Note to Clippers and Rockets: Hack-a-Shaq Strategy Isn’t Working

 

Houston's Clint Capela, left, taking the blame for intentionally fouling DeAndre Jordan in the first quarter of Sunday's game. Jordan went to the free-throw line 28 times in the first half. Credit Stephen Dunn/Getty Image

How many times does a strategy have to fail before it is abandoned?

Two games after Coach Kevin McHale of the Houston Rockets criticized the Los Angeles Clippers for intentionally fouling Dwight Howard — which backfired as the Rockets won the game — he apparently decided that two could play at that game. McHale had his team foul DeAndre Jordan so often in Game 4 on Sunday night that Jordan, a poor-shooting center, went to the free-throw line 28 times in the first half and 34 times over all as part of the 40 fouls the Rockets committed.

The strategy did not work. The Rockets were blown out, 128-95, as Jordan was 14 for 34 from the line and finished with 26 points and 17 rebounds. Howard was in foul trouble early and was barely a factor. He was ejected with nearly 10 minutes remaining when he collected his second technical foul.

Even the N.B.A.’s most frequent free-throw shooter, James Harden of the Rockets, seemed to criticize his team’s strategy of forcing Jordan — and his 41.7 percent career free-throw percentage — to the line.

 

 

 Houston's Dwight Howard fouling Blake Griffin of the Clippers in Game 4 on Sunday. The Clippers defeated the Rockets, 128-95, and lead the series, 3-1.

“Personally, I don’t like it,” Harden told reporters after the game, “but I guess different coaches have their different philosophies.”

The interesting aspect of the strategy is how rarely it seems to work.

Since game logs became readily available in the 1963-64 season, a player has had 25 or more free-throw attempts in a game 74 times, including regular-season and postseason games. The rare occurrence is generally brought on by desperation, with teams trying to erase large deficits. While coaches will try anything to avoid losing, it is worth noting that the team on the receiving end of the fouls has won 50 of the games, about two-thirds.

Some instances can be discounted, as there is no way a team was sending great free-throw shooters like Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley or Harden to the line that many times on purpose. But even among the league’s free-throw butchers, it has not proved particularly effective.

In DeAndre Jordan’s case, he has had three games with 25 or more free-throw attempts, and his team has won all three. Similarly, Howard has had it happen three times, and his team won all three as well.

Shaquille O’Neal, who had to deal with intentional fouls so often that the generic term for the practice is Hack-a-Shaq, was given 25 or more free-throw attempts in a game five times and his teams were 4-1, with O’Neal hitting more than 50 percent in three of the games.

Wilt Chamberlain was one player against whom the strategy was, perhaps, effective. That one-man statistical oddity is the outlier in so many statistics that it often seems better to discount him entirely. But when teams decided to put him to the line over and over again, it worked nearly as often as it did not: His teams were 5-4.

But one of the nine games proved that even when this strategy seems to be working, it is not foolproof. On Dec. 12, 1967, the Seattle SuperSonics went after Chamberlain and sent him to the line 25 times. In a particularly bad performance, Chamberlain made only six free throws, with his 24 percent mark the worst among players with 25 or more attempts. That did not stop Philadelphia from winning, 118-107. Seattle shut down Chamberlain, but Hal Greer torched the SuperSonics for 38 points.

There is no question that DeAndre Jordan and Howard are terrible shooters from the line and that sending them there a lot can be effective. But it seems there is a limit to how effective the strategy can be when things get so out of hand.

And with both coaches in this series having tried the strategy and failed, perhaps when they face off in Game 5 on Tuesday, the contest can involve more basketball and fewer free throws.

Cr  :   Nytimes