Golden State Intentional Foul Rockets (Prevent Scoring Record)

For anyone who saw the highlights last night, the Houston Rockets were smoking the Golden State Warriors. Late in the 4th quarter, the Rockets tied the NBA record for 3 pointers made in a game; Mark Jackson then (reportedly) instructed team to intentionally foul the Rockets at the start of every Houston offensive possession: this began with a flagrant clothes-line slap on the neck during a 3 point attempt.

I see the message he's trying to send his team...and I like that the move goes against the modern "lovey-dovey" direction the league is going in: but you have to suck it up, and let the game run it's course: Houston deserved the record, they took advantage of the bad defense and hit there 3s.

If we're talking about "playing to the end" and simulating the must foul situation late...I understand: but this was in the context of preventing a record. It was classless on a different level than the hard and sometimes flagrant fouling than the 80s Pistons and 90s Pacers/Knicks.

I'm actually hearing support for Jackson in his decision which is mind-boggling..

Thoughts?

I think it's dumb. For one, you're already in the record books. If you're tied for the record, you're still listed. Two, if he wanted to avoid the record, maybe devise some kind of strategy during the game to prevent it from happening?

What message are you really sending if you already got the record tied? "Oh, I'm instilling toughness, we only allowed 23 three pointers."

Also - damn 23 threes? That'd take us about 7 games to get that.

nobody "deserves" anything.

I have no problem with what they did. The one hard foul wasn't an intentional flagrant, he was pump faked in the air then stuck his hand out to the side after he realized. If they wanted the record so badly they could've heaved shots immediately on the inbounds.

Certainly isn't classless.

I see no problem with fouling either. The team was up by 30 points with less than a minute to play and they were still shooting 3's? That is closer to being classless than fouling a person intentionally (w/ no intent to cause injury).

Besides, strategically, as hot as Houston was shooting from 3-point territory (57.5%), it made better sense sending them to the line where they were only shooting (71.4%). They were scoring 1.72 points per possession on 3 point attempts, versus 1.42 point per possession from the FT line (assuming they aren't shooting fouls and 2 FT's per possession). Box Score

Only kink in that strategy is it is not sustainable over the course of a game (clock hardly ever moves and your players will eventually foul out).

There had to be something behind the non-handshake between Parish and Jackson in terms of classness

The Warriors went on to intentionally foul after the 3-foul; the initial foul itself was clearly flagarant..may have been one possession, two, three, can't remember...but the concencus was that he made a priority to not let the record be broken.

I'll give you the first statement: I try to avoid projecting entitlement in any context. Jackson doesn't deserve to be criticized, and Houston didn't deserve the record. I'll rephrase: They didn't get the record, Jackson wouldn't allow it, so his reputation will take a hit (no shoulda-woulda-coula).

He was duckin a statistic that would indicate the worse perimeter D ever played in a game, it was the worst perimeter D ever played: so man up and don't go out of your way to avoid a blemish that would have happened under typical circumstances, be willing to let your name be in the books. If your a kid and your about to be spanked for something you did wrong, man up and take your spanking, don't go down kicking and screaming. Own your mistake, it is expected.

Maybe if he believed in his ability to instill a sense a pride in last minute defense...he would find a way to get his players to man up...but ultimately did not hold his own players, or himself, accountable by allowing them/himself to be embarrassed by the record.

There is a set of unwritten rules that collectively earn respect when followed...if he wants to turn that down, its his choice. Just be willing to accept having some taken away when others decide to do so.

They had 3 minutes left..Surprised they couldn't hit another one.

Good foul by Green. The replay, and Beverley's reaction, made it look much worse than it actually was: Green flew past Beverley and Draymond then tried to grab Beverley's arm/shoulder to stop the play.