As his first order of business, should Adam Silver eliminate the Hack-A-(Insert Poor FT Shooter's Name)?

[CalgaryRapsFan]

That essentially is the rule for the last 2-minutes of the 4th, and I agree all they need to do is extend that throughout the whole game but I think it should still only get you a free-throw if the defending team has gone over the 5 team fouls or else I could see it leading to some big flops down low when things get desperate.

Yes, I totally agree that it would only start once the team is in the bonus.

[wallz]

I just wish the refs would let them play for a more free flowing game. Theres nothing I hate more than a perfectly good basketball game ruined by one or two players taking advantage of the refs whistle and shooting free throws all game

[OldSkoolCool]

Not only do non-NBA fans hate the fact that NBA games drag on, a lot of real die hard NBA fans hate it as well. The time out following a time out is especially annoying. I'm a fan of giving the team a choice to shot foul shots or not, more for the end game implications, the fact that it would solve the hack-a-foul strategy, is just a positive externality. If all those foul shots weren't boring and taking away from actual basketball I would have a problem, as I agree with the premise, that professionals should be able to shoot free throws at a decent rate.

As long as we can all agree that the league should make some tweaks to speed up the end of games, I'm happy to let the hack-a-player continue

I think foul shots are a very important part of basketball and should not be hidden in any way, shape or form.

I think just eliminating the number of time outs will drastically speed up the end of game situations enough to make things more watch-able. I hate the time out after time out. There is so much that can happen in 1 minute of pressed, late game play that at the NBA level some crazy shiz can happen and really make the league more exciting for both casual and serious fan.

Good commentary, and for the most part I have to agree with whitemen...there really is no good way to address the hack-a-poor free throw shooter strategy. I also do not like the strategy, and for the most part I would think that most fans would agree.

I really don't think there is a great way to deal with this. Maybe the league could only accept players that shoot 65% or greater from the line lol. In any event, if there is a guy on the floor that is a terrible FT shooter, than an opposing coach will exploit that, and like whitemen, I'm not sure the league should interfere with a coaches ability to exploit another teams weakness. That's how you win games, by making teams do things they aren't good at. And hey, if the Clips don't like, then Jordan should learn to shoot FT's!!

Well, considering that hack-a-player is only used on a short list of players, catering a rule to protect them is definitely the wrong way to go. Players who can shoot free throws should be rewarded.

At the top league in the WORLD, players should be able to make free throws. This is a non-argument for me.

If the player has the ball, I have no issue with a coaching strategy that exploits the rules. Players can potentially foul out and free points should be put on the board against you - that's penalty enough.

I do however think the rule could be tweaked when the fouls are made against a player who doesn't have the ball. In that case, I could see it treated like a technical foul (essentially it is unsportsmanlike conduct), where the team getting fouled gets 1 free throw (by any player on the court) and the ball back. The player committing the foul should also receive a personal foul.

That change will allow the leading team to keep their good defensive players on the court (who are often the poor free throw shooters), while still allowing the trailing team to employ the fouling strategy (but only against the player who has the ball).

It seems like a pretty minor, no brainer idea to me.

Could work...charge a bench technical so it doesn't count against the player, who is not doing a dirty ply and suffer an ejection??

[ezz_bee]

I think foul shots are a very important part of basketball and should not be hidden in any way, shape or form.

I think just eliminating the number of time outs will drastically speed up the end of game situations enough to make things more watch-able. I hate the time out after time out. There is so much that can happen in 1 minute of pressed, late game play that at the NBA level some crazy shiz can happen and really make the league more exciting for both casual and serious fan.




Well, considering that hack-a-player is only used on a short list of players, catering a rule to protect them is definitely the wrong way to go. Players who can shoot free throws should be rewarded.

At the top league in the WORLD, players should be able to make free throws. This is a non-argument for me.



Could work...charge a bench technical so it doesn't count against the player, who is not doing a dirty ply and suffer an ejection??

We agree on the bold. I don't really care how the NBA does it, but they need to take some steps towards keeping the flow going in end of game situations. The d-league experiment of not allowing consecutive time outs to be called will hopefully make it to the NBA. I really like the idea because it forces the defense to guess what their opponent's offense will look like.