I’ve always been against it. You are leading and giving up points. If they make both FTs, they will foul you and suddenly the pressure is on you to make two when you were up 3! Tonight, the Pels were up 3 with 7 seconds left in regulation and they purposely fouled Sabonis. He made the first FT but he missed the 2nd and Monk grabbed the rebound and got fouled. He made both to tie the game. CJ missed a shot and it went to OT and won but it didn’t have to be so hard. When you are LEADING, you shouldn’t give your opponent free points. Just play good defense!! IMHO
Smart people wouldn't foul up 3. Don't know why the Russian disinformation bot got a hold of the idiotic take to foul up 3.
Seems like a weak smol brain move, especially when teams are doing it with like 10-20 secs left in the game. 3-8 secs left, no timeouts, maybe I get it, but if you’re just doing it, with tons of time left it makes no sense to have a free throw battle for 4-5 possessions.
What is easier to do, make a 3 (considering how much the league now protects the shooter's "space") or make a free throw, then intentionally miss the second free throw, get the rebound, and put it back in? I agree with MM, it depends on who is on the floor.
Or grab a rebound off the missed FT and game over. I used to have a similar opinion as you, but now you can't even get close to the 3 pt shooter without them calling a foul. So now I am not sure.
New York just allowed Jayson Tatum, without timeouts for Boston, to dribble the ball all the way up the court shoot a 3-pointer, which he made, to tie the game with 2.9 seconds left. New York lost in overtime.
Does this mean that almost all coaches in College and pro basketball are wrong? Obviously you cant foul too early, but they don't do that. I am sure someone has done the math on this though. Sure seems to be common practice among coaches who are paid to do it.
If you foul, you are giving the opponent two free points and turning the pressure back onto you to make two FTs or potentially lose the game in regulation.
All things being equal, you absolutely foul up 3 in the final 15 seconds. The pressure argument isn't a good one because the team down 3 also has pressure to make both FT's, and a percentage of the time, they'll miss one as well. Neither strategy is fail-proof. One is more likely to work than the other though (fouling up 3); it's just math.
I think in general, coaches don't love the idea of fouling. However, faced with the data, and the desire to win, they've realized it's the proper play.
