Hack-a-(bad ft shooter) strategy

[DarrinS]

I'm not a big fan of this strategy.

Thoughts?

[YODA]

make your free thows.

[tesseractive]

I think it can be a good strategy against yong and/or poorly coached teams that can be rattled and taken out of their rhythm. Doesn't help much against veteran teams.

[tp2021]

It's no different than not rotating to a bad jumpshooter, and allowing a wide open look. I mean, they're allowing a professional basketball player the chance to throw it freely...twice.

[T Park]

make your free thows.


This.

[Spurs and Mavs fan]

It's the opponent's fault for not being able to make free throws. I agree that it's not the classiest strategy, but if an opponent has a weakness that can be exploited, it's their fault for not fixing it.



I'm not a fan of it either.

[100%duncan]

make your free thows.

[Obstructed_View]

Not really a fan of it, but it's a complete and utter momentum killer, especially on the road. They did it just enough to derail the Clippers.

[Spurtacus]

FREE throws.

Can't emphasize the free anymore.

[-21-]

I don't like it either but as a basketball player, if you're given two free shots, you have to take advantage and knock them down. Obviously, it's not the best way to win but it kills the opponent's rythm and puts the pressure on them.

[gospursgojas]

make your free thows.


It's no different than not rotating to a bad jumpshooter, and allowing a wide open look. I mean, they're allowing a professional basketball player the chance to throw it freely...twice.


FREE throws.

Can't emphasize the free anymore.

:tu to all points.

Its exploiting the opposing team's weakness. Its gamesmanship.

Matt Bonner is 6'9 and has 3 ft arms. Teams attack him at the basket. I DONT SEE ONE DIFFERENCE.

[Bender]

not a fan.

[timvp]

Tbvh, I like it when it works. When it doesn't work, I don't like it.

[TDMVPDPOY]

teams do hire shooting coaches, if you aint using whats at ur disposal, then why hire one??

pro athlete earning millions who dont wanan improve their game? lol gtfo

[Shaolin-Style]

I'm a fan of it. I think it's hilarious for one, and a good coaching decision.

You don't get easier points than free throws, if you can't make them as someone who's paid loads of money to play basketball, then that's on you.

[flipcritic]

Not a fan. But hurrah when it works.

[jestersmash]

Some clipperfans on topbuzz were whining about how this move was "disrespectful" by Pop.

[Kidd K]

I like any tactics that work. It works, therefore I like it. Completely within the rules even though the NBA has tried to change the rules to stop that tactic (the free throws and ball penalty for hacking someone who doesn't have the ball late in a game).

It forces the opposing team to not play players that are poor free throw shooters. The only people that don't like it are teams who want to play bad free throw shooters without having to deal with shooting them whenever they have the ball. It's called sign a better player or work on their free throw shooting.

Besides, should people be whining every time a team tries to inbound the ball to their best free throw shooter late in a game? Or that a team is allowed to send their best free throw shooter to the line to shoot technical fouls even if they weren't even involved in the play? It's the same difference, but nobody whines about it because everyone does it.

[Proxy]

Some people might say that it isn't "honorable." When winning is the goal and you aren't cheating, then "honor" becomes a crutch. If the rules allow it, then I'm all for it.

Kind of the same boat as when Timmy involves himself in the opposing team's huddle when a timeout isn't called. :lol

[Obstructed_View]

I wasn't aware that Popovich invented the practice. Could have sworn it had been done before.

[Drz]

Definitely for it. You play to win the game.

Also definitely for the NBA changing the rules so it's no longer a viable strategy.

[Sense]

It's coaching.. if you have someone the other team can foul to get the ball without the score being affected why wouldn't you do that?

Teams should keep their bad free throw shooting players just shooting free throws in practice.. because Pop is going to continue doing it if you don't hit them.. and I'm all for it.

[Sense]

It's coaching.. if you have someone the other team can foul to get the ball without the score being affected why wouldn't you do that?

Teams should keep their bad free throw shooting players just shooting free throws in practice.. because Pop is going to continue doing it if you don't hit them.. and I'm all for it.

[Spurminator]

I like it in certain situations... stopping a run, taking the ball out of a hot opponent's hands. It can work sometimes.

When used over a long stretch, though, you're basically giving up 50% shooting even against the worst FT shooters and you don't have as many fast break opportunities. So you have to be selective.

I think Pop has used it perfectly this series, and I haven't always felt that way about it in the past.

[greyforest]

obviously it's going to piss people off because free throws are boring, but it's not supposed to work. for fuck's sake if you're a pro nba player and can't shoot over 65% on ft you DESERVE to be hacked.

besides, when have you ever seen pop so happy?
z2LRDO4jiBo

[Biggems]

i love the move....and have often pondered why opposing teams dont return the favor and make Timmy or Tiago shoot FTs....i know they have done hack a bowen and such....but no one has really retaliated with the tactic on a regular basis.

if i were del negro, once Pop did it to me, i would do it to him. hopefully if we missed, they would miss too and any advantage the Spurs were trying to gain would be negated....and Pop would eventually stop the tactic.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

It helps the Spurs hang onto their " boring" mystique. CIA ftw.

[joeyjfive]

I can definitely see how other teams can hate the fuck out of it, but if the Spurs are winning I dont give a damn.

[Bartleby]

I wasn't aware that Popovich invented the practice. Could have sworn it had been done before.

I remember Don Nelson used it to bring the Warriors back from a big deficit against the Spurs and ultimately win the game in 1992 or 93. It was maddening because he sent Larry Smith to the free throw line something like five times (and Smith was a terrible free throw shooter) and Smith kept missing. Pop was an assistant coach for Nellie at the time.

[MannyIsGod]

As long as fouls are allowed at the end of games to extend the game and let a team back in I don't even want to hear anyone bitch about this.

Pop uses it better than anyone in the NBA, tbh.

[CitizenDwayne]

Honorable or not, it is hilarious to see.

And yeah, you're getting paid millions, make your damn free throws.

[phyzik]

For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.

[Holt's Cat]

It's a part of the game. It kills momentum and it makes the opponent pay for having a poor FT shooter on the court.

[TDMVPDPOY]

most of teh complainers so far has been clipper and non playoff team wankers

ur entitled to ur POV, but keep it to urself since ur opinions hold no weight when ur team isnt in the playoffs....

[mVp]

Pro ballers should make their free throws, period. I know I would if I'm getting paid millions just to play basketball.

[baseline bum]

It was an obvious move to completely negate Jordan and Evans. Too bad the contenders the Spurs will face later on don't have those kind of holes.

[k_nguyen93]

^Perkins and Rondo come to mind.

[InK]

..they're allowing a professional basketball player the chance to throw it freely...twice.

[DMC]

I trust Pop.

We have hindsight, Pop coaches up coming plays.

We all knew it was coming, and if the Clippers didn't, they are fools.

[pgardn]

I watched a kid in HS make 153 FT in a row at the end of a practice. We all stayed to watch for what seemed an hour. And he was a better tennis player, not a starter.

I like it because it exposes an essential part of BASKETball.
There is a ball.
There is a basket with TWICE the diameter of the ball.
The ball needs to go through the basket.
If you are huge, and cannot put the ball through the basket, get your butt off the court. Coach is calling you out. He dont think you can shoot.


I like it as a change of pace as well.

[Keepin' it real]

I wonder if OKC will hack-a-Tiago as a counter measure. Can you imagine? Spurs intentionally foul Perkins on one end, the OKC intentionally fouls Tiago on the other end. And then they do it again and again. I wonder how long they'd have to do that for David Stern to go apeshit.

[DMC]

You have to be in the bonus, else it doesn't matter.

[MannyIsGod]

Comparing NBA FTs to HS practice FTs is hilarious. NBA FT shooters are almost always terrible due to mental issues and not due to bad form or any other physical thing. You can practice FTs with bad form and end up a super high percentage in practice but its a lot harder to replicate when it actually matters for some players.

Nick Anderson is the perfect example.

[024]

tbh, the clippers are practically asking for it with the two worst free throw shooters in the league

[SA210]

I thought it was great to end the half since we needed to catch up, it clearly helped. I don't think we needed it to end the game, but we won, so I'm happy.

[spurraider21]

I was at the game today and it completely killed the crowd. Excellent tactic if the opportunity provides itself. Anytime an NBA player has an obvious weakness, it is attacked. When the Lakers played us in the first game, Blair started and was defending Bynum at first (lol). The Lakers kept dumping it down to Bynum and he controlled the game. When Evans and Jordan are piss poor free throw shooters, we would rather let them shoot then let them work through a red hot Mo Williams or Blake

[BigTex342006]

It is an uncontested 15 ft shot....make the friggin shot. I like it especially against potentially dangerous teams when leading by 10-13 pts or so. It makes the opposing coach have to make a decision to change a line-up when he hadn't planned on doing so... Makes a lot of sense...

[polandprzem]

I love it.

It absolutely kills any momentum. You can allow other team 2 pts.
No 3pointers, no drives and fouls on better shootes/ no and 1s/. You do not need to rebound missed shots.

Of course you need to use it properly. Pop doing it best. And because of Pop they changed the rule to not allow it 2 minutes b4 the geme ends

[Spursfanfromafar]

I am ambivalent.. When up 13 there was necessarily no need to foul even a bad shooter like Evans.. Because the time doesn't get reduced and the possibility of evening the score in 2 minutes (with 10 points to overcome) is not much higher than in 3 minutes per se (with 13 points to overcome).

But I think in Pop's mind, it was important to halt CP3's momentum. He had just taken two quick shots in the early seconds of the shot clock and had made them. Pop obviously was not going to take any chances and thought it better to ride Evans' bricklaying arm than chancing CP3's shooting. And it worked..

[senorglory]

I really liked it when used to gain a two-for-one for the Spurs/ kill the two-for-one for Clippers.

[Gagnrath]

i love the move....and have often pondered why opposing teams dont return the favor and make Timmy or Tiago shoot FTs....i know they have done hack a bowen and such....but no one has really retaliated with the tactic on a regular basis.

if i were del negro, once Pop did it to me, i would do it to him. hopefully if we missed, they would miss too and any advantage the Spurs were trying to gain would be negated....and Pop would eventually stop the tactic.

It was Bumping the Bruce people..... Alot of the time people were doing those half shoulder tackles that Wade does to people to him....

Also how do you lead the league in 3 point shooting and can't make free throws? Please explain this sometime on espn Bruce.

[E-RockWill]

You:

a) make the free throws or not & coach does nothing
b) coach calls a time-out & stacks his lineup w/ shooters, sits you on the bench & loses his rebounding

[cherylsteele]

I am not na fan of this strategy as a whole, but it is allowable in the rule book and it hss helped to win games, So I don't mind it. That said these are professional athletes and they should be able to make free throws, next to a layup/dunk it is the easiest shot on the court.

[SenorSpur]

I'm certainly no fan of it either. I rue the day that Pop executes any strategy that was developed by that NBA coaching fraud - Don Nelson. However as others have stated, players need to make their free throws then the opposition cannot employ that strategy.

All that said, I would like to see a team employ that strategy against LeBron James in the 4th quarter of the Finals. The FT line in a pressure situation IS NOT somewhere LBJ likes to be.

[tmtcsc]

I was a fan of it yesterday. It's demoralizing to your opponent when it works and gives you extra possessions. When Pop fouled Evans intentionally, it was the end.

What was Del Negro supposed to do ? Take him out and humiliate Evans or keep him in and let Evans be humiliated by Pop ?

As someone else posted: Make your FT's.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

I was a fan of it yesterday. It's demoralizing to your opponent when it works and gives you extra possessions. When Pop fouled Evans intentionally, it was the end.

What was Del Negro supposed to do ? Take him out and humiliate Evans or keep him in and let Evans be humiliated by Pop ?

As someone else posted: Make your FT's.

He should have taken him out right away. Del Negro coached awfully as a whole, not just this instance.

[ffadicted]

Take the time to learn to make your freebies and no one would ever implement this strat. FTs are a part of the game, hack-a-shaq is exposing a weakness, it's no different than clogging the paint against bad 3-pt shooting teams.

[Crookshanks]

When this tactic was used against the Spurs via Bruce Bowen, it worked at the beginning. But then Bruce got better and I remember one game where the opposing team kept fouling Bruce and he made 7 of 8 freethrows! Backfired big time, and they quit doing it. Soooooo...bottom line...MAKE YOUR FREETHROWS

[Jimcs50]

Tbvh, I like it when it works. When it doesn't work, I don't like it.

Yeah, when KMart made both and laughed at Pop, I did not like it

[Darkwaters]

If it generates wins, who cares?

[pgardn]

Comparing NBA FTs to HS practice FTs is hilarious. NBA FT shooters are almost always terrible due to mental issues and not due to bad form or any other physical thing. You can practice FTs with bad form and end up a super high percentage in practice but its a lot harder to replicate when it actually matters for some players.

Nick Anderson is the perfect example.
The actual physical requirements to make a FT can be done by Grandma off the streets. But she cant make a layup or dribble or dunk.

These are professional athletes. The most essential part of the game is putting the ball through a hoop that is twice as big. If you are a "role" player, and you cannot perform this incredibly difficult mental task, you should be taken off the floor when it matters.

And its not just about form, its about being consistent under perceived pressure. Did Rick Barry have bad form? I dont see anyone using this form anymore. Some guys cannot maintain a consistent stroke, and some guys cannot maintain a consistent stroke because of mental issues... Then get off the course. You can drive, but you cant putt on a straight line from 2 feet.

[Basketball Power]

It's not going to work with the thunder

[watertorture]

Rest your players in back-to-back regular season games.
Answer reporters' questions with short unremarkable answers.
Foul poor free throw shooters.
Pass up an open shot for a better shot.
Sign smart role players over expensive stars.
Stay off everyone's radar until the playoffs.
Play team defense.
Keep your cool.
:lobt2:

[Libri]

obviously it's going to piss people off because free throws are boring, but it's not supposed to work. for fuck's sake if you're a pro nba player and can't shoot over 65% on ft you DESERVE to be hacked.

besides, when have you ever seen pop so happy?
z2LRDO4jiBo

Shaq was all laughs there in the beginning but he wasn't laughing later in the game when the Spurs continued to hack him. :lol

[therealtruth]

If it generates wins, who cares?

That's the problem with the strategy. It's a gamble. Plus the teams uses up team fouls.

[pgardn]

Purposeful fouling is used constantly at the end of the game to regain possession. So this is purposeful fouling in order to force a coach to rethink a lineup, regain possession, and change tempo.

You are a big guy and you defend and rebound well. We, the oppositon, would like you on the bench. You are unable to carryout one of the most essential skills in basketball, shooting. We are better off without you on the court. You are basically a big specialist. We are now using your lack of skill in a very basic area of basketball to hurt your team.

Funny, I never saw this strategy used on Yao Ming.

There are plenty of ways the NBA could use to circumvent this tactic with more rules. I dont think they will as the tactic can backfire.

[spursfanincolorado]

That's the problem with the strategy. It's a gamble. Plus the teams uses up team fouls.

I like the tactic on occasion.

It is brilliant. It slows the game down for both teams which can be a detriment but almost always can backfire...

Kinda makes me think of Sun Tzu's Art of War.

If you haven't read this literature it basically breaks down the 13 chapters into military warfare strategy and tactics... Not relevant in basketball of course, but I can imagine if there was a book of stratagem for hoops it would fit in as a footnote of sorts.

[superbigtime]

I am definitely in favor of it. If it gives your team the advantage, it is stupid to not take advantage of an opponents poor FT shooters, plain and simple. Well done by Pop last night, absolutely.

[YoMamaIsCallin]

Here's the math. Average NBA points per possession is a little over 1. If a player averages X makes per free throw (X is a fraction, like .75 if you are a 75% shooter), then he'll average 2X points per deliberate foul and two FTs.

Therefore, if a player's FT shooting is 50% or less, mathematically it's advantageous, because you are giving them on the average 1 point or less on that possession. (Actually it's a bit more than that, because occasionally his team will rebound a missed FT and score. But let's ignore that for now.) And that is less than the NBA average of over a point per possession.

So who shoots 50% or worse? DeAndre Jordan, for one.

[Admidave50]

Not really a fan of it neither but it really makes sense against Clippers when you see how bad Jordan and Evans are shooting their FTs.

It's killing their momentum too!

So funny to watch the hack-a-shack during the opening tip against Suns!

[pgardn]

Here's the math. Average NBA points per possession is a little over 1. If a player averages X makes per free throw (X is a fraction, like .75 if you are a 75% shooter), then he'll average 2X points per deliberate foul and two FTs.

Therefore, if a player's FT shooting is 50% or less, mathematically it's advantageous, because you are giving them on the average 1 point or less on that possession. (Actually it's a bit more than that, because occasionally his team will rebound a missed FT and score. But let's ignore that for now.) And that is less than the NBA average of over a point per possession.

So who shoots 50% or worse? DeAndre Jordan, for one.

I would imagine the Clippers are a team that averages more than the avg. team per possession as well.

You get all these guys with great athletic ability that cant do what is supposed to be a fairly important part of basket ball.

Ball into basket.

Its also a fairly direct statement to the player getting fouled. I dont think you can do something simple. Prove me wrong.

[GSH]

Questioned directly about it, Pop basically says fuck off.

LOS ANGELES – When somebody asked him to explain his reasoning for deliberately fouling Reggie Evans in the fourth quarter of Game 3 on Saturday, a puzzled look crossed the face of Gregg Popovich,

“Because he’s not a good free throw shooter,” said the Spurs’ coach.

When the chuckling in the room finally stopped, Popovich went on.

“Look, I’m not trying to be a wise guy,” he said. “I just don’t know what else to tell you. We weren’t going to foul Chris Paul. I’m sorry to be a wise guy, but I fouled him for a reason. It’s not pretty. Basically, it’s ugly, but it’s part of the game. My job is to win.”

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2012/05/20/no-wise-guy-pop-shows-his-wisdom/

[GSH]

I think Pop would really tell the complainers to fuck, after that game. The Clippers' offense was really in rhythm, and the Spurs couldn't buy a stop - right up until Pop went to the Hack-a-Reggie. That's what won the game tonight. If the Clippers don't like it, they should hire a shooting coach for Reggie Evans.

[Spurtacus]

Pop bullied vinny into playing small ball.

[NickiRasgo]

It works well to be honest, Clips had the momentum, fast tempo until this one.