Defending instead of fouling is the marginally better strategy...

In Reply to: Coach who cost his team a tournament bid. posted by mh on March 15, 2026 at 12:32:19

at least according to Ken Pomeroy and others (referenced in the link) who have studied the numbers.

Defenders win 93.4% of the time. Foulers win 92.3% of the time. It really is pretty close to "a 50/50 proposition".

My question for you is, if the choice was a 50/50 proposition in the first place, why would you blame the coach for costing his team a tournament bid, if whatever he did was pretty much equivalent to a coin flip?

• Ken Pomeroy: Fouling Up 3

Follow Ups:

• Re: Defending instead of fouling is the marginally better strategy... UCLART 14:26:34 03/15/26 (0)
• I can't remember where I saw it, but mh 14:08:14 03/15/26 (1)
  • Yeah that article that someone linked from 2013 NorthBruin40 19:19:40 03/16/26 (0)

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