The “Poke a Doke” strategy is something teams can try at the end of games because it can impact scoring for a few plays.
To use a strategy like this early in a game adds problems to the team trying it.
What it does quickly is put us in the bonus. So Doke doesn’t shoot well from the line. At a certain point we pull him, like when we make it into the bonus, especially the double bonus. Now, with Doke on the bench, our five players on the court play very aggressive offense.
I don’t know many coaches that want to have their opponent in the double bonus early in a game. So for whatever point gain they make early with Doke pitching bricks, it gets made up later with double-bonus FTs shot by more proficient players.
Imagine going from a strategy of “foul Doke immediately” to “don’t foul anyone!” There is a big shift that will take place in the game once Doke sits on the bench.
A real problem with “Poke a Doke” for this coming year is that we have plenty of post depth, especially if Silvio is eligible (most likely, he will be). So we can live with Doke on the bench.
I don’t really see the advantage of this strategy early in games, but if used, what happens if Doke actually sinks a decent percentage of FTs?
Last… from a motivational perspective… what does that say to the players if their own coach would rather have a player from the other team decide the outcome from the line versus his own players just going out an winning the game by themselves?
I’ve never experienced playing in one of these games where a player is intentionally hacked with this strategy, but I can’t imagine it’s a fun game to play in and it would feel demoralizing to be the team hacking!
