NBA Finally Ready To Make Rule Change On Hack-A-Player

[MrBigShot]

Sorry, hugging someone 80 feet away from their basket is not a basketball play.

It's a loop hole, plain and simple. A flagrant foul is more of a basketball play than the hack a shaq...at least in that case the player is trying to make an actual basketball play, in the play. And i've felt this way looong before I even heard the name Andre Drummond. You know what taking advantage of a player's weakness looks like? Hacking a poor FT shooter as they're about to go up for an easy layup/dunk. Fouling a poor FT shooter when they get the ball at the end of games to prevent them from being able to close out the game properly.

Hey, why don't we start forcing the worst perimeter defenders on each team to guard the best perimeter players on the other team? Why should their weak defense be hidden within the team? This is the logic hack-a-shaq supporters must also agree with, or they're being hypocritical.

[MrBigShot]

Sorry, hugging someone 80 feet away from their basket is not a basketball play.

It's a loop hole, plain and simple. A flagrant foul is more of a basketball play than the hack a shaq...at least in that case the player is trying to make an actual basketball play, in the play. And i've felt this way looong before I even heard the name Andre Drummond. You know what taking advantage of a player's weakness looks like? Hacking a poor FT shooter as they're about to go up for an easy layup/dunk. Fouling a poor FT shooter when they get the ball at the end of games to prevent them from being able to close out the game properly. If they do indeed make a change then Drummond/DeAndre/Dwight will still ultimately hurt their teams with their poor FT shooting...the only thing that really changes is that fans don't have to watch something that doesn't resemble basketball in the slightest. I mean, how often has the hack-a-shaq actually worked? It's been used so much and more often than not the team employing it while losing ends up losing anyway. The Rockets did it to Drummond recently and they were beaten soundly.

Hey, why don't we start forcing the worst perimeter defenders on each team to guard the best perimeter players on the other team? Why should their weak defense be hidden within the team? This is the logic hack-a-shaq supporters must also agree with, or they're being hypocritical.

[jason bourne]

Hack-a-Shaq is an intentional foul. Just make intentional fouls non-shooting fouls. Fouled team get possession, advances the ball and 24-sec clock reset. The problem is the refs will have to call intent.

[Jeff Van Gully]

Quick name another sport where a players abhorrently poor skill and blatantly lack of ability (ie the simplest and least challenging aspect of basketball -free throw shooting) is PROTECTED/REWARDED, by penalizing the teams/coaches' strategy for accentuating that lack of skill/ability and using it to the teams' advantage.

Anyone who supports a decision to penalize teams for attacking an opponents weakest link, rather than forcing those athletes to improve their skills, is clueless about what competition and being an athlete is all about.

ridiculous

i couldn't agree more.

fans want to see players who are good at basketball. shooting is a cornerstone skill of basketball. if you are fouled in the penalty, you shoot free throws. if you can shoot free throws, you won't be a liability out there.

[cw3k]

The hack can be break at any time when the team being hacked hack the other team and remove the vulnerable player.

As you can see, the team being hacked see hack-a is to their advantage, both teams are resting their players where otherwise unavailable.

[Parataxis]

Quick name another sport where a players abhorrently poor skill and blatantly lack of ability (ie the simplest and least challenging aspect of basketball -free throw shooting) is PROTECTED/REWARDED, by penalizing the teams/coaches' strategy for accentuating that lack of skill/ability and using it to the teams' advantage.

Anyone who supports a decision to penalize teams for attacking an opponents weakest link, rather than forcing those athletes to improve their skills, is clueless about what competition and being an athlete is all about.

ridiculous

Baseball and the Designated Hitter where players hit for the pitchers who cant bat.

That's not the reason for the DH rule. Most pitchers can hit well - they tended to be the best hitters on their college teams before they got drafted.

The reason for the DH rule has more to do with injury prevention and the fact that substitutions are a one time thing in baseball - once you're out, you can't go back in. The American League wanted pitchers taken out of games for pitching reasons, not for hitting reasons.

Also, it should be noted that the DH rule applies to all pitchers. It doesn't matter if they hit like Babe Ruth, or hit like me - it's not protecting them, it's just changing how things work.

[Just_Bullz]

Silly thing to do. Hack a player is a legit tatic, too much protection for players nowadays.

[MaseInYourFace]

I don't like this. If a player is a bad free throw shooter, opposing teams should be allowed to strategize.

[MaseInYourFace]

Baseball is a bad comparison but I have to point out the national league is like the only place the dh is not used at this point.

[bob2]

The rest of the world solved this problem years ago.
It's about time the NBA wakes up !

[Juaneken]

change the rules for 3 players who wont put the work in?

lets make the rims shorter too - lets move the 3 point line in so players that can't shoot 3's can lay it up for 3.

lets make the ball smaller so players can palm it easier.

I hate this rule change - it rewards only a handful of players who are terrible at their craft - who would get better if they only worked at it harder - even Shaq admit it it.

if a player can't hit threes they leave him wide open out there - lets make that illegal too.

where does the line get drawn... this is a real low move .

[Rated T By CBRA]

But then at the end of the day, we are an entertainment property, and it’s clear that when you’re in the arena, that fans are looking at me, shrugging their shoulders with that look saying, ‘Aren’t you going to do something about this?

I think this quote sums up the sadness of the whole thing for me. We have fans who are growing up to admire flashy dunks and spectacular no-travel call moves versus the actual game itself. Entertainment property? It shows the transition from focus on basketball to the flashyness of getting Instagram likes, diva-like player behaviour and viral emoji use of free-agency drama. Sadly enough, a couple of players who can jump really well and provide a nightly highlight reel will change the basic concept of being able to hit a **** freethrow. So that the game isn't slowed down a lot? Maybe not having "mandatory 2-minute" time outs for commercial break..and cutting to commercials at every single game-stoppage wouldn't make the game boring to watch either.

Much like the wrestling name change from World Wrestling Federation to World Wrestling Entertainment...the NBA should also consider changing from the National Basketball Association to National Basketball Entertainment.

[defstarcon]

Awful idea, centers who spend time honing their free throw skills are no longer useful in this league, it's now just dudes who can jump high, pathetic.

This rewards failure.

[East Bay Sports]

"DeAndre Jordan, Andre Drummond and Dwight Howard comprise the majority of Hack-A-Player fouls."

Sounds like these types of **** FT shooters are the problem.

[quatin]

change the rules for 3 players who wont put the work in?

lets make the rims shorter too - lets move the 3 point line in so players that can't shoot 3's can lay it up for 3.

lets make the ball smaller so players can palm it easier.

I hate this rule change - it rewards only a handful of players who are terrible at their craft - who would get better if they only worked at it harder - even Shaq admit it it.

if a player can't hit threes they leave him wide open out there - lets make that illegal too.

where does the line get drawn... this is a real low move .

NBA already has a history of making the game easier for certain players. Just recently:

Illegal defense: Disallows lane crowding to help smaller players to finish at the rim
Restricted area: Removes basket camping to help smaller players to finish at the rim
No hand checking: Helps smaller players who aren't fast enough to beat their opponent
Flagrants: Look at what's a flagrant foul versus a hard foul in the 90s. The NBA is calling light contact fouls to protect smaller players.

[dolphinatik]

Bad move. It's like the bell getting rid of extra points because some kickers are bad. What they should do instead is get rid of the double standard for fouls on Bigs. Bigs get all kinds of contact from smaller players with no call. Players would literally hang on shaq. Fix that and that parity.
Unless they want to get rid of free throws altogether and make it side out possession for all fouls. That's fair.

[Fidel Sarcasmo]

This will make Andre Drummond all the more unstoppable now. as if he wasn't already putting up monster rebounds and points. 22 years old. Guys a monster. He's got a good head on his shoulders too.

[TdotRap4Lyfe]

This is bull, giving players like him the right to not learn the fundamentals. It is not that hard to shoot free throws. At least at a 50% clip. Both of our centers, shoot at a 67 & 73% clip respectively.

[choppermagic]

That's not the reason for the DH rule. Most pitchers can hit well - they tended to be the best hitters on their college teams before they got drafted.

The reason for the DH rule has more to do with injury prevention and the fact that substitutions are a one time thing in baseball - once you're out, you can't go back in. The American League wanted pitchers taken out of games for pitching reasons, not for hitting reasons.

Also, it should be noted that the DH rule applies to all pitchers. It doesn't matter if they hit like Babe Ruth, or hit like me - it's not protecting them, it's just changing how things work.

Are you serious? Have you seen AL pitchers try to bat in any cross-league games or World Series? It's comical. Even in the NL, where pitchers are required to bat and are used to it, they are always dumped by the coaches to the bottom of the line up and switched out when the team needs a good batter. If you think pitchers are good enough hitters to be productive in the Major Leagues, then you'd have a short short coaching career.

[Combs84]

Just give teams the option to take the ball out of the sideline instead of shooting fts and problem is solved. Why would you wait till the summer, it's easy to implement right now.