[ESPN] Stern: Hack-a-Shaq, clock issues to be reviewed

i think flopping will be addressed but its probably the hardest to judge since refs see the action in real time with only one angle whereas viewers at home usually will see it from a different angle or see slo-mo replays.

the one thing they could do is if a player flops and Ref A calls the foul and Ref B notices that its an obvious flop because of a better angle then Ref B needs to come over and talk to Ref A and assess the flopper the foul, offensive or defensive foul and overrule Ref A's call.

Then fine the player after the game and each subsequent fine increase.


The Hack-a-Shaq rule is fine as it stands just because you have people not being able to hit free throws should not be a reason to change a rule. I do like how it is where you cant do it in the last 2-3 minutes of a game but anytime before that its fine. Dont reward players just because they dont spend enough time trying to improve their free throw percentage.

 

Anyone shooting better than 50% on FTs would benefit from being fouled. The NBA average for points per possession is about 1 point. So getting fouled is definitely giving you a higher probability to score.

And don't tell me sub-50% FT shooting for a professional player is acceptable.

Shaq should be ashamed of himself for having a tactic named after his impotence. I mean, can you imagine a tactic called Leave-an-Alston (let him shoot)?

 

this is stupid. a foul is a foul.

 

youre absolutely right nobody wants to watch that. so get the guys who can't hit free throws out of the game and watch the "flow" be restored.

 

So you are ok with a 4 hour game
which is basically Shaq Vs DWill in a free throw shooting contest

The games need to be ENJOYABLE and WATCHABLE
and
IMO HACK A SHAQ
is as wack as jumping out of bounds and calling time out in the air
or
Fouling Fouling FOULING cause u know the refs want to keep some movement of the game going
Or Seattle playing illegal defense the same way

The spirit of the competition should be about playing the game
not trying to see who can bend the rules the most or twist them
Next
Let's try . . .Get a Goon to belt LeBron in to the 3rd row and out for the series . . .i mean it is just good gamesmanship to take out there best player
?He should be a PROFESSIONAL and be tough
Make that Flagrant-2 WORTH IT BABY!

Rocket River

 

yea. . . .then you get alot of players that cannot Hit Jumpshots .. or dunk . .or make EXCITING PLAYS

Everyone will be Kyle Korvers - WWWHHHEEEWW what exciting basketball
that would be. . . i mean .. no real defense would be played but .. HE'D HIT HIS FREE THROWS!!


Rocket River

 

Man. AWESOME argument. I'm humbled by your debating prowess and I am forced to offer myself in respect to your greatness.

EDIT: I just now realized that came off harsher than I intended it to be. I'm just wanting some sort of reason for why you think David Stern is such a great commish, that's all.

 

Lame, I too find it pathetic that he doesn't mention flopping.

Flopping is killing my love for basketball (particularly the NBA). It's annoying as hell to watch players flail their arms like they were just shot by flopping.

Or the players who just throw themselves to the floor looking to get a call when there was absolutely no contact. It's pathetic. Every team has floppers now because it has become such an advantage in the NBA.

Punish the floppers.....please.

 

that's clearly the logical extension of allowing players to foul away from the basket and force the other team to hit their free throws....

eh, think you got this backwards. i'm fairly certain that the players who can't hit free throws are usually the same players who can't hit jumpshots. less players that can't hit their free throws probably leads to more players who can hit jumpshots.

last time i checked the majority of nba players shoot better than 50% from the line. that's all you have to do to avoid getting 'hack-a-shaq'ed. lebron's an awful FT shooter but he hits them enough that nobody's going to hack a lebron. does lebron dunk enough for you? is kobe not exciting enough? you don't have to be kyle korver, you just can't suck as much as shaq.

im sorry if basketball's only exciting when lumbering giants who can't shoot free throws are allowed to use their size to dominate without having their lack of shooting ability exposed.

 

It's boring as hell to watch - I don't really see what it adds to the game either.

 

it is boring and obviously stops the flow of the game by definition. but so are fouls that prevent layups and dunks. why do we allow those? what do they add to the game? defense? you fouling someone just means you didn't play good enough defense and have to take the cheap way out.

if you see the value in preventing layups and dunks then you have to recognize the value of fouls away from the basket. its called strategy. every team and player has a weakness and a strength. you can't allow some players to use their strengths without having their weaknesses exposed. shaq is unstoppable in the paint but he's horrible from the line. you don't just block out his biggest weakness because its unaesthetic.

if guys just get better at shooting free throws then nobody's going to humiliate them by daring them to shoot them.

 

Isn't it common knowledge not to foul when you are up big? It means 2 easy points, and it stops the clock.

 

If Shaq was anywhere near the NBA FT average, then this wouldn't be a discussion at all. Besides, its not like the Spurs forced the Suns to play Shaq. Phoenix could have just as well taken Shaq out after the 4th team foul and now get to be the penalty for the rest of the quarter.

If flow of the game is such a concern, why not lower the number of fouls to foul out to 3. Then no one could use the Hack-a-Shaq strategy without running out of players.

 

Have the league review each game and discern if flopping ocurred. EVERY GAME. Than suspend those responsible. EVERY TIME.

Two weeks and it will clear right up.

 

bingo!

 

that won't happen. an opposing team don't have enough players to give enough fouls. hack-a-shaq is only used in a period of the game because of that.

same goes to the physical and dirty style of the jazz. i don't know why people say if the refs call every jazz foul then the game will be 5 hours long (and thus they don't and can't call every foul). you've got to realize the jazz simple can't afford to give that many fouls if you start to call all of them. 12 players x 6 fouls equals 72. that is the mathematical limit. yes the game will be ugly. but shall we blame the rules or shall we blame the jazz?

i bet if they call every foul committed by the jazz and do it consistently every game, jerry sloan will retire in 2 years max.

 

Goddel inherited a Gold mine
Stern built his from basically the ground up

when Stern started the NBA was so far behind BASEBALL and FOOTBALL
it fightin for time with HOCKEY
he has grown it from not just the 2nd favorite sport in America
but THE WORLD!!
[Second to Football in America and Second to Soccer World wide]
He manages a GREAT balance between Owners and Players

Football is basically PRO-OWNER - Screw the Players
Baseball is basically PRO-Player - Screw the Owners
Basketball gets it right - Balance

NBA is profitable and growing

Rocket River

 

Stern inherited Jordan, one of the top 5 most popular athletes to ever walk the earth. Stern didn't make Jordan or the NBA popular. MJ himself and Nike did.

It's time for the Emperor to step down. He isn't helping the game and does even care to hide that fact anymore.

 

Because if you took them out - the nature of the game would be fundamentally different.

Removing the hack-a-shaq rule doesn't really take much away from 99.999 percent of the game.

 

thats a bit of a cop-out. what exactly is the fundamental difference? the only fundamental difference to me is distance. people intentionally foul 5 feet from the basket to prevent baskets, and they intentionally foul 60 feet from the basket. they're both tactics to prevent points by the other team. they both stop the flow of the game to the same degree; its just more noticeable when you've got a player like shaq who is easy to take advantage of and foul earlier, further away.

understand that there is no 'hack-a-shaq' rule; hack-a-shaq is just a natural tactical consequence of the same nba rules that have been around for ages. it exists only because players who are horrible FT shooters can't make teams pay for fouling them. that to me is equivalent to any other strategy by a team that tries to make a player beat them with their weakness. leaving bad shooters open, pressuring poor ball handlers, and fouling bad free throw shooters.

i'm not saying removing hack-a-shaq wouldn't make basketball more fluid. it most certainly would; just like removing offensive fouls, 3 second violations, or any other violation in the nba rulebook that results in a blown whistle and game stoppage. i'm saying prohibiting it unnecessarily favors one type of player over the other. shaq has plenty of strengths going for his advantage that you don't need to protect his weaknesses with rules. i agree that its not fun to watch that free throw parade of shame, but that isn't the team's fault for exposing shaq's weakness. that's shaq's fault.