I "yell at ref" then I get T'd up. What do I do to control my team fouling so much?

[novafan14]

OK - So here is another question that I need answered, as the game play is getting to be annoying. My team gets called for about 15 fouls each half. The opposing team is in the bonus from about the 10 minute mark in both halves, so they are getting TONS of free throw opportunities. On the other hand, my team seldom gets into the bonus situation. I try to "work the ref" but it doesn't seem to do anything, and if I "yell at ref" then I get T'd up. What do I do to control my team fouling so much?

What is your defensive intensity set at?


Some games i play out the fouls do seem to be higher than norm especially several (3-4) back-to-back fouls on same possession which is rare in real life but I do believe that the defensive intensity setting does influence # of fouls? I keep mine at 5 and sometimes drop it down to 3 or 4 if my fouls are piling up.

[BoiseBen]

Good suggestion! Thank you. I think I have my defense set too high then. I'll adjust and see how that plays out.

[PointGuard]

Typically I run my defensive intensity at about 6 and overall (throughout the season) my team's fouls are about the same as my opponents. Of course, I ALWAYS notice when my team has a high number of fouls sending the other team to the foul line a lot each game that happens, but don't give it a second thought when it's the reverse.

Agree with Wayne though, that tuning down your defensive intensity is likely to help. You might also try to determine if most of your fouls are being assessed when your team is employing a specific defense (e.g., a 3-2 zone or whatever) during the possessions the fouls occur. If that's the case, your team fouls are likely to decrease when your players become more familiar with that defense, and you may want to use that different defense less until your players have practiced it enough to be more proficient with it. For example if you're using m-2-m 60% of the time and a 3-2 zone 40% of the time but 2/3 of your fouls are when the 3-2 is being employed, maybe you want to play more m-2-m and less 3-2 until your player's 3-2 zone familiar ratings become higher.

[BoiseBen]

Well, I moved my defensive tenacity down from 8 to 4. Within the first 6 minutes of the game, I have 7 fouls called on my while the other team has only had 1 called on them. I am running man 2 man when it's happening, which is what we practice most in practice sessions. So, now I'm really confused. I have to go WAY deep on my bench because my best players have 2 or 3 fouls on them in the first 10 minutes of the game! ugh!!!

[PointGuard]

Some games will go that way. I think you'll find that other game won't.

Like I said, I always notice and am unhappy when my team gets called for the bulk of the fouls...but there are just as many games when the other team gets charged with more fouls...and i then NEVER complain.

[BoiseBen]

Yeah - but by half-time, when my best player has fouled out, and I have 13 fouls called on my team vs. 3 on the other team.... seems a bit unbalanced. And, 1/2 way into the season, my team has ALWAYS been called for more fouls in EVERY game. I'll keep messing to see if there is something else I can try.....

[PointGuard]

That's strange alright.

[Wayne23]

I usually play at 7, and I usually play 75% man, 25% 3-2, or 1-3-1. I have foul issues at times, but I blame poor refs, you know, the three blind mice. D*MN refs!!!

[23Zone]

I actually play with defense intensity at 8 in man to man about 95% of the time and I think its seems right. When I am down at the end of the game I ratchet the intensity up to 10 and play full court man to man and it still doesn't get out of control on the fouls. It does seem that the better the team is that you are playing the more fouls they seem to get and I think that is because the better players tend to have higher draw foul numbers.

I have noticed that fouls seem to depend as much, if not more, on the draw foul rating of your opponents players. So I sometimes switch guys off of the one guy that the other team has that seems to be drawing all of the fouls... and he usually has a high draw fouls rating. Seems this is usually a big man who gets my centers / PFs in trouble.