Another way to get an assist...

[Sparhawk]

Player A makes a great no-look pass to Player B.
Player B goes up for the layup and the defender grabs his arms or fouls him hard to prevent the easy bucket.
Player A has no chance of getting an assist now, but the play doesn't happen unless he makes that pass.

New proposal :
If Player B drains both free throws, Player A gets the assist.
You could also get an assist if that pass leads to a player getting fouled beyond the arc and drains all three free throws.

What say you???

 

[knowyourenemy]

Player A makes a great no-look pass to Player B.
Player B goes up for the layup and the defender grabs his arms or fouls him hard to prevent the easy bucket.
Player A has no chance of getting an assist now, but the play doesn't happen unless he makes that pass.

New proposal :
If Player B drains both free throws, Player A gets the assist.
You could also get an assist if that pass leads to a player getting fouled beyond the arc and drains all three free throws.

What say you???

Maybe we should just get rid of assists and track something like points off assists, we would then count assisted 3-pointers as more valuable than assisted 2-pointers and we'd count points made from free throws.

Alternatively, count each free throw as 0.5 assists (with the exception that when a player shoots 3 free throws, the assisting player can only get credit for two of the made free throws.)

 

[trojanfan12]

Player A makes a great no-look pass to Player B.
Player B goes up for the layup and the defender grabs his arms or fouls him hard to prevent the easy bucket.
Player A has no chance of getting an assist now, but the play doesn't happen unless he makes that pass.

New proposal :
If Player B drains both free throws, Player A gets the assist.
You could also get an assist if that pass leads to a player getting fouled beyond the arc and drains all three free throws.

What say you???

The late great Lakers announcer Chick Hearn used to mention this a few times every season during broadcasts. I think others have to. Not sure why the league hasn't looked into it.

It seems logical that any pass that leads directly points, whether from a regular shot or free throws should count as an assist.

 

[MHSL82]

With Karl Malone being the all-time leader in free throw attempts and makes, Stockton's lead in assists would go even higher.