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> Unless the league proactively addresses its rules and these whistle-chasing tactics, free throws stand to become the next version of corner 3s, with the leagu

> Unless the league proactively addresses its rules and these whistle-chasing tactics, free throws stand to become the next version of corner 3s, with the league's smartest teams and players racing to find new ways to get them. The NBA will probably crack down on this at some point considering how awful it is to watch Houston's games sometimes. I never knew that Harden's flopping was born from a strategic team effort. Makes sense since you have the #1 and #2 floppers in the league on the same team.

CalChris 7y ago
They already cracked down on it to a degree this season with the new Harden rule. If a player has not yet gathered the ball when contact occurs, it’s a common foul, not a shooting foul. https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/how-the-nbas-newly-imposed-harden-rule-will-impact-james-harden-this-season/ https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/how-the-nbas-newly-impose...
- chomp 7y ago
  Yep he got his own rule. It's still only part of the strategy though. Another foul draw comes from using "normal offensive movement" when shooting, aka jump and move forward, and get a foul called when the defensive player is in your way and doesn't provide room to land. I know Rockets ball gets a lot of flak and isn't fun to watch all of the time, but as a Houston fan, I admire the amount of time that goes into hacking the metagame. I've always thought that the base mechanics of basketball are fundamentally broken, and I'm surprised that it's only in the last few years that people have figured out how to exploit it (or maybe it's only now that someone is finally shameless enough to exploit it).
  - jaden 7y ago
    Exploiting loopholes reduces the quality of the game and it's just not as fun to watch. The idea that this is a calculated, team effort is annoying. Too bad there isn't a way to give a whole team a technical foul.
    - achompas 7y ago
      I understand this sentiment but let’s call out all of the spades. Another loophole: Kevin Durant signing with the Warriors. This team took advantage of a one year salary jump resulting from TV revenue which granted them exactly the max slot money they needed to sign the second-best basketball player in the world (at the time - he is arguably the best in 2019). The NBA gaffed here, honestly. They could have negotiated a smooth salary cap raise with the union over several years. They refused, and it led to arguably the greatest superteam in league history (and this comes from a Heat fan who remembers LeBron + Wade + Bosh very clearly). One good metagame play deserves another.
      - CalChris 7y ago
        How was KD signing his contract year a loophole? The Warriors paid the max that could be paid for a 9-year vet, $26,540,100, and they were still under the luxury cap. [1] As for gaffing, it wasn't the NBA but rather the NBAPA. The NBA has good reason to smooth out salaries. But it's a stars league and the stars have good reason to lock in as much now as possible. Who has been the president of the Player's Association since 2013? CP3. [1] https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/info/salary_cap https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/info/salary_cap
        achompas 7y ago
        My point is that Houston and Golden State have identified and capitalized on arbitrage opportunities. I don’t think NBA fans are thrilled about either team at this point, since - despite concerns about Harden’s foul-baiting - Golden State has dominated the NBA for almost 3 years now. As for cap smoothing - my bad, you’re right! https://www.si.com/nba/2015/03/11/nbpa-rejects-salary-cap-smoothing-labor-negotiations-cba-lebron-james https://www.si.com/nba/2015/03/11/nbpa-rejects-salary-cap-sm... And GS in 2016-17, also right and I’m kind of shocked! That Curry contract was a steal in retrospect (although justified given his early career injury troubles). http://www.basketballinsiders.com/golden-state-warriors-team-salary/golden-state-warriors-salary-archive-201617/ http://www.basketballinsiders.com/golden-state-warriors-team... (The CP3 thing I won’t discuss except to say that he’s a prodigious talent who also takes shots, although they are sometimes of a cheaper, dirtier kind.)
  - richk449 7y ago
    > I'm surprised that it's only in the last few years that people have figured out how to exploit it (or maybe it's only now that someone is finally shameless enough to exploit it). It’s been going on longer than that. Look up the Reggie Miller rule, which was instituted to stop the previous version of the shooter running into the defender trick.
  - philwelch 7y ago
    > I've always thought that the base mechanics of basketball are fundamentally broken, and I'm surprised that it's only in the last few years that people have figured out how to exploit it (or maybe it's only now that someone is finally shameless enough to exploit it). It’s been fundamentally broken ever since being seven feet tall, healthy, and in decent shape was enough to get a Division I scholarship.
thrower123 7y ago
They will need to do something, because it is not an entertaining product right now. I'm beginning to pine for the physical grindfests of the early 2000s before the Malice-in-the-Palace, let alone 80s or 90s ball. The Rockets are all in on analytics and routinely use their D-league team to experiment with, frankly, cheesey min-maxing strategies.
- CalChris 7y ago
  The Rockets' analytics approach is kind of like Money Ball which was awesome in turning the tables until everyone figured it out.
- MisterBastahrd 7y ago
  Basketball is downright boring right now at the pro level. Everyone wants to gather far beyond the arc and launch 3s. The NBA needs to decide whether the game is supposed to be about the athleticism and effort of the players or who can launch the most long range shots. It can't be about both. The fact that Steph Curry, who is a limited player, is regularly in the running for MVP, is a joke. There was a guy almost identical to him, with better overall talent, in the 90s. His name was Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, and he didn't exactly have an illustrious career.
  - achompas 7y ago
    I wrote out an entire well-reasoned response to your comment, then finished reading your comment comparing Abdul-Rauf to Curry. I mean, not even Reggie Miller or Ray Allen?! Curry is a generational shooter and transcendent offensive talent. 2x MVP, 8 seasons of 20+ PER. Over 20 ppg over the last 7 seasons. Abdul-Rauf averaged 14.5 ppg in 9 seasons in the NBA, never breaking 40% 3P% or 20 PER. Curry has NEVER shot below 40% 3P% in a season. Abdul-Rauf’s closest comparison on BBall Reference is Rafer Alston. Most non-fans will respond to that with “...who?” To that I say “exactly.” https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/abdulma02.html https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/abdulma02.htm...
    - BlackJack 7y ago

CalChris 7y ago

They already cracked down on it to a degree this season with the new Harden rule. If a player has not yet gathered the ball when contact occurs, it’s a common foul, not a shooting foul. https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/how-the-nbas-newly-imposed-harden-rule-will-impact-james-harden-this-season/ https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/how-the-nbas-newly-impose...

chomp 7y ago
Yep he got his own rule. It's still only part of the strategy though. Another foul draw comes from using "normal offensive movement" when shooting, aka jump and move forward, and get a foul called when the defensive player is in your way and doesn't provide room to land. I know Rockets ball gets a lot of flak and isn't fun to watch all of the time, but as a Houston fan, I admire the amount of time that goes into hacking the metagame. I've always thought that the base mechanics of basketball are fundamentally broken, and I'm surprised that it's only in the last few years that people have figured out how to exploit it (or maybe it's only now that someone is finally shameless enough to exploit it).
- jaden 7y ago
  Exploiting loopholes reduces the quality of the game and it's just not as fun to watch. The idea that this is a calculated, team effort is annoying. Too bad there isn't a way to give a whole team a technical foul.
  - achompas 7y ago
    I understand this sentiment but let’s call out all of the spades. Another loophole: Kevin Durant signing with the Warriors. This team took advantage of a one year salary jump resulting from TV revenue which granted them exactly the max slot money they needed to sign the second-best basketball player in the world (at the time - he is arguably the best in 2019). The NBA gaffed here, honestly. They could have negotiated a smooth salary cap raise with the union over several years. They refused, and it led to arguably the greatest superteam in league history (and this comes from a Heat fan who remembers LeBron + Wade + Bosh very clearly). One good metagame play deserves another.
    - CalChris 7y ago
      How was KD signing his contract year a loophole? The Warriors paid the max that could be paid for a 9-year vet, $26,540,100, and they were still under the luxury cap. [1] As for gaffing, it wasn't the NBA but rather the NBAPA. The NBA has good reason to smooth out salaries. But it's a stars league and the stars have good reason to lock in as much now as possible. Who has been the president of the Player's Association since 2013? CP3. [1] https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/info/salary_cap https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/info/salary_cap
      - achompas 7y ago
        My point is that Houston and Golden State have identified and capitalized on arbitrage opportunities. I don’t think NBA fans are thrilled about either team at this point, since - despite concerns about Harden’s foul-baiting - Golden State has dominated the NBA for almost 3 years now. As for cap smoothing - my bad, you’re right! https://www.si.com/nba/2015/03/11/nbpa-rejects-salary-cap-smoothing-labor-negotiations-cba-lebron-james https://www.si.com/nba/2015/03/11/nbpa-rejects-salary-cap-sm... And GS in 2016-17, also right and I’m kind of shocked! That Curry contract was a steal in retrospect (although justified given his early career injury troubles). http://www.basketballinsiders.com/golden-state-warriors-team-salary/golden-state-warriors-salary-archive-201617/ http://www.basketballinsiders.com/golden-state-warriors-team... (The CP3 thing I won’t discuss except to say that he’s a prodigious talent who also takes shots, although they are sometimes of a cheaper, dirtier kind.)
- richk449 7y ago
  > I'm surprised that it's only in the last few years that people have figured out how to exploit it (or maybe it's only now that someone is finally shameless enough to exploit it). It’s been going on longer than that. Look up the Reggie Miller rule, which was instituted to stop the previous version of the shooter running into the defender trick.
- philwelch 7y ago
  > I've always thought that the base mechanics of basketball are fundamentally broken, and I'm surprised that it's only in the last few years that people have figured out how to exploit it (or maybe it's only now that someone is finally shameless enough to exploit it). It’s been fundamentally broken ever since being seven feet tall, healthy, and in decent shape was enough to get a Division I scholarship.

thrower123 7y ago

They will need to do something, because it is not an entertaining product right now. I'm beginning to pine for the physical grindfests of the early 2000s before the Malice-in-the-Palace, let alone 80s or 90s ball. The Rockets are all in on analytics and routinely use their D-league team to experiment with, frankly, cheesey min-maxing strategies.

CalChris 7y ago
The Rockets' analytics approach is kind of like Money Ball which was awesome in turning the tables until everyone figured it out.
MisterBastahrd 7y ago
Basketball is downright boring right now at the pro level. Everyone wants to gather far beyond the arc and launch 3s. The NBA needs to decide whether the game is supposed to be about the athleticism and effort of the players or who can launch the most long range shots. It can't be about both. The fact that Steph Curry, who is a limited player, is regularly in the running for MVP, is a joke. There was a guy almost identical to him, with better overall talent, in the 90s. His name was Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, and he didn't exactly have an illustrious career.
- achompas 7y ago
  I wrote out an entire well-reasoned response to your comment, then finished reading your comment comparing Abdul-Rauf to Curry. I mean, not even Reggie Miller or Ray Allen?! Curry is a generational shooter and transcendent offensive talent. 2x MVP, 8 seasons of 20+ PER. Over 20 ppg over the last 7 seasons. Abdul-Rauf averaged 14.5 ppg in 9 seasons in the NBA, never breaking 40% 3P% or 20 PER. Curry has NEVER shot below 40% 3P% in a season. Abdul-Rauf’s closest comparison on BBall Reference is Rafer Alston. Most non-fans will respond to that with “...who?” To that I say “exactly.” https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/abdulma02.html https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/abdulma02.htm...
  - BlackJack 7y ago