Hack-a-Shaq

I did a report 4 years ago for my English class on Hack-a-Shaq. I fucking killed it, but my teacher gave me like an 80 or something on it. Hater. I wish I still had it somewhere, but I'll stick with just re-doing it. This might just be a big messy block of text. Plz still read it.

Background

     Hack-a-Shaq is a strategy employed when a team takes advantage of a poor free throw shooter, named after Shaquille O'Neal (career 52.7% free throw shooter). Although it's named after Shaq, the origin can be traced back to Wilt Chamberlain (career 51% free throw shooter). Because he was so dominant, teams were more willing to send him to the line to make free throws rather than give him the chance to score a field goal. This forced the NBA to create a new off-ball rule; when a player who does not have the ball or is not trying to obtain it is fouled during the last two minutes or overtime, the the team will get the free throws and possession (Wilt pioneered a lot of rule changes). Pat Riley was quoted saying "The reason they have that rule is that fouling someone off-the-ball looks foolish... Some of the funniest things I ever saw were players that used to chase Wilt Chamberlain like it was hide-and-seek. Wilt would run away from people, and the league changed the rule based on how silly that looked". This rule has advanced to the point where the fouled team can choose who gets to shoot the free throws. 

     Shaq comes in when bringing up how Don Nelson, former coach of the Dallas Mavericks, was able to find another way around this rule. Just foul him when he gets the ball. Players like Shaq need the ball, but you can't get it to them because they'll be fouled immediately. Basically, the team can only get the ball to that player when they have a wide open or certainly easy basket, almost making it feel like they are playing 5 on 4. Around the same time, this was done with Bulls Power Forward Dennis Rodman, who shot an average of 58.4% from the line during his career. The NBA discussed expanding the rule during the 2000 playoffs when it was being utilized against O'Neal throughout the playoffs, but they ultimately elected to keep it the same. Later, in 2008, when Shaq was with the Suns, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was able to successfully apply the Hack-a-Shaq tactic. Shaq made 9 of his 20 total free throws while the team as a whole only went 20 of 37. The Spurs won the game, which eliminated the Suns. In May of 2008, ESPN columnist described this as the best tactic of the first two rounds of that playoffs, saying that Popovich was the "first to really master how to use this weapon to his advantage" and that "it will be the league's most widely copied tactic next year". 

Solutions

     As stated before, the NBA originally instated a rule where the team that was fouled gets the free throws and possession within the last two minutes and overtime. What makes the most sense is to just expand this rule to include the whole game. Teams are still able to take advantage of this whenever they want, just except the last two minutes and overtime. This can also extend into any intentional foul such as fast breaks stopped by intentional fouls, but ones that do not count under clear path foul rules. One solution brought up by Henry Abbott of ESPN.com states a rule change similar to the NFL, with teams being able to choose between free throws or possession. Another solution brought up is when a player off the ball is fouled, the player who has the ball would take the free throws. This really wouldn't do anything because if the player who is not good at shooting free throws gets the ball, then the defenders will try to foul someone else just the same as they would try to foul him off the ball without the rule. There wouldn't be a big change, so I really don't understand this "solution" 

G-Leauge

     The G-League is the NBA equivalent to the minor league. Not only does the NBA use this league to develop their raw talent, but also to experiment on new rules. Starting in the 2016-2017 season, the G-League implemented the rule where the shot clock would reset to 14 seconds after an offensive rebound rather than the normal 24 seconds. This was deemed to have went well enough, so the NBA implemented this rule in the 2018-2019 season, which has went well so far. 

     There is a new rule in the G-League being worked on that could have an impact on Hack-A-Shaq. Players will now only take one free throw when being fouled in the act of shooting. If they take a 2 pointer; one shot worth two points. If they take a 3 pointer; one shot worth three points. Just like the previous Hack-A-Shaq rule (but the opposite), this will apply all game except for the final two minutes and overtime. Now how will this have an impact on Hack-A-Shaq? This could lead to a return to form for the tactic. If there is a greater chance to score even less points, then of course the team will take that.

My Opinion

     Obviously Hack-a-Shaq fucking sucks, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a fan of the Sixers and Ben Simmons. Most solutions I’ve heard don’t really make too much sense, especially the one about how if there is an off ball foul, then the player who has the ball would take the free throws. It’s literally the exact same thing, but flipped. Can it really be that hard for referees to decide what constitutes as an intentional foul in the way that the team is trying to take advantage of a player due to their poor free throw shooting? Sure refs suck, but I feel like it should be tried how there is a separate foul given for hacking a player to take advantage of poor free throw shooting. It may be hard to write up the rule, but in practice it seems logical. Other than that, what makes most sense to me is getting the ball and possession during an off ball foul. This would take away the point of hacking a player; possibly giving up minimal points and having more time of possession.

I really wish I found my old essay because I'm not really sure about how good this is compared to it. Give me some suggestions and something else I can write about.