The biggest threat leading to the extinction of the role of the traditional big man in the NBA isn’t an ever-changing, ever-shrinking league.
It’s the player himself.
Specifically, the inability of those big men to make free throws.
These NBA playoffs include many good low-post players. Even ones who can be dominant in a given game, or even a series. Andre Drummond, Dwight Howard, Hassan Whiteside, DeAndre Jordan and Enes Kanter are a nice quintet to start with. But only two of them — Kanter and Whiteside — could play carefree.
The rest were saddled by the latest bane of the NBA’s existence, the Hack-a-Shaq philosophy. The strategy was debilitating to the Pistons, who were forced to not play Drummond during large chunks of some games in their first-round series loss to Cleveland because of his inability to make free throws. The Cavaliers hacked him right out of the game.
It was sad for Drummond, for the Pistons and for the game of basketball.
The NBA needs its big men. Yes, they have become less of a necessity to win a title than at any point in league history. But if you have one, and he can have a significant impact on the outcome, you want to be able to use him for a full game.
Drummond might next try underhand free throws in an attempt to raise his free- throw percentage, which as television broadcasters kept pointing out, was the worst in NBA history during the regular season. The NBA, meanwhile, will take a look at eliminating that type of intentional foul altogether.
It shouldn’t eliminate it.
There is a fine line to walk here, for sure. The entertainment value of a game plummets when Howard, Drummond or anyone else is repeatedly fouled intentionally, then misses boatloads of free throws. It’s a turnoff.
But changing a rule because a few players can’t make free throws is an over- reaction. Detroit, Houston and the L.A. Clippers can’t be bailed out. Their players must make free throws. That’s the answer. It remains a basic fundamental skill, no matter your size.
You can’t let the big men off the hook for not doing their job.
But we also don’t have to watch Drummond shoot 36 free throws, miss 23 and completely kill the flow of a game either.
My solution? Keep the option of teams fouling a bad shooter on the table, but deter it from happening over and over by instituting an escalating scale.
So, for example, the first two intentional fouls are treated normal. Player X goes to the free-throw line to miss his shots. Intentional fouls 3-6 are now three free throws to make two. Then intentional fouls 6-infinity are two shots and the ball out of bounds. Then it’s up to the team fouling as to whether it’s important enough for them to continue fouling, knowing they won’t get the immediate possession even if the foul shots are missed.
But what if the NBA rids itself of the rule?
A change to completely outlaw the Hack-a-Shaq philosophy wouldn’t just get rid of something that’s an eyesore, it would, to a certain extent, be a change that would breathe new life in getting big men back into the game. Drummond gets to receive the ball on the block before he’s fouled. That might lead to a lot more than the 16.8 points and 9.0 rebounds he averaged in the series, which would be a gain for the Pistons. It would be a gain for the league too, because one of its best players can stay, unencumbered, on the court.
Or he could just starting making his free throws.
Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or @dempseypost
