Technically Speaking: Technical Foul Stories...Do We Learn Anything?

"Victory has a thousand fathers; defeat is an orphan."

Technical fouls tell stories. Successful coaches put our teams in the best position to win. Some argue technical fouls are strategic tools; others believe them flaws in discipline. 

Don't live a life of grievance. In the last fifty games I coached, I doubt that officiating decided any. Referee abuse usually feels like "attribution bias" to me...blaming someone or something for our inefficiency or inability. 

Admittedly, coaches sometimes take technical fouls to motivate their team or hoping to influence the subsequent officiating. 

First, a few technical foul stories. 

Fifty years ago Coach Sonny Lane was in his second season as varsity basketball coach at Wakefield High School. In one game, he got a pair of technicals leading to ejection and punched through an "unbreakable" gym door window with wire within. The following season (21-4, Division I sectional championship), he received an award from officials.  

In a travel basketball game, the official warned a coach not to cross a line or he'd get tossed. The coach collected the girls' gym bags and built a wall that he couldn't cross. 

Two seasons ago, the opposing coach literally started continuously yelling at officials from the opening tap. At the 45 second mark, an official tossed him. The proverbial quick hook. I think his team played better without him. 

Officials famously served on the Youth Basketball Board in a neighboring town. Beating them at home was tough. The first play of the game, their guard went to the floor with the ball (traveling). No call. The next trip, she dribbles using the Heisman stiff arm. No call. "C'mon, Ref." He immediately gives me a warning. "Sit down or you're gone." Every break in the action, the official chatted up the home parents. Officiate or be a clown. 

What's the short-term impact of technical fouls? Gomez et al. studied the impact of technical fouls on outcomes of selected Olympic, European, and World Championships. They compared scoring before and after the technical during 1, 3, and 5 possessions. "The data showed that the fouling team’s performance was worse than the opponents in points scored during 1BP, 3BP and 5BP (before and after) for fouls charged to the bench/coach personnel, and in 1BP (before and after) and in 3BP and 5BP before the fouls, for fouls charged to players on court...our data suggest that being overly aggressive generally is disadvantageous for the fouling team from a mid-term performance (5BP) point of view." Moreover, they concluded, "this study suggests that coaches and players have to be prepared to reduce the impact of technical fouls on their immediate performance."

The most memorable technical fouls impact winning. I remember watching a game 51 years ago where a coach got a double technical on a foul near the end of a game that turned into a SIX POINT PLAY and defeat. I know coaches will respond with "the time I turned it around with the technical" but I suspect that's the distinct minority. 

Lagniappe. A common scenario, help and recover.