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Maybe he should stfu and review pushing refs and face fouls.
How about hiring him a free-throw coach.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3386266
NBA commissioner David Stern said Wednesday that the league will consider changing its rules on fouls away from the basketball in addition to reviewing the use of replay for game clock malfunctions when the compe ion committee meets in Orlando at the end of the month.
Speaking to reporters at the Staples Center before he presented the Most Valuable Player award to Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, Stern said, "I think there are two subjects that are going to get some attention by the compe ion committee. No. 1 is review on clock situations. And No. 2 is the whole intentional fouls away from the play etc. I don't know what the results will be in each one, but I think those are worthy of some considered attention."
Both issues have come to the forefront in the playoffs. In the first round, the San Antonio Spurs made extensive use of the Hack-a-Shaq tactic, repeatedly fouling Phoenix Suns center Shaquille O'Neal away from the ball to send him to the free-throw line. While the Suns questioned the aesthetics of the strategy, they admitted it affected them by disrupting the tempo of the game -- and O'Neal shot only 50 percent from the line in the series.
Stern indicated he had a problem with "the idea that, 'Hey, look at me, I'm going to hit this guy as soon as the ball goes into play, even though he's standing under the other basket.' I think that conversation has been started again, by the media, by fans etc. We're going to look at it again."
His comments about clock reviews echoed those made by NBA president Joel Litvin in a statement in which he admitted a 3-pointer by Detroit's Chauncey Billups at the end of the third quarter of Game 2 against the Orlando Magic should not have counted. With 5.1 second remaining, the Pistons inbounded the ball on the far end of the court, and the clock froze at 4.8 seconds as Billups dribbled upcourt. Litvin said the play took 5.7 seconds, meaning the buzzer should have sounded before the shot went up.
Under current rules the play was not reviewable because officials are allowed to use replay only if a shot went in and the clock expires. If the use of replay were expanded, Stern said, "We'd have to actually have the timing synched over the video, so that going to the video was really a slam dunk, so to speak. We would have to be persuaded that we could time code the video in real time."
In other topics, Stern disputed the notion that NBA players' participation in international compe ion takes an excessive toll on their bodies. Lakers Coach Phil Jackson brought up the subject earlier in the evening when asked about Bryant's Olympic duties this summer.
"The rest and recuperation that they can get in the offseason is really critical to players," Jackson said. "We've joined world basketball in this cause to chase whatever."
J.A. Adande is the author of "The Best Los Angeles Sports Arguments." He joined ESPN.com as an NBA columnist in August 2007 after 10 years with the Los Angeles Times. Click here to e-mail J.A.
Maybe he should stfu and review pushing refs and face fouls.
Oh what the is this? Are we the first team in NBA Playoff history to have ever used this tactic?
Its a smart move by the Spurs, but bad for the league.
Stern would be smart to change it. Not just for Shaq, but for everyone.
once again, the league tries to change the rules to do away with the Spurs
- Mars
Not to mention reviewing referee performance, losing the inept and getting some of the guys up from the D-League who can call a game the same on both ends
What people forget is that the hack-a-shaq issue was already addressed. They added the rule that in the last 2 minutes of either half, a foul away from the ball gives you one shot and the ball. This was done in the Chamberlain era, before "Hack-a-Shaq" was coined. (I guess it would have been "Whack-a-Wilt" ??) It was exactly the same situation. Wilt shot right around 50% on free throws, as does Shaq.
Why people think this is some new atrocity started by the Spurs is beyond me. Don Nelson used it extensively and no one changed the rules. I guess now that it's the evil Spurs doing it to the golden boy Suns, we have to change the rules, AGAIN.
What are they going to do... make intentional fouls off the ball ALWAYS one shot and the ball? Extend it to the last 5 minutes of each half?
Maybe teams should just not depend on behemoths with no actual basketball skills more than 3 feet from the basket?
Pop exploited the strategy when he did it in every single quarter once the Spurs got in the penalty and either Shaq or Skinner were in the game. The strategy may have been used all the way back to Wilt Chamberlain, but I doubt it was ever used as extensively. I don't like the strategy but I had no problem with Pop using it while it's well within the rules as they are currently constructed. But, I do think it takes away from the game and the spirit of compe ion.
fo dang sho!
Perfect post.
why doesnt Stern go after
BIASED REFS and his tactics to decide games via refs.
Are they going to make changes by how teams execute the pick n' roll too since Snaq can't guard it?
I wish they would review the whole bogus "I can't possibly stop you so I am going to fall down and hope for a whistle", i.e.- flopping.
We have Dean Smith to thank for making the incessant attempt to draw offensive fouls a part of the game. College got rid of his four corners offense by finally adopting a shot clock. Now the NBA (and the NCAA for that matter) ought to address the whole flopping fiasco.
Talk about things that disrupt the flow of the game.
As long as I am on a roll- they also need to look at shooters initiating contact and then getting a whistle. Also bogus in my book.
talk about whining. sheesh. would you like a bottle too?
- Mars
Hey, Mars- take a chill pill. How is what I wrote "whining"? I'm not calling out the Spurs- EVERYBODY flops-College and Pro.
And IMHO it detracts from the way the game ought to be played.
If you consider that "whining"- then so be it.
Fine with me. It's not like this takes anything away from the Spurs beating the Suns.
What are you talking about? Flopping does not disrupt the flow of the game. The flopper flops. The ref calls a foul, but he would have called one anyway, most likely. Or, the ref doesn't call a foul, because he didn't see a foul, or because he doesn't like flopping. Either way, the flow of the game is about the same.
The whining about flopping is way, way out of control. It's not football, people, it's basketball. Players aren't supposed to succeed because they can smash into other players and knock them out of the way. Flopping is just a way to call attention to the fact that someone maybe was fouled. The refs still call the fouls. A foul is a foul whether flopping occurred or not.
Again, that all depends. When you flop, it doesn't mean there wasn't an offensive foul. And, when you initiate contact, it doesn't mean there wasn't a defensive foul.As long as I am on a roll- they also need to look at shooters initiating contact and then getting a whistle. Also bogus in my book.
The shooter is allowed to jump any way he wants to. When he makes contact with the defender, the question is, was the defender in a vertical defensive stance and the offensive player jumped into him? Or was the defender moving and did not have defensive stance established?
For example, the shooter ball fakes, the defender jumps in the air (moving, not in a defensive stance), and the shooter jumps forward and initiates contact while shooting with the defender in the air. Foul on the defender? You betcha. You can't be moving into the path of the shooter while he makes his shot and not have a foul called on you when contact is made. It's an easy call.
Defenders have to learn to establish position and not react so much to shot and body fakes that get them jumping and leaning, because then they are just dead meat for foul calls.
it's called playing with smarts. if you can't handle it then don't be a basketball fan.
bball isn't all about muscle and just banging right over your opponent. sorry.
- Mars
What do you think of on the ball fouls in the last few minutes of a game? E.g., a team is down by 1 and the other team has the ball, they intentionally foul the person the ball is inbounded to. Do you believe that takes away from the game and the spirit of compe ion?
I'm not trying to sound confrontational -- just trying to gauge your viewpoint.
Obviously they didn't care when it was "hack-a-Bowen"...
They didn't care when someone other than the Spurs was doing it.
Stern recognizes the Spurs' version of Hack a Shaq for what it was: A big " you" from Pop to the Suns, to David Stern, to Stu Jackson and to ESPN. Let 'em change the rule. It's already killed the Suns and cost Mike D'Antoni his job. I'm perfectly satisfied with the results.
I agree. You can't be upset with Pop for using a tactic within the design of the game that is going to make his team win.
But honestly, the fouls are there for a reason--you're not supposed to do that. It's technically breaking a rule. Any attempt to exploit rule breaking consequences should be evaluated very deeply.
Smart idea by Stern, Hack-a-Shaq is for losers and now the users of this dirty and cheap ass tactic are paying the consecuences by getting swept in the second round.
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