Free throws

[patrick_o'brian]

Prior to the year starting I thought any number of things would be barriers for this team to be successful: new coach; new system; lack of a true point guard; lack of proven, experienced depth; and the list goes on. BUT, I would have never, ever thought that FT shooting would be a weakness. I, for one, think that it is unacceptable for a team that shoots 51% from the field, wins the TO battle, and only has a -2 rebound margin, AND LOSE! There are several factors to last night's loss(i.e. 2nd chance points, lack of 3pt shooting, minimal contributions from the bench) however the post refers to the ENTIRE season of FT shooting deficiencies. 56% last night. 56%! Only 5% better than the FG shooting! That's unheard of! If we shoot better FTs we beat Wofford, Nevada, and win last night. Which would put this team at 8-3. I know that there has been a great emphasis on the "system", but we have got to get back to basics with this FT shooting. I am very proud of this team and Coach Ford for their perserverance and "never say die" attitude. I love this team's tenacity. I am not "down" on this team at all, however when you are new to a system, and coach, you have got to do the basics well. This includes FT shooting. If you make your FT this allows you to stay close and make a couple mistakes, however, if not, every mistake is magnified and will cost you games, which is the case now. It comes down to, you either fix the FT deficiency and prove the preseason pundits wrong, or you continue to not improve in this facet and prove them right. GO BU!

[ph]

Hopefully Santa delivers Geno's wish for "more made free-throws"

Geno said it (in his good natured way) this morning on 1470

[Bravesfan]

Prior to the year starting I thought any number of things would be barriers for this team to be successful: new coach; new system; lack of a true point guard; lack of proven, experienced depth; and the list goes on. BUT, I would have never, ever thought that FT shooting would be a weakness. I, for one, think that it is unacceptable for a team that shoots 51% from the field, wins the TO battle, and only has a -2 rebound margin, AND LOSE! There are several factors to last night's loss(i.e. 2nd chance points, lack of 3pt shooting, minimal contributions from the bench) however the post refers to the ENTIRE season of FT shooting deficiencies. 56% last night. 56%! Only 5% better than the FG shooting! That's unheard of! If we shoot better FTs we beat Wofford, Nevada, and win last night. Which would put this team at 8-3. I know that there has been a great emphasis on the "system", but we have got to get back to basics with this FT shooting. I am very proud of this team and Coach Ford for their perserverance and "never say die" attitude. I love this team's tenacity. I am not "down" on this team at all, however when you are new to a system, and coach, you have got to do the basics well. This includes FT shooting. If you make your FT this allows you to stay close and make a couple mistakes, however, if not, every mistake is magnified and will cost you games, which is the case now. It comes down to, you either fix the FT deficiency and prove the preseason pundits wrong, or you continue to not improve in this facet and prove them right. GO BU!

Very well said! If this team is nervous making free throws, well maybe some of these players don't deserve to be playing basketball at this level. No excuses to be missing this many! As you elluded to pob, we could have been 8-3 or at least 7-4 right now if we just make 65 to 70% of our free throws. I don't know how much more it takes to fix this!

[TNel]

The free throw situation is MADDENING. I've spent a lot of time this year watching my grandson and his fifth-grade teammates play and, honestly, two or three of them are better free throw shooters than some of our key players. You can practice shooting them until the cows come home, but in game situations, what's going on between the ears trumps technique. And I don't know how you fix that. Witness some of those late in last night's game that barely scraped the front of the rim.

[Beninator]

Well said POB. The crazy thing is that this was the least thing I was worried about at the beginning of the year as I thought our guys would settle in and be more comfortable shooting free throws in game situations.

[LittleBrave]

Might be a struggle from the line tonight, as both teams are not very good at the stripe this season.

Michigan is not in the Top Half of D-I schools in F.T. % - somewhere around 67.5%, while BU is a dismal 64%, and stand as one of the 100 teams with the worst F.T. % in the country.

My guess is that one of these teams will shoot 80%+ for the game, while the other team is right around their % for the season. Hoping it's us that surprises in this dept.

[Bravesfan]

The free throw situation is MADDENING. I've spent a lot of time this year watching my grandson and his fifth-grade teammates play and, honestly, two or three of them are better free throw shooters than some of our key players. You can practice shooting them until the cows come home, but in game situations, what's going on between the ears trumps technique. And I don't know how you fix that. Witness some of those late in last night's game that barely scraped the front of the rim.

Well, like Judge Judy says, "Get Unnervous!" Sooner or later our players need to mature enough were they don't act like they've never played in front of a crowd when they go to the free throw line. I don't know what else to say. What do we need to bring in here, a shrink or a motivational speaker to get the players to relax at the FT line? I don't get it!