Comments on: Free Throw Shooting Percentages

By: Wayne

Wayne — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:54:02 +0000

Sorry for nitpicking but the ball, rim and backboards have improved over the last 50 years. You don’t see the bent rims and funky balls like you would 20 years ago.

As for the % it is harder to go from 70 to 80 than from 50 to 60. The higher the % the harder it is to improve.

By: David

David — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:56:15 +0000

My favorite part of this post is the somber caption under the picture:

Tyson Chandler of the New Orleans Hornets took a free throw against the San Antonio Spurs in 2008.

And a few more, I'm guessing.

By: Alex Knapp

Alex Knapp — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:41:25 +0000

Memphis was appallingly bad at free throws last year so, yeah, it would have made sense for Calapari to have spent some more time working on it.

I'm glad he didn't, though.

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:14:35 +0000

So yeah, on the margins at least, it can make a difference.

True. Memphis was appallingly bad at free throws last year so, yeah, it would have made sense for Calapari to have spent some more time working on it.

By: Alex Knapp

Alex Knapp — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:48:37 +0000

As a devoted Kansas Jayhawks fan, let me just say that the focus different coaches gave free throw shooting did make a difference. When he was at Kansas, Roy Williams gave free throw shooting short shrift (he does emphasize it at UNC, which is annoying). The result was that we lost the championship to Syracuse partially on the basis of an appalling free throw percentage. By contrast, we beat Memphis with a high free throw percentage while they missed some that would have locked their late game lead and prevented overtime.

So yeah, on the margins at least, it can make a difference.