Under ~12s: foul before the shot — no shooting motion, on the floor, target their worst free-throw shooter. Land it in the 4–8s window; never start it under ~4s. Two makes can't beat you; a three ties it. 13–30s is too early — guard the arc, no hands on a shooter — unless you have a foul to give: spend it early in the dribble, then foul-up-3 once it drops under ~12s. Rebounding exception: if they own the glass, two bodies on the lane before you commit to the foul.

Defend, don't foul — straight up, no reaching. A whistle is the only thing you can't defend when the lead is one possession. Force a tough two (up 2 it only ties), box out, finish it with the rebound.

Never foul, ≤60s — a three doesn't tie it anymore. Take away the 3, funnel inside, live with a 2. Smother the inbounds.

Never foul, ≤90s — burn clock. Concede 2s, contest 3s without leaving your feet. Deny clock, not points.

Their ball: foul now once the game clock is at or under the shot clock (no shot clock → once it's under 50s — they can hold it forever). Target their worst FT shooter. Our ball, down 3: above ~20s, quick 2 (rim attack in ≤8s) then foul on the inbound; under ~20s, hunt the tie — best shooter off a screen, everyone crashes.

Start at 15 + 10 × deficit seconds: down 4 by ~0:55, down 5 by ~1:05, down 6 by ~1:15, down 7 by ~1:25. Start earlier if you're several fouls short of the bonus — those first fouls don't send them to the line. Foul-givers in, hunt their worst FT shooter, score inside 8 seconds every trip. Hold timeouts for drawing plays.

Foul now and press — spend fouls before timeouts. Take the first good 3 every trip down.

Our ball: play for one — initiate the action at ~10s, shot by ~5s, two crash the glass. Worst case is overtime with your timeouts intact. Their ball: defend without fouling — straight up, no reaching. A whistle here is the whole game.

The window is 41–52s: get a good look up by ~41s so the ball comes back with 6+ seconds for the last shot. An offensive rebound on the first trip still preserves it. No shot clock → there's no 2-for-1.

Last shot of the quarter: initiate at ~10s, shot by ~5s — so a miss still gets the crash. Don't hand them a free trip before the horn.