Basketball Suicide

I have seen a few blatant instances of what I have come to call "Basketball Suicide" by players, and thought it would be interesting to share this with whomever is bored enough to actually be reading this.

Some players lack emotional control. Nothing they do is a foul. They are persecuted. All officials hate them. They hate officials. When normal communication with these guys fail, we always have several tools to manage them: talk to captains, talk to coaches, call personal fouls, or call the technical. No matter how you deal with them, the chip on the their shoulder makes them appear to tilt when they walk.

You need to really be careful near the end of games with these folks. We all talk about "instigators" and "disruptors", who you have to pay close attention to on dead balls. However, put yourself in their shoes for a minute. They are tired. They are frustrated. More often than not, they are losing. If they have 4 fouls, you think they might boil over and deck someone, just to vent and not have to play anymore?

I've had this happen 3 times this year. All 3 times, a player has been in foul trouble, been unhappy with us, not been responsive to our efforts to communicate and reason with them, and when it became apparent that their team would lose the game, just snapped and intentionally committed a hard foul. Knowing it was 5, they simply went straight to the bench immediately following the whistle. The bad part--you know that the foul was intentional and could cause major problems in your game. The good part--he left the game quickly, quietly, and without the attention that an intentional or flagrant would give. Didn't even need to wait for the sub. Everyone in the gym knew, and the game went on smoothly without him.

The real question is, why is it not a flagrant or intentional? Tough call to make late in a game that is already decided. Unless you are sure that everyone saw a dirty, non-basketball play, would it be good game management to penalize this player for a blatant hard shove in the back on a rebound or ramming through a screen, especially when no escalation or reaction from the person who was fouled occurred? Would the film support and ejection? That is the ironic thing for me this year: in all 3 of these instances, the opponent who got decked did not even acknowledge the malicious intent; they just got up and went to the line.

However, keep in mind, that if you have a bad apple during your game who has been in foul trouble, and later in the second half it becomes apparent that his team will lose, be especially vigilant to prevent something ugly. Because players without emotional control may take the easy way out, along with frustration that could cause bigger issues for you when the game has been decided. "Basketball Suicide" happens more often than you think. Not many players lack emotional control; I'd say about 5%. But watch for the symptoms and try and head it off.