Intentionally sending a player to the free throw line is a tactic long traced to the time of NBA great Shaquille O' Neal. Apparently the tactic was something being used to somehow get some leverage.
Everyone knows how poor a foul shooter Shaq was at that time, intentionally fouled before the final two minutes to try and help opposing teams to distance themselves or catch up. The same ploy has been used on players like Dwight Howard of the Houston Rockets and DeAndre Jordan but somehow it has left a bad taste in the mouth.
Worse, it has not really been effective if you talk about Rockets coach Kevin McHale who has been applying the said tactic. Instead of working to the advantage of the Rockets, it has resulted in two blowout losses and thus left his team trailing the Los Angeles Clippers 3-1 in the second round of the NBA Western conference playoffs.
Trailing is one thing but being blown out in the playoffs twice is something uncanny. The Rockets bowed 124-99 in game three and then got blown out again, 128-95, in game 4.
The Rockets of course got back with a 124-103 win in game 5 to narrow the gap to 3-2, McHale tweaking things a bit and getting the bearded one, James Harden, up and going.
Harden has apparently struggled with the intentional fouling strategy but now with a freewheeling system, the Rockets seem to be back to their old ways. The question is on whether it would stay that way.
The Hack-a-Whomever move is a tactic that will be reviewed after the current season with NBA commissioner Adam Silver having plans of banning the said move.
Fans have found the intentional fouling tactic a pretty cheap move and from the looks of it, the tactic will continue at least up to the end of this season, especially if you see poor free throw shooters such as Howard and Jordan still around as easy preys.
