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Los Angeles Clippers Should Welcome Hack-A-DJ Strategy

By Aaron Mah

April 22, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) shoots a free throw basket against the San Antonio Spurs during the second half in game two of the first round of the NBA Playoffs. at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
April 22, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) shoots a free throw basket against the San Antonio Spurs during the second half in game two of the first round of the NBA Playoffs. at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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The intentional fouling, Hack-A-Whoever epidemic is getting out of control.

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Games are routinely going over the three-hour mark this season because professional basketball players — who supposedly play the game for a living — fail to make an unimpeded set shot 15 feet away from the basket at a respectable rate.

Take the Houston Rockets for example: the team has five players shooting 55 percent or worse from the charity this year.

Even point guards — of whom are traditionally strong free throw shooters — like Rajon Rondo and Nick Calathes both shot less than 55 percent this season from the line. In fact, Rondo shot at an unfathomable 39.7 percent — the worst mark of any rotational point guard in the history of the NBA.

The laughable inaccuracies have made the “Hack-A-Strat” an often prudent scheme for teams — especially when trying to halt the momentum of a surging team.

The Los Angeles Clippers, however, may be the exception.

Undoubtedly, their star center, DeAndre Jordan, is an easy target — he’s a forceful presence on the boards and a shot altering demon while protecting the rim, but it’s no secret that he sucks at shooting free throws. Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable to think the Slay-A-DJ* strategy would be a shrewd avenue to disrupt the best offense in the association.

*Side note: the Hack-A-(insert name) moniker should only be reserved for Shaquille O’Neal. Everyone who repeatedly gets fouled intentionally should have their own customized title, i.e. Spite-A-Dwight (work in progress).

However, as proven in Game 2 of their series against the San Antonio Spurs, the Clippers may be one of the rare teams that can overcome their teammate’s glaring weakness by curating extra scoring opportunities through Jordan’s charity miscues.

More specifically, Los Angeles rebounds approximately 21.3 percent of Jordan’s misplaced free throw attempts — almost doubling the league average — according to Seth Partnow of the Nylon Calculus.

In general, DeAndre’s teammate knows that he is an often-errant free throw shooter; therein, they make a more concerted effort to capitalize on his misses. In fact, the Clippers aggressively contested on 37 percent of DJ’s missed throws this season; when in comparison, the team only went after approximately 17.1 percent of the errant throws attempted from everyone else.

The ineffectiveness and the boomerang effect the Slay-A-DJ strategy had on the Spurs was on full display Wednesday night. Explicitly, with 6:00 minutes left in regulation, up 10 at 88-78, Spurs coach, Gregg Popovich would decide to intentionally foul Jordan in hopes of discouraging a potential Lob City comeback.

But, even though DJ would go on and clank free throw after free throw, both, Matt Barnes and Blake Griffin would veraciously attack the offensive glass, back-tapping their way in earning additional offensive possessions against a scrambling San Antonio D.

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    • Moreover, the controversial strategy also gives the Clippers a chance to set up their defense and hone in on the Spurs’ high pick-and-roll attack.

    It essentially throws off the flow of the entire game and disintegrates any momentum built on either side.

    The Clippers eventually clawed their way out of the 10-point deficit, spearheaded by the offensive rebounding derived off of the Slay-A-DJ, and forced the game into overtime before being outlasted by the defending NBA champs.

    If it weren’t for a couple of brain-fart plays by Griffin down the stretch of regulation and overtime, the Clips could have easily gone up 2-0 as the series shifted to the Alamo.

    With that being said, the Hack-A-Strat may still be a sound scheme for the Spurs going forward — especially if they make it out of the 1st round and face the Rockets in the conference semis.

    But for now, if Pop reaches back into his bag of Hack-A-Tricks, the Clippers are well-versed to exploit it.

    Next: 5 Likely First Time NBA All-Stars Next Season

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