At the risk of inviting all the haters in to this post, I thought I'd post this article on the history of the Hack-a-Shaq. If you can't contribute in a mature way then don't. If you guys begin dissin each other then I'll take it down. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">THE INVENTOR Don Nelson always has been considered an innovative coach, but this particular invention of his had a nice ring to it. Nelson is widely considered the inventor of the Hack-a-Shaq tactic, turning to the strategy several times as the Mavericks coach. 'When we started the Hack-a-Shaq and he didn't like it very much, my comment was simply, `Well, shoot better free throws and we won't do it anymore,' '' Nelson said. O'Neal took exception to the style, calling it ''clown basketball,'' which made for a touching moment when the two officially put the dispute to rest. When Nelson coached his comeback game after a battle with cancer, it was against O'Neal and the Lakers. So Nelson walked onto the court wearing a foam, red clown nose. ''I told him, welcome back. I'm glad he's back,'' O'Neal said then. ``He said that he's cancer-free and he's glad to be back.'' TRAIL BLAZER O'Neal made several trips to the foul line on his way to his first NBA title in 2000. But he never took more trips in one quarter than he did on May 19, 2000, against the Portland Trail Blazers in the opening game of the Western Conference Finals. O'Neal was fouled on almost every Lakers' possession during a four-minute stretch that began at the 5:50 mark. He eventually went to the line a record 25 times in the fourth quarter alone, making 12 of them. He finished the game with 41 points, seven assists and five blocks, and the Lakers won 109-94. ''It hasn't worked all year, and it ain't gonna work,'' O'Neal said after that game of Hack-a-Shaq. Opinionated basketball analyst Charles Barkley thought Portland took the Hack-a-Shaq philosophy too far. ''I have no problem with them doing that at the end of the game,'' Barkley said. ``But to start it with so much time left? Technically, you could really start doing that in the first quarter.'' BACKFIRED Pat Riley's one real attempt at Hack-a-Shaq didn't go very well for the Miami Heat, and Riley wasn't real proud that he resorted to it. It was April 7, 2002, and Riley was on his way to missing the playoffs for the first time in his coaching career. Maybe the frustration of that inevitability caused him to tell his players to foul O'Neal several times late in that game. O'Neal hit six of the 10 free throws he took in that stretch, and 12 of 19 for the game on his way to 40 points in the 96-88 Lakers win. ''I am surprised they even tried that,'' O'Neal said of the Hack-a-Shaq. ``I am known to hit them when I need to hit them.'' Riley said just before that game that he disagreed with the Hack-a-Shaq philosophy, and has said since then that he was embarrassed by it. HACKING BACK This isn't exactly a moment in Hack-a-Shaq history, but it is the most memorable reaction O'Neal has had to a series of fouls. In a game against the Bulls in Jan. 2002, O'Neal was the recipient of several hard fouls from Chicago forward Charles Oakley and center Brad Miller, left. After one foul from Miller, O'Neal had had enough and swung with an open hand at the back of Miller's head as the Bulls center was falling away. Had he connected, O'Neal may have seriously injured Miller. But he only grazed Miller's ear, and the result was a three-game suspension for O'Neal and a $15,000 fine. </div> @ the Brad Miller one. I think you can find that clip on Kazaa. Good times. Imagine Shaq loses it one day and begins hacking back at everyone in the NBA.
Hahaha... the good times of Hack-a-Shaq... I remember watching the playoffs and teams falling off of him and hitting him so many times. It was good times to watch basketball haha. I see it happening this year too, and every year until he retires.
I did find it funny when he hit Brad Miller in the back of the head...for anyone else who saw that, I wonder how far he would've knocked him down the court if he was 3 inches closer.
The Hack a Shaq strat was a hit or miss. There were those days when Shaq would punish teams for hackin him by hitting all his free-throws in the crucial moments of a game. Then there were those moments when Shaq would simply suck at the line. I never thought that worked very well on Shaq though. He always made them when they counted most.
The Lakers were so good, Hack-a-Shaq never really worked, but at times, it did slow down a Laker run or disrupt their rythm. It was funny to see Shaq pump his fist like he's the next Larry Bird after going 7 for 10. A less frequently employed strategy is the Hack-a-Dunc, as in Tim Duncan. I've often wondered why people let him shoot that ten foot bank shot, when I'd rather see him clanking free throws. The Hack-a-Shaq did lead to one notable NBA record. Wasn't it Dennis Scott that fouled out in three minutes one time?
I've got the video of Shaq taking a swing at Brad Miller, where can I host it so you guys can download it?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Accord:</div><div class="quote_post">I've got the video of Shaq taking a swing at Brad Miller, where can I host it so you guys can download it?</div> yousendit.com
werent the Lakers hacking Bruce Bowen i nthe playoffs about two years ago i remember something of that sort.
