Kalida’s students try to distract a Leipsic player on a free throw attempt during the 2019-20 season. Rule changes in high school basketball may effect the way coaches look at fouls, with the one-and-one free throw gone from the game.
File photo | The Lima News
The one-and-one is done.
Let the new strategy of how to close out games begin.
In May, the National Federation of State High School Association amended a rule that “high school basketball teams will shoot two free throws for common fouls when in the ‘bonus.’ This change to Rule 4-8-1 eliminates the one-and-one scenario and sets new foul limits each quarter for awarding the bonus free throw.
“In addition to awarding two foul shots for all common fouls, teams will reach the bonus when their opponent commits five fouls in each quarter and team fouls will reset at the end of each quarter. Previously, teams were awarded the one-and-one bonus when their opponents committed seven fouls in a half and two foul shots when 10 fouls were committed each half.”
In the NFHS press release, the decision was based on safety.
“The rules committee studied data that showed higher injury rates on rebounding situations and saw this as an opportunity to reduce opportunities for rough play during rebounds,” said Lindsey Atkinson, NFHS Director of Sports and liaison to the Basketball Rules Committee. “Additionally, resetting the fouls each quarter will improve game flow and allow teams to adjust their play by not carrying foul totals to quarters two and four.”
Keith Utendorf, Ottoville’s boys basketball coach, said that from a strategic standpoint, he has tried to work on this new change during the preseason and knows it will take some time to see what works best for his team.
“I do think obviously the pace of the game is going to be much quicker and probably more efficient early,” Utendorf said. “I do wonder a little bit about fourth quarters and close games or maybe like a six- to 10-point game goes, and how do coaches approach that in the fourth quarter, or do we just become a parade of free throws?”
Utendorf added that it will be a matter of maximizing and getting those extra possessions without the benefit of banking on the opposition missing the front end of a one-and-one or having to be aggressive and fouling early and often if the team is down by double-digits in order to put the other team in the bonus quicker.
“I think from a strategic standpoint, teams that are ahead by 10 early in the fourth quarter are going to have a much clearer vision of how to finish the game and be a little bit more in the catbird seat,” Utendorf said. “I really feel like the halftime adjustments and the ability to get out in front before the fourth quarter comes around is probably going to be even more critical.”
The question of it being a safety issue might also be a concern, in the sense that teams who need to foul to get to the bonus situation are going to be more inclined to be even more aggressive in that pursuit of four fouls when they enter the fourth quarter down by 10 or more points.
Utendorf said coaches are working with officials on how they are going to deal with the new changes. Both parties agree it will be more of a trial-and-error effort in the early part of the season as both sides adjust to the new rule.
“If you are behind it is going to be really difficult, and with the resetting of fouls each quarter, it makes it harder to get more free throw opportunities after the reset,” Utendorf said. “I feel like there is an accumulation and a flow with that, and if it gets reset every time, we’ve got to make adjustments as coaches to build our level of aggression, and with a reset it is going to be different.
“It is going to be different as far as how many free throw opportunities there will end up being, and I do worry, especially if you are a team that is down, you have to get to the rim and get to the foul line in order to get back. That is the hope. You want points when the clock is not running, and I feel like with the reset it could be harder to get back in that game and get that level of aggression to get the fouls and have that accumulation added.”
Utendorf said he feels the level of aggression will be higher for teams desperate to make up ground and take a few more physical gambles in order to make a steal, block or grab a rebound without worrying about the repercussions of committing a violation.
Jon Derryberry, a basketball official with more than four decades of experience, has already witnessed teams dealing with the rule change in scrimmages.
“What I noticed, which I’m not saying is bad, is that one team was behind a couple points … and the coach is telling him (his player) to be aggressive and don’t worry if you get a foul because we have some to give,” said Derryberry, who admitted it will be an adjustment for referees and understands it will be a learning process for all involved including the fans.
Derryberry added that he will work with the coaches, players and members of the scoring table, such as the timer, on how to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Other big questions facing Utendorf and his fellow coaches becomes when to foul, how to foul and who to foul. The Ottoville head coach points out that data, in this world of analytics, becomes even more of a factor.
“We are in the PCL (Putnam County League), and our league doesn’t necessarily publish statistics, so it would be harder for us to get data to know who are poor free throw shooters for each team and who is not,” Utendorf said. “Other leagues are going to be publishing their statistics or at least a few individual-wise, so you are going to know information about those leagues and it may be more valuable for opposing coaches.
“You are really going to have to figure this out as a coaching staff and otherwise. You are going to have to self-identify and figure it out from scouting or otherwise. I’d always look over free throw shooting for the most part, and it is what it is, and if we have information about stats or free throw attempts, great, but most of the time we don’t so maybe we might have to look at that a lot more.”
The new rule also opens the door for a “hack-a-Shaq” scenario in which a team targets a player and immediately fouls in hopes of missed free throws and another vital possession. These will invariably lead to teams having players as “designated foulers.”
Utendorf said this model is the one used by women’s college basketball because they have a shot clock, an issue that has been brought up numerous times over the last several years.
“If you are a team that is up by 10, do you go into a game-stall mode?” Utendorf said. “Then what does that fourth quarter look like? I feel like the rule when it is in the mind of the other rule that has been a big question and the OHSAA and adoption. When you put them side-by-side it makes complete sense. Without the shot clock, yet, it is going to be really interesting to see how coaches really play with it.”
