No kudos for the FT shooting?
- Thread starter wildcatdonf
- Start date
i never worry about Free throws or 3 pt shooting . I worry about our heads being in it when they are this is what happens.
That is very impressive considering we missed 4 of our first 12. Finished 16/18 to finish, and 12/13 in the second half.
Never understood the "free throws aren't important" crowd, of course they are, a point is a point. Great job tonight by our guys.
they are but sometimes people make them a bigger deal then they are especially when it comes to Cal . This here though as long as Lee isn't at the line i feel good.
FT's are the only shots with no defender. We expect players to hit wide open shots all the time during the game, so why is it not important when they are wide open for FT's?
We HAVE to hit our FT's. Does several things for your team when you hit FT's (besides the obvious score benefits).
1. Allows your defense to set and prevents fast breaks.
2. Allows you to play full court press if the need be.
3. Allows your shooters to see the ball go through the hoop, especially important if one of them is having an off night. Gives them confidence.
4. Allows you to switch your offense / defense. (If the FT shooter is a good offensive player but a liability on defense, you can bring him out after a made FT w/out calling a timeout).
5. Builds on momentum
6. Making and missing FT's tend to be contagious and thus they can affect others players
Made FT's affect the game in a lot more ways than just "points on the board". Which isn't a bad benefit either.
We HAVE to hit our FT's. Does several things for your team when you hit FT's (besides the obvious score benefits).
1. Allows your defense to set and prevents fast breaks.
2. Allows you to play full court press if the need be.
3. Allows your shooters to see the ball go through the hoop, especially important if one of them is having an off night. Gives them confidence.
4. Allows you to switch your offense / defense. (If the FT shooter is a good offensive player but a liability on defense, you can bring him out after a made FT w/out calling a timeout).
5. Builds on momentum
6. Making and missing FT's tend to be contagious and thus they can affect others players
Made FT's affect the game in a lot more ways than just "points on the board". Which isn't a bad benefit either.
Just noticed the stat in the box score this morning. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to pay close attention to the game last night because of my dog.
I remember earlier in the season people were worried about ft shooting and 3 pt shooting. How things have changed.
I remember earlier in the season people were worried about ft shooting and 3 pt shooting. How things have changed.
Then you miss the point, and struggle with math.
How many points are we talking about? A really good college FT shooting team will hit 75%. The average is about 67-68%, and has been in that general area for 60 years now, with almost no substantial changes. UK this year is an average FT shooting team, 68.1%. If they were hitting 75% (something 1 UK team has done the last 20 years, and that was the NIT team of 09), that would amount to a whopping extra 27 points in 16 games, with a few more thrown in for front-end one and ones that were missed. So about 2 points a game. Or 1 basket.
The reality is that other facets of the game are vastly more important. Something Cal knows.
Obviously, you want to hit at a good%, but I think what's more important is making more FT's than your opponent attempts. That tells a lot about how the game is being played. You're attacking the basket on offense and playing sound defense without fouling.
You post a solid argument when considering averages across many games. However on a game by game basis, when it's possible on any given night that UK will shoot 55-60% from FT, then obviously FT's CAN matter. Cal would not argue otherwise.
Good article on Cal's fraught history with (often poor) free-throw shooting.
It's not that he doesn't care about free-throw shooting. He just doesn't care very much ... and stats bear out that probably being the right approach, frustrating as it is at times.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/john-calipari-has-seen-a-lot-of-bricks-at-the-free-throw-line/
It's not that he doesn't care about free-throw shooting. He just doesn't care very much ... and stats bear out that probably being the right approach, frustrating as it is at times.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/john-calipari-has-seen-a-lot-of-bricks-at-the-free-throw-line/
I must have missed it. Who said FT's aren't important. Obviously they're more important in some games than others. We shot 80% againt Missouri, could have missed every single one and still won by 30+ but they were absolutely critical against Ole Miss and A&M. It's the ability to hit them down the stretch that's important and this team has shown they have that. If you can't hit FT's every game is a nail-biter.
One good thing is Willie has improved his FT shooting every year from 38% to 48% to his current 62%. I have always thought he could be a 65/70% FT shooter. His form has always looked better than his results.
mj2k10- Never claimed to be good at math, don't have to be to see the difference between a miss or 2 at the line in a close game and making them. All facets of the game are important in winning, free throws being one, all coaches i'm sure stress this, including Cal. Was'nt dissing Cal at all, just stating my opinion, like you stating your's about my knowledge of math.
Guys like mj2k10 think they are brilliant because they can skew stats with a calculator. Never mind that teams almost never shoot their average on any given night - it's usually either hot or cold. In the case of the 2008 National Championship game, shooting their average would have mattered. Last year against UConn we missed 11 foul shots. If we make just 6 of those misses we are actually up at the end and UConn is fouling us to stave off defeat. You can't apply a stat like free throw percentage across the board in order to minimize their importance - it's a dishonest argument.
FTs are FREE. They are unguarded. They are FREE POINTS the other team is GIVING you. You should make most or all of your FTs. It should be a surprise when you miss one. That's why you only get 1 point.
Hey genius, it's called an average for a reason. The TEAM AVERAGE is what a team is most likely to shoot in any given game. No sh** it's not always the same (damn brilliant to come up with that one). Now, if you can predict exactly when it will be below average, and when it will be above (and let me clue you in- you must have both. That's how you come up with the average), I suggest you do something productive with that ability- go to Vegas or buy a lottery ticket.
Free throws are free points slightly above 2/3rds of the time. With almost NO VARIATION whatsoever throughout college basketball history. Find me your mythical team in which everyone hits FT's at 80% (I suggest looking in your ass). Find me some big correlation between team FT shooting and winning basketball games.
The gap between "good" and "bad" FT shooting teams doesn't add up to all that much. Of course hitting FT's is a good thing. So is playing good defense, rebounding well, winning the turnover battle, and shooting well from the field. I would suggest players focus on those things, rather than worrying too much about something that's most likely going to get the team a max of an extra 2-3 points a game.
You should email this argument to Cal and the members of his '08 Memphis squad that missed 4 of 5 free throws before KU's Chalmers hit the 3 point shot to send the Championship game into OT.
