The Weekside: The NBA needs to take a full measure and kill Hack-A-Shaq

In the hit television show Breaking Bad, chemist-turnt-meth chef Walter White reaches a crossroads with his drug-dealing partner Jesse Pinkman. He feels like he can’t trust Pinkman anymore and wants him out of the picture, so he suggests to an associate that they get him busted by the cops on some minor charge that will put him in jail away from operations.

His grizzled, world-weary associate, Mike Ehrmantraut, levels with Walter. This is a half measure, says Mike. And you don’t take half measures with criminals. Either take the full measure — killing Pinkman — or learn to trust him again. There is no middle ground.

When it comes to intentional fouling and the problems it creates, the NBA took a half measure.

In response to teams fouling poor free-throw shooter Wilt Chamberlain late in games, even when he didn’t have the ball, the league instituted a rule that any off-ball foul in the final two minutes would result in Wilt taking a foul shot and his team then retaining the ball anyway. Problem solved. As bad as Wilt was from the line, if the intentional foul didn’t get the defending team the ball back, then it was detrimental. Fouling players without the ball on purpose in the final two minutes of the game ceased.

But why just the final two minutes?

In the NBA’s defense, there were no coaches that considered doing so outside of the final two minutes. They only did it when desperate, if they were losing late and needed the ball back. And since Wilt couldn’t make free throws, he was the guy to foul.

Fast forward 50 years or so, and the Hack-a-Shaq strategy happens not just in the final two minutes but anytime in a game. And the NBA’s half measure is no longer suitable.

Intentional off-ball fouls now occur regularly, targeting a handful of players in the league, and this trend reached an exhausting apex last night when Andre Drummond missed set an all-time record for missed free throws with 23. The tactic not only eclipsed a numerical peak, but always reaches new levels of farce, with K.J. McDaniels starting the third quarter off with five fouls of Drummond in under 10 seconds in order to put the Pistons in the bonus and force Andre to shoot foul shots.

Here is the box score (courtesy of @Twitch8p9s)

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy, whose team still won the game, predictably had a great perspective, saying “that’s the game the league wants, so that’s what fans get to watch.”

My perspective is similar: This is not entertainment and should free throws be a punishment for the offensive team.

Here’s the shortest way I can explain the idiocy of letting defending teams benefit by intentionally fouling players who don’t have the ball: A free throw is a gift. It is awarded by the officials when the opposing team runs, literally, afoul of the rules. To penalize the team that broke the rules, the other team gets an uncontested chance to score a point or two.

But if the team does not want the gift, they should be able to decline it.

Like, I would appreciate the gesture if someone wanted to give me a giant, 6-foot-tall stuffed panda. But I would also say thanks but no thanks, because I have to take the subway home and this gift is more trouble than it is worth.

Now, the difference between an off-ball foul and fouling the ball-handler is a bit nebulous. I personally wouldn’t have a problem with allowing an NFL-like ability to decline any fouls shots and instead just always have the option to re-inbound the ball on the sideline. But this would remove the long-established strategy of foul-to-get-the-ball-back late when there are less than 24 seconds left. And many great NBA moments have come because of that happening.

Thus, you just apply the decline option to all off-ball fouls and remove the necessity to have any distinction between intentional and in-the-normal-course-of-play fouls. Refs never have to judge the intent of the fouler. They just have to notice whether or not the player who was fouled had the ball. Was it an illegal screen or an intentional foul? Was it a loose ball foul or an intentional foul? It doesn’t matter. He didn’t have the ball so the team that was fouled gets a choice of whether to re-inbound or send their fouled player to the line.

And … magic. This is all gone and free throws become less common, games are more entertaining, and fans get home earlier from the arena on a Tuesday night. There is no downside.

It’s beyond time to fix the silly half measure that the league put in as a Wilt rule. Go all the way. Kill this pointless, unnecessary tactic that has no place in a contest to decide which team is better at basketball.

Around the Association

Boston Celtics

The Celtics are as erratic as ever — losing four straight, winning three straight, losing two straight — but one thing that is never in doubt is their coach’s ability to draw up choice plays. Against Washington last week, the team needed a bucket on its final possession. And of course they got one, an easy layup just seconds into the play that won the game. Even John Wall had to agree that this was some wonderful misdirection that Brad Stevens employed to dupe his Wizards.

Brooklyn Nets

Brooklyn in its current form is still too depressing to talk about, so here is a photo of Dr. J doing (I hope pretend) surgery while wearing a jersey that says “NETS.” Better still, shout out to the perhaps-now-dead Gun Games editors who made the bold choice to use the cover tagline “Yes, it’s him!” to promote their Kareem exclusive.

Charlotte Hornets

It’s time for Jeremy Lin to get a haircut.

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls were just the latest team to get blown out of their own building by the unstoppable Warriors. But the good news — for a team that just lost Joakim Noah for, perhaps, the year — is that Derrick Rose had a huge game. He scored 21 points in the first half alone and looked spry doing so. Unfortunately, Chicago still trailed 63-44 at the break despite Rose’s outburst. But when you’re playing Golden State, moral victories are the only ones on the table anyway.

Denver Nuggets

What up, baby.

Golden State Warriors

Odd as Iguodala’s method of celebration was, the Golden State Warriors have a lot to get hype about. They blew out the top two teams in the Eastern Conference — the Cavs and the Bulls — on the road by racing out to early, humungous, insurmountable leads. And Iggy, as bored as he was during the win over the Cavs, had even more to celebrate (even if Draymond Green didn’t) during their rout of the Bulls after Leandro Barbosa threw him this perfect, Gary Payton-like lob. It was all so fluid and perfect from all angles.

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers can’t stop coughing up leads. In recent weeks, they have lost to the Rockets, Heat, and Nuggets despite holding leads as large as 13, 15, and 15 points, respectively, in those games. They also had an epic meltdown to the Boston Celtics, turning a 94-91 lead with 1:47 left into a 103-94 loss while committing four turnovers and getting outscored 12-0 in the remaining time.

They nearly did it again against the Suns on Tuesday, watching a 20-point lead evaporate late. They ended up winning by 3, but it was precariously close to yet another collapse. This is clearly now in the team’s head and if they Pacers hope to get back into the top half of the Eastern Conference, the players are going to have to overcome this collective psychological barrier more than any basketball-related issue.

Los Angeles Clippers

It’s good to see Lance Stephenson has found something to do during basketball games at least.

Los Angeles Lakers

Kobe not playing in Rio will be a bit strange. Obviously there are dozens (hundreds?) of better U.S. players in the NBA now. But I was looking forward to him being the elder statesmen while the young’ns did the heavy lifting as he enjoyed himself on the global stage one last time and got one more gold medal.

Minnesota Timberwolves

There is much pressure in Minnesota for Sam Mitchell to change his bland, ineffective offense (while others obviously just want him canned). The team attempts the fewest 3s in the NBA as a percentage of total shots and, as @TwolvesBlog notes, the only squad that has a higher percentage of long 2s than triples.

When the season started, as the Wolves took the court with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, this looked like the beginning of the next great duo. But mired in a stagnant, dated offense, the world is not really getting to see how good these players can be. That in and of itself is a shame, but worse will be if it starts stunting these young players development. In the case of Wiggins, who has been showing less creativity and more iso play as the year has gone along, that fear is starting to look founded.

New Orleans Pelicans

Despite having the most dynamic young player on the planet, there is no good news in New Orleans.

New York Knicks

Speaking of the best young player on the planet: Porzingis. He now his a Latvian rap track about him and even on the rare instance when he makes a mistake — like his boneheaded foul against the Jazz late last night — his best buddy Carmelo Anthony is there to bail him out.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Russell Westbrook dunks with such abandon that he is scaring his loved ones.

Philadelphia 76ers

Ish Smith 2016.

Sacramento Kings

Rajon Rondo is putting up 15+ assist games in his sleep was one thing. We knew he could pass. But now he is doing this??? His resurgence is truly hard to believe.

San Antonio Spurs

In case Boban himself wasn’t enough reason to fear San Antonio, the Spurs have — already — set a franchise record with 11 (!!!) wins of 25 points or more.

Spurs/Warriors in four days. Nothing else matters.

Toronto Raptors

As the Raptors continue to make their — strong — case for being the second-best team in the East, it’s been wonderful to watch DeMar DeRozan. He has been ballin’ out for the past five games, averaging 26.2 ppg on 44.5% shooting. Last night might have been his best outing of all, as he scored 18 of his 34 points in a third quarter that put the Raptors in control for good against the Celtics. He even managed to put in one shot that had more hang time that most NFL punts (though it was deemed not in the act of shooting and thus didn’t count).

I’m still struggling to explain how Toronto got swept in the playoffs by the Wizards last year. But watching DeMar play like this, and the ever-entertaining and deepening rapport between him and Kyle Lowry, makes that seem increasingly irrelevant. If I had to put money on it today, I would have to pick them to face the Cavs in the East finals.

Utah Jazz

Rudy Gobert, who likes to be called Gobzilla, recently offered up some thoughts about statistics on Twitter, noting that having good numbers does mean you’re really helping your team. Magic big man Nikola Vucevic took umbrage, calling out Gobert for a subtweet that he seems to believe was aimed at him. Then Magic guard Evan Fournier entered the fray. But rather than escalate a potential beef, Vucevic’s teammate and Gobert’s French countryman deflated the potential that it was about Nikola, and offered up the suggestion of Blancoté.

I am no expert in French, but one enterprising linguistic sleuth on Twitter did the translation, noting that this was a combination of white and side. Whiteside. Hmmmmmm …

Washington Wizards

The Wizards are now 9-6 in games in which Nene has played at least 15 minutes. Even when he is on the court, their defense still has plenty to work on. But Washington has held their teams to 98.8 points per 100 possessions when Nene is on the court this season and outscored opponents by nearly 8 points per 100. Their early-season struggles may have been simpler than we all thought. Because now that Nene is back, things are looking up.

Cavs Can’t Hang

In case it wasn’t obvious enough beforehand, two Cavaliers losses in the past week showed that Cleveland simply isn’t on the level of the Warriors and the Spurs. That isn’t even an insult and all the subsequent media attempts to dissect and blame the Cavaliers have felt a bit misguided.

We’re just talking about two historically great teams and one rather good 2016 team in. It’s simply unfortunate for Cleveland that they are trying to get back to and win a Finals in a year when there is so much greatness in the other conference.

LeBron knows it, and his comments that his team must improve are right on.

Too bad it’s likely futile. The Warriors and Spurs are just that good, and LeBron’s face as Steph stole his dribble summed it all up.

Yes, Cleveland does have room to improve and they can use Kevin Love better, but it’s unlikely to get them to where the want to end the season, injuries in the West notwithstanding. Like the Thunder and Clippers, the Cavs can rally around the challenge to beat the league’s two great teams.

But it feels a lot like cramming for a test and trying to outscore Stephen Hawking.

Words With Friends

This week’s five must-read articles about the NBA. Excerpts here — click through to read the full piece.

1. Picking the NBA All-Star rosters
by Zach Lowe, ESPN

The starting lineup is easy. If you’re still quibbling about whether Draymond Green is a star, it’s best to click back onto that column about the NFL playoffs and rejoin the NBA in May. The rest of the roster raises thorny questions about roster context, the importance of team record and the hard-to-quantify value of leadership

2. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are junior Splash Brothers
by Mike Prada, SB Nation

If Lillard is Steph Lite, McCollum is Dame Lite, though that characterization probably undersells the leading Most Improved Player candidate. McCollum doesn’t have Lillard’s power right at the basket, but his game is stocked with runners, step-backs and floaters stolen from peers and years of film study … Stopping Lillard and McCollum occupies Column A and B on every Blazers scouting report, but actually doing it is easier said than done. Teams that stick with their base defense are giving them the space to dictate the move they want. How do you force them to take shots they’re uncomfortable taking when those shots don’t exist?

3. The Hornets’ Nicolas Batum is the modern NBA wing every team needs
by Matt Moore, CBS Sports

The breezy Charlotte Hornets forward from Lisieux, France is enjoying a breakout year in which his game has looked more versatile and effective than ever. Everything about his game is fluid and smooth. He’s slim and impossibly long, with a reported 7-4 wingspan. He’s always been the kind of player that lights up scouting reports due to his combination of size, length and skill. He can handle, he can shoot, he can drive and finish, he can pass and defend. Batum may not be the top tier star of a team, but he is certainly a guy you want playing on the wing for your team.

4. Here’s the dirt on the NBA’s dirtiest players
by Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times

When Dellavedova fell to the court and squeezed both of his legs around the foot of Chicago’s Taj Gibson while trying to box him out in another playoff series last season, it … was more fodder that the Cavaliers guard was considered the dirtiest player in the NBA. That’s the consensus after The Times conducted a poll with NBA coaches, assistants and players. The 24 people who spoke anonymously — some of them voted for more than one player — listed their top five dirtiest players: Dellavedova received 13 votes. Oklahoma City center Steven Adams was next with seven votes. Golden State center Andrew Bogut (5), Memphis forward Matt Barnes (4) and Oklahoma City forward Serge Ibaka (2) rounded out the top five. “Wow! Delly and Bogut are both from Australia,” an Eastern Conference player said about the tally. “How about that!”

5. Jimmy Butler’s surprising, remarkable friendship with Mark Wahlberg
by K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune

“I meet a lot of people and I’m a pretty friendly and approachable guy,” Wahlberg said. “But it’s not like I’m inviting everyone to my house. We just have a very similar approach to work and to life. The opportunities that have been put in front of us are similar. The things that we cherish and would do anything to protect are similar. We give it our all. We’re always trying to get better … There are so many people that I’ve met who don’t have Jimmy’s attitude and approach to life and to work. And it’s not something that you can kind of convince them to adopt. You either have it or you don’t. I can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to look at it the way he and I do. But some people, once they taste success, they get satisfied. They do it for different reasons. He wants to be the best at what he does the hard way, the right way.”