While I think this would be a coaching decision, I kind of like this idea. It would certainly create lots of buzz among fans. On the other hand, maybe players should pay for not being able to make a reasonable percentage of their free throws. Make 'em go to Free Throw School with Rick Barry.
Actually, I love it when certain players can't make free throws to save their lives. At the end of the day, you have to exploit the opponent's weaknesses, and if this is the way to do that, so be it. Dwight has been playing in the NBA long enough to know that he needs to improve his free throw shooting. Every single basketball player can manage to shoot at least 60% of his free throws with a little bit of practice.
wow unbelievable. You can't beat the game so you input game genie cheat codes. Can we the fans do something about this? Like a petition? Something along the line stern is ruining the nba. I would definitely sign it
I agree. The dudes should be able to make free throws, but they can't -- it ruins the games with all those intentional fouls at the end.
That's not the point of the rule change. They say they want to change the rule because hacking makes the game ugly. I'd say intentional fouls make the game ugly as well. Heck, playing hard nose defense makes the game ugly. They shouldn't allow that.
Hasn't this happened for the entire NBA existence? At the very least, I've been watching it for 20+ years from all the way back in the early 90s. Whether or not it ruins games, Stern didn't seem to have a problem with it back when Jordan was making the NBA billions and billions of dollars. But when it happened to Shaq, also Lakers version, he had to change the rules so teams can't hack-a-Shaq under 2 minutes. And now that it's happening to Howard, again Lakers version, he wants to change it again. Funny how quickly he wants to implement this rule change, but took years and year to even begin considering the problems that flopping has caused the league. And how he blatantly ignore that many teams in the NBA aren't even trying to win for the sake of the lottery. But Dwight Howard gets intentionally fouled in 2 games on a struggling Lakers team, and NOW is when he suddenly start caring about entertainment?
Its funny how Stern ignores a lot of other problems in the league and how it took so long before he did something about Flopping. NBA has always used the Hack-a-_____ strategy plenty of times and it has never been a problem. Even when Howard was in Orlando, Stern never even considered taking action upon it. But now, Howard is playing for the Lakers and the Lakers have lost back to back to two teams who Stern probably considers as the lesser team, wants to change the rule all of a sudden. Its funny how this thing have been going on for a while and when Howard and his Lakers lost a few games because Dwight sorry a** can't hit 60% of his FTs, he wants to change the rule. Its just funny how things work with Stern. He wants to believe that when he retires, everybody is suppose to remember him as the greatest thing that happen to the NBA. Magic and Bird saved the NBA and had it going and MJ was the one that made NBA so big worldwide. It was the Dream Team that really turn the NBA into a international phenomenon. But Stern mentioned before that he was the one that did all that, not Bird, Magic, Jordan, or Dream Team.
I don't see how this is any differrent from running a trap or double teaming someone or fouling intentionally on a layup or any number of different things.
Yes. Should get rid of this hack a dwight tactics. Nba is already plagued by foul calls and watch the majority of the game at the free throw line. Dont need any more of delaying the game to shoot free throws. But other than that gotta make them free shots.
Thing with Hack a Shaq... Teams did it to not get destroyed. Dwight isn't nearly as dominant as Shaq, and teams are doing as a means to foul their way to victory
I don't like it either. It kind of robs the flow of the game when teams are just grabbing a guy and not trying to play defense. A lot of people are saying its the players fault for not being able to make free throws and I get that,but in turn,its a flaw in the game. Team a hasn't been able to get stops and instead of stopping Team B,they just foul a bad free throw shooter. I don't like it and bill russell who was a terrible free throw shooter never went thru it.
Did you guys even read the article or did your disdain for Stern cloud your reasonable judgement? "I would have liked to have seen the rule changed to make the last-two-minute rule the whole rule," he said. "It was getting to a point last year where, [in the] first period, they were just grabbing players. I think that's ludicrous. "We tried to change it to any time in the game because last year I guess it was everyone was fouling Tiago Splitter early on and the committee didn't want to do it. And so that's just the way it is.
It used to be different. Then Stern decided that because the league has no marketable superstars after Jordan, he has to artificially create them. And the byproduct is the gazillion FTs we see today. So basically, Stern ignored Hack-a-Howard in Orlando for 7 years but was pissed because the Spurs, a prominent team, had a player people can hack? How is this making a case for Stern? Doesn't it just reinforce the fact that he doesn't give a damn about most teams in the NBA, except those that get on national TV?
You are making the assumption that the hack tactic is used because they don't want to play defense. Playing good defense and using the hack tactic are not mutually exclusive. It is used to disrupt the offensive rhythm, just like calling a timeout right before the kicker kicks the field goal to "freeze" him out. It's part of the mental game.
