Free throws-

[ukfit]

Its tough when u play a team like UM that leads the nation in FT shooting. They were 19/22 and didn't miss till OT.

Last year, I believe it was Cal was asked about FTs and he kind of gaffed off the question and essentially said he wasn't worried about it. I was told they did not waste "valuable" time on them per Cal because they had other important things to spend time on at practice; however, the staff was told to shoot FTs on their spare time.

I posted on the board that UT reported on local tv in Knoxville they shoot a hundred per day,
There is an article up on the front page that states we too, now, are shooting a hundred per day. (glad for that -hate it UT does something that might help their team that we didn't do)- however -don't know if its at practice, and it might be on their own time.

Last night Cal noted it hurt us when WCS missed his two critical shots from the charity stripe. Ditto with Lyles.
I am very glad Cal has emphasized them, but some on here say its kind of a dicey talent. You either can shoot them or you cannot. Some say practice doesn't help all that much. and by time the season starts, your % is set in stone.

Common sense says practice helps some. But I think I might be gradually coming around to the argument that you are the way you are. and unless you change your delivery with help from a coach that sees something like a "hitch" in your shot or sees you don't put arch on the ball, etc., your chances of going from 68% to 78% in 1 or 2 years at UK is a long shot. Still, ya gotta try-Right?


Does practicing free throws at practice or when off duty help?
It sure has helped many, many players that shot thousands of jump shots/ threes over summers and it has been reported.
So why would repetition not help FTs if you do enough? Do you think it does? - I just think its just something players put off doing if left up to them taking away personal time that they could be doing something they enjoy more.

Shooting 3s and J's might be a little more fun and flashy. When the announcer yells your name after a three and drags the name out slowly, its flattering. they don't do that for free throws. Not as much secondary gain for hitting FTs.
So, if the players shot 200 FTS a day cause they felt it would give them more playing time, better chance of getting to the NBA, etc. they might get better at it than they do.

What say you?
This post was edited on 1/7 8:10 PM by ukfit

 

[UKWildcats#8]

All I know is I wish we would inbound the ball to one of our guards in a situation like last night instead of Lyles. I also found it puzzling the guy I'd want at the FT line the most in Aaron Harrison was inbounding the ball in that situation. That is just me though.

And yes, I know the other team is trying to take away our guards there, but come on...if you have Harrison, Harrison, and Booker out there, that gives you 3 options to hit for the inbound man. Am I the only one who thinks this way?

And honestly OP our FT shooting has been better of late. We sure did miss a lot late and in OT though...seems like both teams were super fatigued late and in OT. We still shot 70% last night, although it did not feel like it due to the 3/8 OT shooting.

 

[ukfit]

Yes we are getting better at it I think.
Its just crucial misses stick out in our minds. and its understandable that they would miss more in a pressure situation. especially when the opposing coach freezes u with a T.O.

I would like to comment on inbounding the ball also. I concur with putting the good FT guys up close to the inbounds player.
But what bothers me is all too often I see us not having enough players stay back to get the dern ball in play. its like they forget or nobody has been told who helps with the inbound. I think that's a coaching faux pas.
But, that is easily fixed; its maddening it is not fixed. I think the platoon system confuses the players with the subsstitutions-who ought to inbound the ball behind the line and who should wait for the inbound pass vs. who gets back under the offensive basket. And its such a mundane thing, it gets overlooked. But full court presses result in T.O.s when the team is not clear on their individual assignments.


Originally posted by UKWildcats#8:
All I know is I wish we would inbound the ball to one of our guards in a situation like last night instead of Lyles. I also found it puzzling the guy I'd want at the FT line the most in Aaron Harrison was inbounding the ball in that situation. That is just me though.

And yes, I know the other team is trying to take away our guards there, but come on...if you have Harrison, Harrison, and Booker out there, that gives you 3 options to hit for the inbound man. Am I the only one who thinks this way?

And honestly OP our FT shooting has been better of late. We sure did miss a lot late and in OT though...seems like both teams were super fatigued late and in OT. We still shot 70% last night, although it did not feel like it due to the 3/8 OT shooting.




This post was edited on 1/7 8:19 PM by ukfit

 

[far_away_fan]

The argument that I find most compelling is that time spent practicing FTs is time taken away from some other aspect of the game. And the reality for almost every team is that the gains made by improving your FT percentage are small compared to the gains made in other areas. For example, if everyone on the team practiced their FT shooting like crazy, perhaps we could improve our team percentage by, say, 7% (which is probably really optimistic). But in a typical game UK shoots about 30 FTs, so a 7% improvement works out to an extra 2.1 points per game.

Sure, those 2.1 points would be nice to have. They could even be the difference between a win and a loss. But they don't come for free. They come at the cost of time spent shooting FTs that could have been spent working on offense or defense or an inbounds play or about a hundred other things.

So the real question is, in the time it takes to improve your team FT percentage 7 points, can you instead improve some other aspect of your play that will be worth MORE than 2.1 points in a typical game. I would guess that the answer is yes for most teams -- especially for young teams (and all of Cal's teams are young).

Fans don't like this argument because they see a game like last night and they see the missed FTs and the effect of missing a couple of shots from the line is really magnified. It's much harder to see the defensive rotation that stopped a layup that DIDN'T get missed because of the extra time spent practicing weak-side rotations instead of FTs. A play like that saves two points just like increasing your FT% by 7% does. It's just that one is far harder to notice while watching a game than the other.

 

[ukfit]

It might not make a big difference but I love the fact Cal is having them shoot a hundred per day. At least they are being positive about trying to improve a critical part of their game.

 

[JohnBlue_]

Historically 7 footers don't shoot free throws very good. UK probably would have won the game in regulation had WCS knocked his down but then that is really not the part being missed here. Willie should have never been in a position to be fouled that late in a close game. His free throw shooting is no secret, usually you keep those kind of shooters off the ball in late game situations.

For the game UK's 7 footers shot 50%, Kentucky's guards shot 85%. Imo, the ball should have stayed in guards hands more late in the game unless one of the bigs had a high percentage shot.

 

[ukfit]

You know, mechanics are important but I think bigs don't put enough ARCH on the ball and a back spin to increase the chance of a friendly bounce and improve the angle of incidence of the ball hitting the goal. a line drive has nearly ZERO chance of going in.
Put ARCH ON IT GUYS!!! YOU CAN DO IT. JOHNSON, WILLIE, LYLES, EVERYBODY!

 

[fatguy87]

Originally posted by ukfit:
Its tough when u play a team like UM that leads the nation in FT shooting. They were 19/22 and didn't miss till OT.



This post was edited on 1/7 8:10 PM by ukfit

The game shouldn't have went to OT even with Mississippi hitting free throws.

Mississippi shooting hot fire from the field had more to do with them keeping it close than making free throws.



This post was edited on 1/7 8:35 PM by fatguy87