INDIANAPOLIS – It supposedly is a way to halt the Lakers, the “Hack-a-Shaq” theory that is. But so far throughout the NBA post-season it has proven as effective as slapping a charging bull, while giving games all the appeal of badminton to a WWF fan.
Think about it. What could possibly be more enthralling than watching a 7-1 center shoot 39 free throws in a 2-hour, 55-minute non-overtime game? If that doesn’t get the blood pumping, what will?
There will probably be more of that as the NBA Finals progress with Indiana in a desperate 0-2 ditch entering last night, willing to try anything to stop the rampaging O’Neal and his Lakers. The Pacers have proudly pointed to their success at Conseco Fieldhouse (35-6 in the regular season), but it seemed Shaq’s presence was a tad more meaningful than his surroundings.
“It doesn’t bother me at all,” insisted O’Neal, who was 21-of-31 from the field in Game 1, forcing Larry Bird and the Pacers into “Hack-a-Shaq” mode. “I will never speak down on the legendary Larry Bird. He was an excellent player and he’s an excellent coach. You just have to react to how the game is played.
“They’re trying to play the percentages, but it hasn’t worked all year,” continued O’Neal, quickly amending himself. “It worked one time at Dallas. But who gets up for the Mavericks?”
Bird acknowledged he would prefer to avoid fouling O’Neal every time, but also points out the Pacers are being forced into the strategy. In Game 1, O’Neal caught the ball in such great position, he was utterly unstoppable. In Game 2, the Pacers simply tried to prevent a repeat.
“I would rather just play him straight up and play strong basketball.” Bird said. “But if you have to foul him and get that extra possession, you’ll have to do it.”
Lakers coach Phil Jackson, naturally, sees the fouling approach as the worst thing to befall mankind since anthrax. Or at least since he used the same strategy with the Bulls against Orlando six years ago.
“It’s part of a philosophy, although profiting by fouling is supposed to be against the grain of the game so to speak,” Jackson said. “When Dr. Naismith invented the game when you fouled, you had to leave the game. You had to go sit out. I still think that’s a pretty good idea.
“Everybody points to the fact that when I coached against Shaq in the playoffs six years ago, when Orlando went to the Finals, we had a three-headed center and that’s where the term kind of got generated,” continued Jackson. “However, we didn’t use that tactic. We fouled him when he got close to the basket. In that series he shot 68 percent.”
Yeah, those nasty Pacers. Shaq’s only shooting 65 percent here. Let him raise that mark, then it’s OK.
Naturally, the best way would be for Rik Smits to avoid foul trouble, hang around and make things difficult for O’Neal at both ends of the court.
“We’re going to need him to put pressure on Shaq at the offensive end,” Mark Jackson said of Smits, who has averaged 18 minutes, 8.0 points and 5.5 fouls. “We need to try to get him some touches and hopefully he can be aggressive and hit a couple of baskets and get going.”
Smits, with irrefutable logic, points out “guarding Shaq down low is easier said than done…We were hoping the double-team would keep the ball out of his hands, but he was still able to get some shots off [in Game 2]. Once he would go up for a shot, everybody was down too low and we’d foul him.”
And with O’Neal’s legendary strength, even fouling him is not enough. “You grab his arm and he lifts you and still dunks,” Jackson said.
But the Pacers were well aware that time is running short. As the series stood, they were in trouble at 0-2, whether home or not. Another 40-pointer by O’Neal and the only option might be “Hacksaw-A-Shaq.” And there was no guarantee that would work, either.