OT: Philadelphia 76ers: Onseason

[Cody Webster]

This fourth quarter is down right ridiculous. Thank God they held on. Should have never been a game really

 

[Cody Webster]

Simmons acting like he's was 40/40 from the line....dude, you were like 50%.

 

[Jack Straw]

Fouls are a free trip to the line. Simmons is a star. Stars should be expected to hit free throws just as a bench player should. If the shoe was on the other foot you would be fine with it

I honestly wouldn’t be fine with it. If the guy has the ball, fine. But there’s no real logic to giving a guy away from the ball FTs.

 

[JXC]

Simmons is gonna be insane when he gets his shot together

 

[FatTugboatFlahr]

Simmons acting like he's was 40/40 from the line....dude, you were like 50%.

Not even close to what he actually said.

 

[Lotusflower]

I honestly wouldn’t be fine with it. If the guy has the ball, fine. But there’s no real logic to giving a guy away from the ball FTs.

Look. I get it. The game becomes sloppy and disjointed but free throws are an individual skill set open to be tested as a viable strategy. it might stop the flow of team offense but what youre doing in essence is isolating a certain player's deficiency in a certain area and trying to exploit it.

Marcus Smart shoots 29% from 3? Sag off him until he proves he can hit. Curry is a weak link on defense? Isolate him in the pick and roll and foce him to play D. Ben Simmons shoots a low percentage from the line? Foul him and force him to hit.

The only difference is one skill stops the flow of play, yet all these strategies are built on the same principle and should be weighted as such imo.

In the same way that a huge part of Embiid's game is drawing fouls which effect how a team's big rotation plays throughout a game intentional fouling is the flipside of the same coin.

 

[Cody Webster]

Not even close to what he actually said.

Maybe not close but he was like I don't mind them fouling me all the time, I'll just keep making them. He made half of them.

 

[Lotusflower]

What is he supposed to say? I'm shaking in my boots whenever I step to the line? Simmons is a star. I'm honestly surprised it took teams this long to start hacking.

The more attempts he gets in pressure situations the quicker his percentages will improve in all likelihood

 

[Cody Webster]

I don't know. Maybe be a bit humble. I don't mind them fouling me, but it would have been nice to make a couple more

Just knit picking. Glad they won. He's going to be a beast once his shot gets a bit better.

The process is working and it's fun to watch.

 

[Embiid]

Big Ben....31 points and 18 rebounds.....first time since early 80's a guard has posted such numbers..

 

[FatTugboatFlahr]

Maybe not close but he was like I don't mind them fouling me all the time, I'll just keep making them. He made half of them.

He's being confident in himself. That's all you can ask for.

 

[Embiid]

Coach Lynum believes the league will probably crack down on the hacking strategy the Wizards just employed....

 

[Jack Straw]

Look. I get it. The game becomes sloppy and disjointed but free throws are an individual skill set open to be tested as a viable strategy. it might stop the flow of team offense but what youre doing in essence is isolating a certain player's deficiency in a certain area and trying to exploit it.

Marcus Smart shoots 29% from 3? Sag off him until he proves he can hit. Curry is a weak link on defense? Isolate him in the pick and roll and foce him to play D. Ben Simmons shoots a low percentage from the line? Foul him and force him to hit.

The only difference is one skill stops the flow of play, yet all these strategies are built on the same principle and should be weighted as such imo.

In the same way that a huge part of Embiid's game is drawing fouls which effect how a team's big rotation plays throughout a game intentional fouling is the flipside of the same coin.

The two examples you gave reward a team for doing something that is smart, and legal according to the rules. Allowing teams to do what the Wizards did tonight (and what others have done plenty of times in the past) is rewarding them for doing something that is against the rules, and which the league has already decided they don’t want.

Take a hypothetical (but not inconceivable) situation:

Embiid gets the ball in the low post. As soon as he gets the ball, the other team fouls Simmons who is out at the 3 pt line. Why in the world should Simmons shoot the FTs and not Embiid? Why reward a team for doing that? At least allow the guy who has the ball to shoot the FTs.

 

[Jack Straw]

Coach Lynum believes the league will probably crack down on the hacking strategy the Wizards just employed....

It’s always been a terrible strategy as far as the enjoyability of the games is concerned. No one wants to see that. The Wizards did it for over 5 minutes straight. It’s ridiculous.

 

[Lotusflower]

You didn't refute anything I said. I never said the rule was perfect. I'm of the opinion though that in the same way bad shooters and bad defenders find themselves isolated in specific situations bad free throw shooters are fair game to be isolated and forced to prove themselves as wel

 

[Jack Straw]

You didn't refute anything I said. I never said the rule was perfect. I'm of the opinion though that in the same way bad shooters and bad defenders find themselves isolated in specific situations bad free throw shooters are fair game to be isolated and forced to prove themselves as wel

Your comparisons didn’t make any sense because you compared two legal strategies to an illegal strategy. And it’s an illegal strategy that the league has already tried to at least reduce in frequency. They should just eliminate it altogether.

 

[Jack Straw]

Simmons set an all-time NBA record for most FTs in a quarter.

 

[JXC]

If it makes the game less enjoyable, the NBA will do something about it.

But what? Hard to figure what could be an extra punishment for a foul away from the ball. Maybe shots and the ball.

 

[Jack Straw]

If it makes the game less enjoyable, the NBA will do something about it.

But what? Hard to figure what could be an extra punishment for a foul away from the ball. Maybe shots and the ball.

That’s what happens in the last 2 minutes, and the fouled team can pick who they want to shoot the FTs. That’s a new rule this year.

 

[Lotusflower]

I feel like im misunderstanding you. Please post the rule as to what's illegal. And once again you didn't refute a thing I said. Every player on the floor is beholden to the same set of skills. Some do things better than others. Isolation of particular players skillsets is an integral part of any NBA gameplan. The only thing different about intentional fouling is it makes for bad tv.

LeBron is great because he can everything well. Okafor isn't because he can only do one thing well. If Okafor is out there he's expected to play defense just as much as he is expected to score. Okafor's coach would put him in a position to use his post scoring skills as a way of maximizing his impact. An opposing coach would isolate Okafor on the block defensively to take advantage of his defensive shortcomings.

The same principle applies to Simmons with free throws. Teams will sag off of him in the halfcourt in the hopes he'll shoot it and they'll foul him until he proves he can hurt them from the line. If a guy is atrocious at one aspect of the game then it should be open for the other team to exploit that within the rules. Just like bad defense, just like poor range shooting, just like lack of size, free throw shooting is an attribute to which EVERY NBA player is beholden.

 

[Jack de la Hoya]

By definition, a foul is an illegal play. Sagging off a poor shooter is not.

 

[Jack Straw]

I feel like im misunderstanding you. Please post the rule as to what's illegal. And once again you didn't refute a thing I said. Every player on the floor is beholden to the same set of skills. Some do things better than others. Isolation of particular players skillsets is an integral part of any NBA gameplan. The only thing different about intentional fouling is it makes for bad tv.

LeBron is great because he can everything well. Okafor isn't because he can only do one thing well. If Okafor is out there he's expected to play defense just as much as he is expected to score. Okafor's coach would put him in a position to use his post scoring skills as a way of maximizing his impact. An opposing coach would isolate Okafor on the block defensively to take advantage of his defensive shortcomings.

The same principle applies to Simmons with free throws. Teams will sag off of him in the halfcourt in the hopes he'll shoot it and they'll foul him until he proves he can hurt them from the line. If a guy is atrocious at one aspect of the game then it should be open for the other team to exploit that within the rules. Just like bad defense, just like poor range shooting, just like lack of size, free throw shooting is an attribute to which EVERY NBA player is beholden.

What Jack said. Fouls are illegal by definition.

What about my example? You really think it makes sense to give Simmons the FTs rather than Embiid? Substitute any players you want. If Steph gets the ball with a good look at a 3, and the team immediately fouls Pachulia, why should he shoot the FTs and not Steph?

 

[Embiid]

Ben made 6 of his last 8 free throws to his credit to stem the NJ Devils-like bastardization of the NBA game by the Wizards...

 

[BringBackHakstol]

If the practice is not conducive to an enjoyable game for the fans, then it's definitely something the league should look at.

For example if you got 20 points for hitting the ball off the scoreboard that would be dumb and the league would remove that

 

[Jack Straw]