Clank… Clank… The sound of the basketball bouncing off the rim during free throws has been quite common so far this 2015 NBA playoffs. More and more teams have turned to intentionally fouling poor free throw shooters as a defensive game plan. The idea is to repeatedly foul a player who shoots near or worse than 50 percent to slow down their offense and reduce the amount of points scored by the opposing team. However, this type of play extends the length of the game and is boring for spectators.

“From a pure entertainment purpose, it just completely slows down the game,” Ronak Baldua (11) said. “One of the main reasons people watch basketball is for the fast pace that the game is played at, and when you have a guy taking 34 free throws in a half, it’s slowing it down and taking away from the entertainment value.”

Fans and even other players have expressed their hate towards the strategy by booing whenever a team resorts to “hacking” a player. In addition, some have petitioned for an NBA rule change, possibly banning intentional fouls.

Despite the criticism, when there are players like Deandre Jordan and Dwight Howard shooting 42.4 percent and 41.2 percent from the free throw line in the playoffs, fouling them would seem viable and effective. The strategy has displayed mixed results. In the first round series between the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks, the only game Dallas won (game four) was also the game where Howard shot 13 free throws, the most he attempted during the series.

Though hacking was successful that particular instance, it has backfired more often than not. In game two between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Rockets, Howard was fouled repeatedly and ended the game shooting 8-21 from the free throw line. Despite the poor shooting, the Rockets still won the game.  Similarly, when Jordan was deliberately fouled by the Rockets, he shot an all-time playoff high of 34 free throws. He made only 14, but the Clippers still won by 33 points.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN that the association is going to have multiple meetings discussing the topic.

“We have another general managers meeting coming up in May, we have a competition committee meeting in June, and I’m sure it’s going to be a hot topic of discussion,” he told ESPN.  “Then, we have an owners meeting in July, so I think at all three of those meetings we’re going to be having full-throated conversations about what the right rules should be going forward.”

As the playoffs continue, it will be interesting to see if teams continue to abuse the strategy, and whether or not they will be successful. A potential solution to this growing problem is quite simple: just make the free throws. They are a fundamental part of the game, and professional basketball players should be expected to make them consistently.