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| © Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports |
After months of media debate, putrid foul shooting, lengthy games and fan discontent, Silver told USA TODAY Sports in an NBA A to Z podcast that, “I’m increasingly of the view that we will be looking to make some sort of change in that rule this summer.”
Long neutral on Hack-A-Player – the strategy of fouling a poor free throw shooter away from the basketball in an attempt to limit an opponent’s scoring – Silver is taking a side.
“Even for those who had not wanted to make the change, we’re being forced to that position just based on these sophisticated coaches understandably using every tactic available to them," Silver said. "It’s just not the way we want to see the game played."
Hack-A-Player is up this year. The number of those intentional fouls through mid-December surpassed the number of times it happened last season (164), and the league is closing in on 300 Hack-A-Player instances before the All-Star break.
Through Tuesday’s games, fouls against Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond and Houston Rockets Dwight Howard have accounted for 69% of Hack-A-Player fouls. Jordan accounts for 34%.
Silver knows the data. But the interaction with fans as he watches a game has made an impact, too.
“Again, as I travel around the league, there’s that one school of thought ‘Guys have got to make their free throws,’ ” Silver said. “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?’ ”
What is the NBA going to do? That remains unclear publicly but one person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports nothing is off the table and the league’s competition committee will explore several potential resolutions.
Another person familiar with the process said he doesn’t think there is enough support to ban Hack-A-Player outright. He said initial change will be incremental, eliminating loopholes to the rule such as one player jumping on a player’s back during a free throw attempt.
"Clearly that’s not a natural basketball move," he said. "That’s something that, in my view, we need to address quickly because ultimately there’s nothing more important than the health and safety of our players. Again, I think that’s an accident waiting to happen with guys jumping on each other’s shoulders just trying to attract officials’ attention to call a foul."
Basketball is a game of flow, rhythm and pace. Multiple intentional fouls interrupt that unique style, and the game becomes an eyesore, such as the Jan. 20 game in which Detroit’s Andre Drummond shot 36 fouls shots.
“Because more and more teams are doing it to more and more players, there is an absolute necessity to get this right,” EPSN/ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy told USA TODAY Sports. “And it's not for the individual players. It's not even for the teams. It's for the fans, because I see this escalating more and more.”
Most coaches don’t like the practice. But most use it, too.
“I don’t know if any of that’s good for our league,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “But if the rules say you can do it, you should do it. I hate it, too. I’m not saying I like it. But I’m going to use it until someone tells me I can’t.”
NBA data through Tuesday’s games reveals that teams use the Hack-a-Player strategy more often when trailing (68 times) than when winning (21 times). But teams have won 16% of the time using the strategy when trailing but 61% of the time when using the strategy while ahead.
“All the analytical people say the best time to use it is when you’re up, not when you’re down. That’s the best time to do it,” Rivers said. “It prevents you from making a comeback. A couple of teams have done that, and it’s pretty smart.”
If the strategy rarely helps a trailing team win, why do coaches use it?
“Because you never know … if you’re down, you might as well try something,” Rivers said.
From a pure data standpoint, the strategy is sound way to keep a team from piling up points. Avid NBA observer and data cruncher, Haralabos Voulgaris, said on Twitter recently that teams using Hack-A-Player allow .82 points per possession – which is better than NBA-best .951 points allowed per possession by the San Antonio Spurs.
NBA rules prevent intentional fouls away from the ball in the final two minutes of the game. If a team does it, the opposing team is awarded a free throw and possession of the ball.
Coaches have found those loopholes.
As Clippers Jamal Crawford launched a free throw against Detroit on Dec. 14, Rivers had J.J. Redick jump on the back of Detroit’s Drummond with 25 seconds left in the fourth quarter. It was loose ball foul and not an intentional foul away from the ball. Drummond made 1-of-2 free throws, Redick made a three-pointer, forced overtime and the Clipper won.
San Antonio’s Danny Green fouled Houston’s Clint Capela while Capela was out of bounds and getting ready to in-bound the ball with 7.1 seconds left in the first quarter. Capela missed two free throws and the Spurs got a final possession before the end of the quarter.
To understand Silver’s shift in thinking, it helps to know his background. Silver was the head of NBA Entertainment with an emphasis on television, digital, marketing partnerships and media sales. He understands the importance of delivering an entertaining product.
In interviews with USA TODAY Sports, Silver has made it clear he is spending considerable time looking at the on-court product, after spending so much of his earlier time in the NBA on the business side.
But he has also heard from coaches, team executives and youth coaches about the value of the strategy and the importance of free throws, an integral part of the game that shouldn’t be minimized to cover up a flaw in a player’s game.
This is where the on-court product and entertainment value intersect.
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