Technical foul

In basketball, a technical foul (also known as a "T" or a "Tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between players on the court, or is a foul by a non-player. The most common technical foul is for unsportsmanlike conduct. Technical fouls can be assessed against players, bench personnel, or even the entire team.

Technical fouls are handled slightly differently under international rules than under the rules used by the various competitions in the United States. First, illegal contact between players on the court is always a personal foul under international rules, whereas in the USA, such contact is (with some exceptions) a technical foul (rather than a personal foul) when the game clock is not running and/or when the ball is dead. Second, in FIBA play, players foul out after five total fouls, both technical and personal. This latter rule is similar to those in use in college basketball and high school basketball in the United States. However, in the NBA and WNBA, players are allowed six personal fouls before being disqualified, and technical fouls assessed against them do not count toward this total (although unsportsmanlike technicals in the NBA carry a $500 fine, and players are suspended for varying amounts of time after accumulating fifteen technicals in a season).

In most American competitions, disqualification of the offender, be he player, coach, or otherwise (often called "ejection") is the penalty for being assessed two technical fouls in a game. In addition, any single flagrant technical foul, or a "disqualifying foul" in FIBA, incurs ejection. FIBA rules do not provide for ejection for any number of non-flagrant technicals against a player; however, two technicals on a coach or a third technical on the bench results in his ejection.

Infractions

Many infractions can result in the calling of a technical foul. One of the most common is the use of profane language toward an official or another player. This can be called on either players who are currently active in the play of the game or seated on a team's bench. It can also be assessed to a coach or another person associated with the team in an official capacity such as a trainer or an equipment manager. Additionally, coaches or players can be assessed a technical foul for disputing an official's call too vehemently, whether or not profanity is involved.

Other offenses can result in technical fouls, such as:

*fighting or threatening to fight
*illegal substitution or entering the game at an impermissible time
*intentionally hanging on the basket at any time (except to prevent an injury)
*lifting or jumping onto a teammate to gain a height advantage
*goaltending a free throw
*remaining out of bounds to gain an advantage

Delaying the game (in the NBA, most of these infractions incur a team warning for a first offense, followed by a team technical), including:

*throwing the ball into the stands or batting a made shot away to allow one's team to set up on defense
*huddling at the foul line for an excessive time
*going out of bounds during an opponents' throw-in
*not being ready to start play after a time-out, or to begin a quarter or half, or when a free throw(s) is awarded

and more technical issues, such as:

*uniform violations, including illegal insignia or numbers
*beginning the game with a starting player not so designated
*having too many players on the court
*calling a timeout when one's team has none remaining
*refusing to occupy the proper bench
*if the coach leaves his box, especially intentionally
*(NBA only) playing a "scratched" player (a rule adopted in 2005 where up to two "scratches" are permissible on a 14-man roster)
*remaining in or returning to the game after being disqualified

Until 2001, the NBA also had a unique rule, that of the illegal defense. A complicated rule, the illegal defense rule was designed to stop defenders from dropping back into a zone and thus preventing drives to the basket and causing more rough play underneath the goal. Basically, the rule divided the frontcourt into two defensive zones vertically (the "inner" and "outer" zones), which were then divided laterally into three more zones: upper, middle, and lower. Depending on where a defender's opponent was located, the defender had to remain (with numerous exceptions) in that or an adjacent zone both laterally and vertically. The penalty, after a warning, was a technical foul charged to the offending team and one shot for the offense, except that if the first violation occurred within 24 seconds of the end of a period, the technical was assessed without warning.

(There was a corresponding rule that applied to the offense, eliminated at the same time as the illegal defense, which forbade them to have three or more players above the foul line on the side of the court away from the ball. This, however, was a violation only).

Beginning with the 2001-02 season, the NBA changed the illegal defense rule to the "defensive 3-second rule," which prohibits a defender from being in the shooting lane for three seconds, unless guarding an opponent within arm's reach (or the man with the ball, regardless of distance). The penalty is the same as it was for an illegal defense, except that no warning is issued.

Additionally, home teams can be assessed technical fouls on their crowd for excessive use of artificial noise or for dangerous offenses such as throwing items (particularly ice or coins) onto the court.

Usually a fight or lesser altercation between players results in a "double technical", a technical foul on both players involved. If any player leaves the team bench during a fight, he can be charged with a technical foul and ejected, as can any coach that does so without the beckoning of an official. Rules against fighting vary from high school to college to the NBA, but all levels penalize severely for such conduct, to include suspensions and (in the NBA) heavy fines.

Penalty

In college basketball and lower divisions, the penalty for technical fouls has been increased over the years. Initially, the opposing team was awarded one free throw. This was later increased to one free throw and possession of the ball. For a while, "bench technicals" assessed on a coach or non-active player were considered more serious and resulted in the award of two shots.

Today, high school basketball provides for two free throws and possession of the ball, regardless of circumstances, for a technical foul. International basketball provides a similar penalty. College basketball awards two shots, with the ball then put in play at the point of interruption (POI), the spot and circumstances where play was stopped for the technical. In the NBA, the penalty remains one free throw for the opposing team, with play resuming from the point of interruption. The team awarded the foul shots for a technical may select the player(s) to shoot them (this rule differs slightly from level to level).

Famous instances

One of the most famous technical fouls ever assessed was called on Chris Webber of the University of Michigan late in the 1993 NCAA championship game. Down by two points to North Carolina with only seconds remaining, Webber called a timeout when Michigan had already used all of their allotted timeouts. The resulting penalty ended any hopes Michigan had of claiming the championship. A review of the game showed the angle that Webber had towards his bench. It appeared that a spectator sitting behind the bench may have been calling for "time" and from Webber's point of view it could been misconstrued as a call from his bench.Fact|date=May 2008

In what has been called the greatest game ever played [http://www.nba.com/suns/history/greatestgame_azcentral.html] , Game 5 of the 1976 NBA Finals between the Phoenix Suns and Boston Celtics, the Suns found themselves one point down with one second left in double overtime, no timeouts remaining and possession of the ball under their defensive basket after a John Havlicek bucket. Faced with the near-impossibility of sinking an 80-foot desperation shot, Suns guard Paul Westphal hit upon an unusual solution. He "intentionally" called a timeout the Suns did not have. While this gave the Celtics a free throw, which Jo Jo White successfully converted to increase the lead to two, it gave the Suns possession at halfcourt. This enabled Gar Heard to sink an 18-footer as time expired to force a third overtime. NBA rules were changed the following year to prevent a repeat occurrence by not advancing the inbounds pass to halfcourt in similar situations.Fact|date=May 2008

An instance where many technical fouls could have been called, but were not (the game was abandoned, a remedy available to the officials when too many players are disqualified or ejected for the game to continue, or when a team continually commits technicals in order to make a travesty of things), was a violent fight involving players and spectators on November 19, 2004, in an NBA game between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons. Two opponents, Ron Artest of the Pacers and Ben Wallace of the Pistons, began scuffling after Artest fouled Wallace hard. This escalated into a fight where players from both teams became involved, and grew worse after Artest retreated to the scorer's table and was hit by a cup thrown by a spectator. Artest and several teammates and opponents then ran into the seats and fought fans there. Had technical fouls been formally assessed, the result may well have been the ejection of both teams' entire squads. In the end, several players were suspended for multiple games, including Artest for the remainder of the season. [http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/6549074/]

In a 2007 game against the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio's Tim Duncan was charged a technical foul by referee Joe Crawford for laughing on the bench. As he had already picked up a technical foul on the previous play, this led to his ejection. Upon further review it was determined that this technical foul was inconsistent with the league's game management, and NBA commissioner David Stern suspended Joey Crawford for the rest of the season.Fact|date=May 2008

The most technical fouls ever charged to a team in a single game is 6 (all in the second half), to Aris Thessaloniki in a game against Olympiakos of the Greek A1 League on February 10th, 2008.

ee also

* Flagrant foul

References

External links

* [http://www.nba.com/analysis/rules_12.html?nav=ArticleList NBA Rule Number 12: Fouls and Penalties]
* [http://www.fiba.com/asp_includes/download.asp?file_id=328 International basketball rules, see Art. 38] (pdf)
* [http://www.ncaa.org/library/rules/2007/2007_m_w_basketball_rules.pdf NCAA 2007 Men’s and Women’s Basketball Rules] (PDF)