To Foul or Not to Foul? That Is the Question.

The debate of fouling when up by three points on the final possession has involved mixed feelings for quite some time now. How often have we witnessed games that involved a game-tying three point shot that sent the game to overtime?

Ray Allen's clutch game-tying three pointer verses the Spurs in game six of the 2013 NBA Finals, Ben Gordon's insane game-tying three verses the Celtics in the 2010 Eastern Conference Semi-Final round, Gilbert Arenas' game-tying three verses the Cavaliers in the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs; All are just a few of many examples (I could go on forever naming examples of this scenario happening) of game-tying three point shots that either forced an overtime period or extended an overtime period.

The question is should teams who hold the three point advantage foul and gift the opposing team two free throws? Thus, preventing them from even getting off a three point attempt? Is it really debatable? Many basketball experts feel that NBA and college coaches are too timid when it comes to implementing this strategy, that is intentionally fouling their opponent in the closing stages of the game on the final possession and not allowing them to even get a three point attempt off. Head coach of Ouachita men's basketball team Dennis Nutt is one of many coaches that choose not to implement this strategy because he considers it a risk and not something that could necessarily benefit his team.

"I'd play it out because there's just too many things that could potentially go wrong if you foul," Nutt said.

Former assistant coach of the Ouachita men's basketball team Eric Brauer believes in implementing this strategy under the right circumstances.

"I think it all depends on exactly how much time is left and if I trust my team to get a rebound should the other guy miss a free throw," Brauer said.

This is a strategy that I've never understood why more teams don't implement. If you're up by three on the final possession and you foul with about five or four seconds on the clock, you are putting the opposing team in a really bad position when you consider the fact that they must turn around and foul you again, given that they make both free throws. One might say it's difficult to implement this because you risk not securing a rebound if they miss one of those free throw attempts. Another might say that five or four seconds is still too much time for things to happen. I say it's not.

The opposing team is allowed four guys outside of the lane verses only two for the team shooting free throws. This means that the defensive team has twice as many bodies to secure a rebound, should they miss a free throw. If four guys can't box out two, that's a problem. It's almost the same as lining up and telling your offensive line and running back to go get a yard on 4th and 1. If they can't get ONE yard, they don't deserve to win. NBA teams only grab 14 percent of their own missed free throws and hit a shot to tie or win the game. That's a very low number, so is it really considered a risk? If I'm coach, I'm implementing this strategy the majority of times that I encounter this scenario. I won't say every time, because there's other factors that play into it such as how many timeouts each team still has and also how many fouls we have as a team.