Wilt Chamberlain and off-the-ball foul rule īasketball great Wilt Chamberlain was a notoriously bad free throw shooter. However, fouling "off the ball" became a problem for the league when Wilt Chamberlain-a player of superstar caliber but an atrocious free throw shooter-entered the NBA. When this strategy was originally employed in the NBA, the trailing team often made a point of fouling the opposition player who was the poorest free throw shooter in the game at that time, even if that player did not possess the ball. It may also hope that fatigue and pressure affect the ability of the free-throw shooter. The trailing team fouls intentionally to end the opponents' possession as soon as possible, leaving more time on the clock for the opposing team to respond to any score. In normal game play, the opponents will stall and run out the clock, even at the expense of failing to score, to the extent that the shot clock allows. If a team is trailing with time running out, intentional fouling may be the only hope. So intentionally fouling tends not to reduce the opponent's score. Giving such a team two free throws on each possession, the poorest free throw shooting teams make around 70% of their free throws and would score 1.4 points per possession. Even the highest-scoring NBA teams average only about 1.1 points per possession. The typical NBA player makes a high enough percentage of his free throws that, over time, opponents' possessions that end with free throws will yield more points than possessions in which the opponents try to score a field goal. Once the fouling team enters the penalty situation, the fouled team is awarded free throws. Basketball, unique among major world sports, permits intentional fouling to gain a strategic advantage in other sports, it is considered an unfair act or professional foul. or Hack-a-Ben for Ben Simmons.īackground Strategy of repeated intentional fouling Ĭommitting repeated intentional personal fouls is a longstanding defensive strategy used by teams that are trailing near the end of the game. The name is sometimes altered to reflect the player being fouled, for example Hack-a-Howard when used against Dwight Howard, or Hack-a-DJ for DeAndre Jordan. However, once Nelson's off-the-ball fouling strategy became prevalent, the term Hack-a-Shaq was applied to this new tactic, and the original usage was largely forgotten. ![]() Because of O'Neal's poor free throw shooting, teams did not fear the consequences of committing personal fouls. Teams sometimes defended him by bumping, striking or pushing him after he received the ball to deny him an easy layup or slam dunk. ![]() ![]() At that time, the term referred simply to play especially physical defense against O'Neal. The term was coined when O'Neal played at LSU and during his NBA tenure with the Orlando Magic.
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