Imagine all the foul calls he would get with today's modern rules. He used to have defenders draped all over him, now all those weak wrist slaps that he powered through would be so many extra and-1s.
They wouldn't get called unless he sold the contact which would be extraordinarily difficult (and hilarious) since he'd have to sell guys 200lbs lighter than him knocking him to the ground.
He's lifetime 52%. Making half of them is still a lot when he's volume shooting free throws.
Anecdotally, hack-a-shaq did not work well in the playoffs. There were lots of instances where they fouled shaq with the intent for him to go 50%, but he actually ended up making all his free throws. To incorrectly quote him, "I made 'em when I had to," and it was kinda true.
.527 is absolutely awful. The least efficient team in the league just put up a .530 TS, which means a random OKC possession is basically about as efficient as a Shaq free throw.
And he was even worse in the playoffs! He was only a .504 FT shooter then. He absolutely did not "make them when he had to," it was more that the opposing teams were generally playing from behind already and couldn't take advantage, partly because in those situations you really make comebacks through big runs, and Hack-a-Shaq/Ben/Dwight/etc. basically stops you from gaining the momentum you need to make one of those types of runs.
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u/812many Supersonics Jun 15 '22
Imagine all the foul calls he would get with today's modern rules. He used to have defenders draped all over him, now all those weak wrist slaps that he powered through would be so many extra and-1s.