# NBA to look at "Hack-a-Shaq" Strategy



## Seuss (Aug 19, 2005)

They should fix it, somehow. That really ruined the game.


http://www.nba.com/suns/news/tribune_080509.html


----------



## Tooeasy (Nov 4, 2003)

1 shot and position would end all this crap, i dont understand why they dont implement it.


----------



## DaRizzle (May 22, 2007)

Players should fix it by being able to make a damn FT


----------



## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

DaRizzle said:


> Players should fix it by being able to make a damn FT


Yep. If the guy could ever hit consistantly from the line, people wouldnt be fouling him to get him there. Any big man with a respectable FT average isnt getting hacked all that much.


----------



## NewAgeBaller (Jan 8, 2007)

Well yea its really on the players.. I mean this is a rule they're making really for just a few players in the league. They're changing the rules to take away the obvious and sometimes only weaknesses of otherwise dominant bigmen.


----------



## bircan (Jul 17, 2005)

It would obvious help Suns the most, but it kind of needs to have an overall sensible positive effect on the league.


----------



## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

What I don't understand is why D'Antoni kept leaving him in there when it was obvious they were going to keep doing it several times in a row. He had a lot of chances to take him out, too and it was end of the qrters. But D'Antoni was too stubborn to do it, just like he is/was with a lot of things.


----------



## rock747 (Aug 3, 2004)

Why make a rule to aid players weaknesses... Take the players out of the game or improve their FT shooting.


----------



## Seuss (Aug 19, 2005)

....because fouling away from the ball intentionally is not basketball. It's strategy because the rules allow it to be. Lets stick to basketball.


----------



## DaRizzle (May 22, 2007)

^Do you not understand that FT are basketball and that players that are "professionals" should be able to make a 15ft unguarded shot?


----------



## Seuss (Aug 19, 2005)

DaRizzle said:


> ^Do you not understand that FT are basketball and that players that are "professionals" should be able to make a 15ft unguarded shot?



With that standard, Shaq should be able to make 3's on a relatively respectable level because, after all, he is a "professional". So therefore weaknesses should not exist.

Fouling away from the ball is a strategy because the rules allow it to be. It's not basketball.


----------



## DaRizzle (May 22, 2007)

All players shoot the ball, there have been FT's since before any of these players were born. Learn to shoot a FT. Its not that hard.


----------



## 77AJ (Feb 16, 2005)

Seuss said:


> With that standard, Shaq should be able to make 3's on a relatively respectable level because, after all, he is a "professional". So therefore weaknesses should not exist.
> 
> Fouling away from the ball is a strategy because the rules allow it to be. It's not basketball.


Great post, and I totally agree. Change this some how, implement a new rule. The NBA might as well, they've changed the game so much to help other stars in the league get touch fouls, and the NBA took out physical play. It only makes sense for the NBA to change the rules on the Hack A Shaq strategy.


----------



## DaRizzle (May 22, 2007)

^you scared me in the first sentence.


----------



## Seuss (Aug 19, 2005)

DaRizzle said:


> All players shoot the ball, there have been FT's since before any of these players were born. Learn to shoot a FT. Its not that hard.



Maybe players should learn to guard a three-hundred and twenty-five pound beast. Oh wait.....they can't. That's why they resort to cowardly tactics.


----------



## DaRizzle (May 22, 2007)

^first of all as a Laker fan, dont tell me about dealing with Shaq FT woes. Secondly what you are talking about is completely different. Obviously you foul the crap out of him if he is about to dunk...er layup. 

You just sound bitter about Pop using a boring as hell but good strategy. I dont like the FT either but it should not be solved by a rule change.


----------



## Seuss (Aug 19, 2005)

DaRizzle said:


> ^first of all as a Laker fan, dont tell me about dealing with Shaq FT woes. Secondly what you are talking about is completely different. Obviously you foul the crap out of him if he is about to dunk...er layup.
> 
> You just sound bitter about Pop using a boring as hell but good strategy. I dont like the FT either but it should not be solved by a rule change.



Trying to guard a player, and then fouling after he is about to score is a smart play. Fouling a person 50 feet away from the ball, is not basketball. 

Could you imagine that happening in College or high school basketball? What a complete mockery of the game.


----------



## DaRizzle (May 22, 2007)

"lost art of the mid range jumper" is now "lost art of the FT"...sad sad sad


----------



## 77AJ (Feb 16, 2005)

DaRizzle said:


> ^you scared me in the first sentence.


LOL

Naw though, something needs to be changed, in lacks integrity. It's an unfair tactic. Because the rules allow it doesn't make it right. It's like Seuss was talking about guy's not being able to shoot 3 pointers. However since there isn't a strategy to force them to take them in the course of a game, you can't exploit that weakness. The free throw strategy needs to be changed. And I feel this way through out the league as a whole, not just with Shaq. When they do it to Ben Wallace I think the same thing, LAME. You can't win so you have to resort to this bogus tactic. It's pathetic in every way.


----------



## DaRizzle (May 22, 2007)

23AJ said:


> Naw though, something needs to be changed, in lacks integrity. It's an unfair tactic.


I would say quite the opposite, a rule change would take away from the integrity of the game. Its unfair to offer a team two *free* shots?!? Listen to that...*Free *shots! This isnt some sort of fade away J we are talking about...this is basketball, a sport that you have to put a ball through a hoop to score. A free throw is asking you to do the most basic thing in the game from 15 whole feet away....how unfair


----------



## NewAgeBaller (Jan 8, 2007)

Well its boring as hell but like I said earlier, this is a rule you're changing FOR THE BENEFIT OF ABOUT 5 PLAYERS IN THE LEAGUE. Just cause a smart opposition coach is taking advantage of the poor shooting of an opponent, doesn't mean you change the rules to disallow it. Its a strategy and a part of the game, you can't just change things like that because people don't like it. You shouldn't anyway.


----------



## DANNY (Aug 9, 2005)

well the league will do whatever it takes to make the game more fun and obviously a hack-a-somebody stratgy is something that doesnt go with the flow

if sterny can change the rule to make the league from being physical to softass in a span of 5 years or so, getting rid of the hack-a-what strategy in a short period of time should be a piece of cake


----------



## Tooeasy (Nov 4, 2003)

NewAgeBaller said:


> Well its boring as hell but like I said earlier, this is a rule you're changing FOR THE BENEFIT OF ABOUT 5 PLAYERS IN THE LEAGUE. Just cause a smart opposition coach is taking advantage of the poor shooting of an opponent, doesn't mean you change the rules to disallow it. Its a strategy and a part of the game, you can't just change things like that because people don't like it. You shouldn't anyway.


reggie miller kick out on his jumper ring a bell? just because its a severe minority that the issue is involved in, doesnt mean it should be looked at. I for one, hate that the hack-a-shaq crap adds anywhere from 10-15 minutes onto an already dragged out game. just assess the 1 shot and ball penalty as i said earlier, and if a poor shooting ft player doesnt make his shot, then the defensive team is no worse off, if he hits it then it costs the team a point, simple as that.


----------



## DaRizzle (May 22, 2007)

So it goes from 2 FT to 1 FT and then gotta go to half court to take the ball out...thats should cut off plenty of time :whatever:


----------



## All Net (Nov 28, 2007)

DaRizzle said:


> All players shoot the ball, there have been FT's since before any of these players were born. Learn to shoot a FT. Its not that hard.


when your body is so dam big things happen in a different way... Shaq cant bend his wrist when he shoots the ball... wich makes it a problem for him to aim... but I dont think they should change the rule though...


----------



## Aylwin (Jan 29, 2007)

Shaq or no Shaq, I don't like the idea of intentionally fouling anyone other than the person with the ball. Basketball, as the name suggests, is about one team putting the ball in the basket and the other team preventing the ball from going in the basket. The focus, therefore, should be on the ball.

Of course, that's over simplifying the matter but I just don't see how intentionally fouling someone away from the ball should be an integral part of the game. It turns the game into a lottery. Free throws are meant to be a penalty for doing something against the rules. If it can somehow be turned into a reward then something is wrong.

If it were up to me, intentionally fouling someone away from the ball would be like a technical. It would cost a free throw plus possession. Or if not, 2 free throws but the team gets to choose who shoots. Either way, it should be punishment and not reward. I think the key word here is "intentional". If you intentionally break a rule then there should be little or no possibility for reward. I think that's applicable for any sport and basketball should be no exception.


----------



## c_dog (Sep 15, 2002)

This is a sad day when the league is actually thinking about getting rid of the "hack a shaq" strategy... Shaq went from the man who was so dominant that teams had to resort to the hacking strategy in futile attempts to stop him, to the man who was so pathetic(that teams could just intentionally foul him and pretty much re-obtain possession because he can't hit a damn freebie) that the league had to get rid of intentionally fouling players.


----------



## Dornado (May 26, 2003)

This is definitely not something to make a rule over.

As a Bulls fan, when we had Ben Wallace (the terrible, terrible version of Ben Wallace) teams would do the same thing, and honestly I had no problem with it. 

If Shaq's size is really the reason he can't shoot free throws, then tough... he gets to use his size to his advantage all the time, there's no sense in stopping the other team from exploiting his weakness.

Wilt Chamberlain started taking pottyshots... Shaq should do whatever he has to do to learn how to make free throws or else deal with the consequences.


----------



## Aylwin (Jan 29, 2007)

c_dog said:


> This is a sad day when the league is actually thinking about getting rid of the "hack a shaq" strategy...


I'm not necessarily against "Hack-A-Shaq". I'm just against intentionally fouling players who don't have the ball. In my opinion, it goes against sportsmanship and takes away a bit of spirit to the game.

If Shaq or Ben or anyone else has the ball then by all means hack them if you want. But at least wait until they have possession of the ball. Is that too much to ask? If they can't touch the ball for fear of getting hacked then that's an advantage to the defense. So it can still work as a strategy.


----------



## DaRizzle (May 22, 2007)

If a player can make 1 out of 2 FT every time then it kills the strategy since it would be like making a bucket every other time and 50%FG is good. *1 out of 2!!!* Pro bball players!!! No rule change!


----------



## kidd2rj (Jan 29, 2005)

It should be changed. I think it ruins the spirit and integrity of the game. Sure players should be able to make a free throw but last I checked, offensive schemes weren't designed for your center to be fouled 50 feet from the basket. NBA is about money and Suns were one of the most exciting teams in the league. Having 3 minutes of free throws in each quarter from intentional fouls really hurts the product on the court from an NBA perspective.

if anything it should be at least limited to how much they are allowed to do it or that the person being fouled has to cross midcourt before intentionally fouling. In the suns case, they could get a few shots off before shaq would cross midcourt. 

i'm using suns and shaq as references in this post but really it goes for everyone and every team.


----------

