Jordan is notoriously bad shooting from the free-throw line…
Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers has slammed opposing teams using the ‘Hack-A-DeAndre’ strategy against his center this season.
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Jordan has notoriously struggled from the free-throw line throughout his career, and it remains the most glaring weakness in his game this year.
The Clippers center is averaging a career-high 4.8 attempts per game and shooting 40.9 percent from the charity stripe and teams are using it as an effective means to disrupt the Clippers’ offense and get into the contest.
Given Jordan’s overall dominance this season in other facets of the game, it probably shouldn’t came as a surprise to anyone. Regardless, coach Rivers is unsurprisingly not a fan of the tactic.
“It’s a tough one for me,” Rivers said after Sunday’s win over the Bulls, according to Pro Basketball Talk.
“I’m old school. It’s bad for the game, the fans don’t like it. But it’s part of the game. You have intentional walks in baseball. Maybe you call it like you do in the final two minutes of the game, all game. But I’m not sure I would like that, either.”
While there is of course an argument to suggest that this problem can be overcome by Jordan cracking the issue at the source and finding a way to make free throws which would end the strategy, it really isn’t that simple as it isn’t for a lack of trying.
The likes of Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard have faced similar issues in their careers, and so many are looking to the NBA to change the rules.
Prior to the final two minutes, even if the player is intentionally fouled away from the ball, he will step up to the free throw line. In the final two minutes, a player of the team’s choice takes a free throw and then that team regains possession on the next play.
However, some will argue that that is still not enough and so it remains to be seen if anything is done to combat it with Rivers making a good point in that fans don’t particularly enjoy seeing it.
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