Just wanted to brainstorm some counter strategies (sorry if this was an earlier thread) Obvious Strategies: -Take Dwight out of the game. -Dwight simply making at least 60-70% of the free throws. (this isn’t really a strategy) 1) Dwight shooting while getting fouled Whether it is an inbound or a rebound, give the ball to Dwight and have him jack up a shot when he feels the foul coming. This would (theoretically) give him 3 FTs instead of 2; but is a hard one to pull off as the refs will most likely not buy it or won’t call a foul and the ball would just go air born. But worth arguing for by the team after the foul is called. 2) Dwight running away We saw this earlier in the season, and I thought it was clever. I know it looks stupid and Dwight didn’t take it seriously, but the key factor is that it runs time off the clock, and that’s the most important counter to hack-a-Dwight. 3) Dwight shielded by another teammate Again this might sound and look stupid, but was thinking if we have a big body that can shoot FTs (like Parsons) shield Dwight and also have Dwight run behind the shield-er. I think an argument can be made that the foul was taken on the shield-er if he gets in the way well enough. And this would run time off the clock as well. Some sub strategies to points 2 and 3 Have Dwight run towards an opponent in foul trouble (if possible) a. This would increase the opponents likelihood of fouling out b. Or the opponent will simply not foul knowing he is in foul trouble and force a team mate farther away to foul, thus running a bit more time off the clock Have a Rocket player jack up a shot during the foul We saw this in the Denver game when Parsons dunked it, and I thought we should just shoot it more often regardless of how far away the shot is. a. Since Dwight is running around this gives the Rockets players a bit more time to carry the ball up the court, and a teammate can yell at the ball carrier to shoot when he sees Dwight trapped and about to get fouled b. This would at least give us a chance to bet a bucket and a FT Having hack-a-dwight being run against us for practically every game, I thought to myself there has to be something we can counter with rather than let the other team dictate.
I just want Dwight to take it like a man and make his free throw. He doesn`t have to make a great percentage, somethine like 60% would be fine. Most of it is mental with him - so give him a mental coach. This is not the time to be too proud about it, he is a better FT shooter in practice time to get it on the court!
Dwight had 8 seasons to improve his FT. It didn't work. There's no reason to think he can improve it now.
I'd like to see how the referee's would address the first and third strategies. The second would obviously work. If Dwight can run away effectively enough, we may be able to get a shot at the basket like Chandler did against Denver the other night, so we'd have Dwight just shooting for and and one.
Exactly.....take him out of the game when they start doing it. We'll be up most likely....so 4-5 possessions without him would be better than him making 4-10 FTs. It also kills the flow of the team when the game has to stop every time he gets fouled.
I would like to have it as a one time thing, and then teams can't use it anymore for the rest of the game or else it would be two shots and the ball. So teams declare that they want to hack-a-Howard. Howard will then have 4 FTs. If he makes 2 shots, the Rockets gain 10 points on the score board. If Howard misses 3, then opposing team would either gain 10 points or have the scored tied, whichever is lower. You also can't do it under 2 mins of each half.
Why kill it when it's only ONE player in the league having his deficiency? You are esscentially rewarding Howard for not working on his FTs.
What if he momentarily steps out of bounds? What is the rule if you foul someone who is already out of bounds?
I kind of like the shielder idea, I would be interested in seeing how that would look in a real game.
Because the NBA is built on it's stars and this stupid hack a crap is taking one of thier biggest money makers out of the game... Plus he isn't the only guy.
yeah i thought about that too..not sure to answer your question. but if theres no rule against....hell, Dwight should run all the away to the beer and popcorn stands...and take a couple of opponents with him
Plus it makes the games longer and that is not a good thing - think baseball. It also can mess up network TV double headers as again this drags out games. This is a very girly way to play a man's game. I would love to see DH throw some elbows to discourage these intentional bs fouls. I would love to see FTs worth 2pts each when foul was intentional. I would love to see this Hack-Howard result in DH hitting a consistent 58-62% FT %.
The best defense is offense. Dwight makes free throws, enemies lose points, stuck in foul trouble, feel stupid and ashamed.