Stern suddenly concerned with Hack-a-Splitter :rolleyes

[bigfan]

If someone wants to pay me $15 million dollars a year I bet even I could learn to hit 75% of my freethrows (Id even do em granny style if I had to).

[KoolAid Mans Brother]

I don't have to tell you things are bad everbody knows things are bad it's a conspiracy against us, everbodys out showcasing mokeyball, the fundamentals are being forgotten, couple dollars can't even get you a beer at games, teams are tanking for picks, guns are entering the lockeroom, Punk commissioner are running wild with power and there's nobody anywere who seems to know what to do and there's no end to it.

We know some games are rigged, and some teams are favored, and we sit watching our tvs while some jackass commissioner tells us today which star players have to play, or which coachs team will be fined 250K for coaching his team as if that's the way it's suppose to be, we know things are bad worse than bad there crazy it's like everything everywere is going crazy so we don't go out anymore and instead complain on online forums, and slowly the game we love is being taken from us and all we say is please don't pay the fine leave our team alone, let us have our basketball, let a coach do his job, let him decided what players should play and we won't say anything just leave us alone well im not going to leave you alone I WANT YOU TO GET MAD.

I don't want you to protest I don't want you to ride, I dont want you to write to the NBA becuase I wouldn't know what to tell you to write I don't know what to do about the monkeyball showcasing, overpriced beers, rigged games, and favored teams all I know is that first you got to get mad you got to say im a SAN ANTONIO SPURS FAN GOD DAMIT MY VOICE HAS VAULE, so I want you to get up now I want all of you to get up out of your chairs I want you to get up right now and go to the window open it and stick you head out and yell IM AS MAD AS AND IM NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE I want you to get up right now get up go to your windows open them and stick your head out and yell IM AS MAD AS AND IM NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE THINGS ARE GOING TO CHANGE but first you got to GET MAD YOU GOT TO SAY IM AS MAD AS AND IM NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE then will figure out what to do about the monkeyball, overpriced beers, rigged games, and favored teams, but first get out of your chairs open the window stick your head out and yell and say IM AS MAD AS AND IM NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!

P.S.
U STERN

[dunkman]

The FT's are an important part of the game, teams should be able to exploit the weaknesses the other team has without help/interference from the refs. While big players anchor the defense, bring rebounding and highly efficient offense, most don't have the range to shot their FT's consistenly. The Shaq-Kobe Lakers didn't need the help of the refs to win championships, they already had talent advantage, in the same way it's hard to understand why a team that has Kobe, Jamison, Metta, Gasol, Nash and Dwight would need extra help from the refs. Pop was forced to sit Splitter, well it was a good call from OKC. But in the end it wasn't the reason why the Spurs have lost that series.

BTW, don't know what a F does it has to do if Stern is Jew or not. He just wants the Lakers in the finals, as it brings more $$$ than some smaller market teams. But as someone has stated, over the years he became more blatant, that it's time for him to retire already.

[Mugen]

I disagree with the whole conspiracy theory.

Stern hasn't liked the hack a ... for years. The reason is simple: that's ugly to watch and hurt the NBA product. He is, without a doubt, saying the truth about his last try with the Splitter case as an example of why it hurts the game. Now, he is suddenly talking about that just because journalist are asking him question about it. That's all.

Personally, I agree with Stern that the rule must change. Hacking a player is again the spirit of the game and is ugly to watch. The whole "they just had to work on their FTs" is BS to me. For some players, even with hard work, hitting FTs is damn hard. Ben Wallace has a 0.414 FT% and i don't see how you can call accuse of laziness given what he has done.

Bruno, do you really think this would be an issue if Howard was still in ORL? I don't buy into the Stern conspiracies much either but it's obvious that most of his decisions are influenced by the effect that it would have on his marquee teams.

I'm not a fan of the Hack a Shaq either but free throws are part of the game. I equate it to an intentional walk in baseball. It's not aesthetically pleasing but it's strategy.

[Dex]

I disagree with the whole conspiracy theory.

Stern hasn't liked the hack a ... for years. The reason is simple: that's ugly to watch and hurt the NBA product. He is, without a doubt, saying the truth about his last try with the Splitter case as an example of why it hurts the game. Now, he is suddenly talking about that just because journalist are asking him question about it. That's all.

Personally, I agree with Stern that the rule must change. Hacking a player is again the spirit of the game and is ugly to watch. The whole "they just had to work on their FTs" is BS to me. For some players, even with hard work, hitting FTs is damn hard. Ben Wallace has a 0.414 FT% and i don't see how you can call accuse of laziness given what he has done.

I'm part of the "if you don't want to be put on the line, learn to hit your free throws" camp, but I see both sides to the argument. I find it hard to believe that anyone who spends 2-6 hours a day playing basketball can't at least get decent at the most fundamental part of it (free throws), but that must be the case because there are a lot of guys who can't seem to figure it out for whatever reason.

My question is...where do you draw the line? If you can't employ the "Hack-a" strategy, can you foul a big when he's got the ball near the rim and has you in a bad way? Can you foul a player who is trying to get away on the fast break? Do you restrict fouling to only be "incidental or accidental" contact, and how do you judge or enforce that? Should they start accessing technical fouls when players foul intentionally, and if so, how does that affect the end of games when teams regularly foul to "stretch it out"?

They would probably have to keep the on-the-ball fouls the same or they risk complicating things even worse, but when players are fouling off the ball, I guess they could either award 1 free throw plus the ball to the fouled player, or just let the fouled team choose who they want to send to the line.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

There need to be less free throws period. Targeting a strategy used against a handful of players isn't going to do that. Have the refs ease up on the whistles, nix the stupid clear path fouls which do nothing but slow down the damn game worse IMO, and then you can talk about eliminating the Hack-A-______ from the league.

[Brazil]

now that Splitter is no more a liability at the FT line

[UZER]

And stern is no fool...this is another jab at Pop who employs this strategy...but stern twists the knife by using one of the Spurs as his rally cry to look like he's looking out for the Spurs knowing full well the spurs will do this against LA.

This is still regarding pop giving him the finger on national TV.

Dude is freaking good at being a greased pig.

[Bruno]

Bruno, do you really think this would be an issue if Howard was still in ORL?

Article from June 18 2012, almost 2 months before the Howard trade:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba-wei...5869--nba.html

He's neutral when it comes to the away from the ball fouls, which led to Hack-a-Shaq and which the Thunder used while intentionally fouling San Antonio's Tiago Splitter in the Western Conference finals. On one hand, he feels bad for the player who is being embarrassed by his poor free throw shooting; on the other, he understands that maybe coaches should then take the player out.

The committee appears to be leaning toward the status quo.

''It's fair to say there was a strong sense that we shouldn't cut down on the toolbox that coaches have available to them, despite what may seem the unseemliness of the way it goes down,'' Stern said. ''But that's just one of the things that you do if you want to win and it works.''

hack-a-... has been an issue for Stern for more than a decade. You can look at the wiki about if for the whole story:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack-a-Shaq

[Bruno]

My question is...where do you draw the line? If you can't employ the "Hack-a" strategy, can you foul a big when he's got the ball near the rim and has you in a bad way? Can you foul a player who is trying to get away on the fast break? Do you restrict fouling to only be "incidental or accidental" contact, and how do you judge or enforce that? Should they start accessing technical fouls when players foul intentionally, and if so, how does that affect the end of games when teams regularly foul to "stretch it out"?

They would probably have to keep the on-the-ball fouls the same or they risk complicating things even worse, but when players are fouling off the ball, I guess they could either award 1 free throw plus the ball to the fouled player, or just let the fouled team choose who they want to send to the line.

There is still a set of rules to avoid the suing of hack-a-... in the last 2 minutes of the game. Off the ball fouls results in 1 FT and the possession. The easiest would be just to extend this set of rules for the whole game.

And I agree with you that it wouldn't solve the whole issue but it would surely help a lot.

[Spursfanfromafar]

I disagree with the whole conspiracy theory.

Stern hasn't liked the hack a ... for years. The reason is simple: that's ugly to watch and hurt the NBA product. He is, without a doubt, saying the truth about his last try with the Splitter case as an example of why it hurts the game. Now, he is suddenly talking about that just because journalist are asking him question about it. That's all.

Personally, I agree with Stern that the rule must change. Hacking a player is again the spirit of the game and is ugly to watch. The whole "they just had to work on their FTs" is BS to me. For some players, even with hard work, hitting FTs is damn hard. Ben Wallace has a 0.414 FT% and i don't see how you can call accuse of laziness given what he has done.

I agree with Bruno. I think that fouling someone away from the ball is not just not in the spirit of the game, but a foul that puts the onus on the offender. First of all, I think it should be three free throws for a foul away from the ball (of this kind), because the foul is to prevent the offended team from taking their best shot. How can one assume that the team against whom the foul has been committed is only going to attempt a two as the play progresses. The penalty in my view should be maximum.

And so, I think the league can restrict hack-a-____ to outside the last 2 min (where the offending team will not only be penalised with free throws but also possessions) as well as increase the penalty for the deliberate Hack-a-______ to three free throws. I think that would disincentivise the idea a bit more.

[phxspurfan]

I disagree with the whole conspiracy theory.

Stern hasn't liked the hack a ... for years. The reason is simple: that's ugly to watch and hurt the NBA product. He is, without a doubt, saying the truth about his last try with the Splitter case as an example of why it hurts the game. Now, he is suddenly talking about that just because journalist are asking him question about it. That's all.

Personally, I agree with Stern that the rule must change. Hacking a player is again the spirit of the game and is ugly to watch. The whole "they just had to work on their FTs" is BS to me. For some players, even with hard work, hitting FTs is damn hard. Ben Wallace has a 0.414 FT% and i don't see how you can call accuse of laziness given what he has done.

For some players (paid millions to play a child's game), hitting FTs is damn hard


even with hard work

[Obstructed_View]

If they're going to change the rules, I'd much rather they address where defenders leap under a player to initiate a collision, fall down, and are rewarded with a charge call. A simple "any doubt goes in favor of the offensive player" weeds out all the weak attempts and encourages shot-blocking.

[Captivus]

If someone wants to pay me $15 million dollars a year I bet even I could learn to hit 75% of my freethrows (Id even do em granny style if I had to).

Thats exactly what i always think. Why dont players do that?? Its not embarrasing if the hit 70%+.
I never understood why Shaq didnt do that.

[ego]

Can you give me a fine explanation why the WNBA team stats are better than in the NBA ?

[anonoftheinternets]

The real problem isn't Hack-A-Whoever, it's the blatant use of fouls in general to stop a play, either because the player is about to make a layup or dunk, or because the team is behind late and needs to get the ball back.

If you're going to change the rules, put in a rule where the coach can elect to take the ball on the side rather than shooting FTs. THAT will cut out the deliberate fouls both on and off the ball. And shorten the games. And cut down on free throws which are the most boring part of the game anyway.

So if im abt to get a dunk, and someone fouls me to prevent it, we reset the possession. How does that even make sense?

[Horse]

That little ! I wanna see teams try and foul Splitter on purpose now. He did what he's supposed to and has improved a ton.

[ploto]

IIRC, in FIBA, a foul in which a player is making no effort to play the ball and contact occurs is an unsportsmanlike foul and results in free throws and the ball. They use the same rule for what we could call break-away fouls. Two unsportsmanlike fouls and the player is ejected.

[rascal]

The real problem isn't Hack-A-Whoever, it's the blatant use of fouls in general to stop a play, either because the player is about to make a layup or dunk, or because the team is behind late and needs to get the ball back.

If you're going to change the rules, put in a rule where the coach can elect to take the ball on the side rather than shooting FTs. THAT will cut out the deliberate fouls both on and off the ball. And shorten the games. And cut down on free throws which are the most boring part of the game anyway.

They should eliminate free throws all together. Any foul to stop a player going to the basket is like a goal tend, 2 points plus the foul.

[CubanMustGo]

Can you give me a fine explanation why the WNBA team stats are better than in the NBA ?

Smaller diameter ball and same size hoop as NBA might be one reason. Another reason is that since nearly nobody can dunk, they actually spend time working on fundamentals.

[YoMamaIsCallin]

They should eliminate free throws all together. Any foul to stop a player going to the basket is like a goal tend, 2 points plus the foul.

Hmm, too much I think. First it's a tough call to decide whether a player was trying to stop the player or it was legitimate defense. Second, too much benefit, if I were proposing this (which I'm not) I'd say one FT plus the ball, like a technical foul.

[UZER]

If they're going to change the rules, I'd much rather they address where defenders leap under a player to initiate a collision, fall down, and are rewarded with a charge call. A simple "any doubt goes in favor of the offensive player" weeds out all the weak attempts and encourages shot-blocking.

I have said this exact same thing before. I 100% agree


I hate the split second jump under the offensive player drawing a charge.

[YoMamaIsCallin]

So if im abt to get a dunk, and someone fouls me to prevent it, we reset the possession. How does that even make sense?

No, it would be team option to take the ball out or shoot the FTs, in my proposal. Usually they'd shoot the FTs unless player is really bad at them, or if its a late game strategy issue (you'd rather have the ball with 10 seconds left than 2 possible points if you're up by 1, for example).

Here's the math: if player shoots say 70% FT, expected return on 2 FTs is 1.4 points (2 times 0.7). Average NBA points per possession is around 1.0 to 1.1. So you'd let that player shoot. Unless someone is really bad at FTs like 50% or below you'd let them shoot it.

[YoMamaIsCallin]

I have said this exact same thing before. I 100% agree


I hate the split second jump under the offensive player drawing a charge.

Literally jumping under a player after they leave their feet is a foul. You have to be set before the player takes off.

[YoMamaIsCallin]

IIRC, in FIBA, a foul in which a player is making no effort to play the ball and contact occurs is an unsportsmanlike foul and results in free throws and the ball. They use the same rule for what we could call break-away fouls. Two unsportsmanlike fouls and the player is ejected.

I like that.