48.3%

[br801]

Come on G that is an absolutely unacceptable free throw percentage. How the hell does Syracuse University have a guard shooting 38% from 3 and sub 50 from the line?

Does it come down to lack of practice? coaching? effort/focus?

I know he's having a solid season but that's a major flaw in his game that hurts.

Last season he shot about 65% from the line. Not great, but not awful. And he somehow managed to go 7 for 7 as a freshman at Duke.

This season he is 14-29 through 14 games; that's a small sample (and he only shoots about 2 per game), so I'm not willing to write him off just yet. I'm not sure how many of his misses have been the front end of a one-and-ones, but had he shot 75% to this point he might have scored another 8 to 10 points.

And by the way, 38% from 3 is far from something to be concerned about.

 

[jncuse]

Yes I believe Shaq didn't work hard enough on his free throws. The dude was a dominant athlete who excelled in most other areas of basketball, but a piss poor free throw percentage that lead to the creation of a "hack-a-Shaq" defense that was capable of slowing him down is ridiculous. They are called "free throws" they are supposed to be easier to make, no one should be building a defensive strategy around forcing someone to shoot FTs over regular shots, and yet that's what teams did to Shaq for quite a while.

Shaq was one of the best to play the game, one of the most dominant at the position ever, but the dude was a terrible free throw shooter.

I was talking about Tim Duncan -- the "big fundamental" as he is called. I was wrong in that he is a 5 time champ not 4 time champ.

You can accuse Shaquille of not working hard, but Duncan?

 

[Trueblue25]

Last season he shot about 65% from the line. Not great, but not awful. And he somehow managed to go 7 for 7 as a freshman at Duke.

This season he is 14-29 through 14 games; that's a small sample (and he only shoots about 2 per game), so I'm not willing to write him off just yet. I'm not sure how many of his misses have been the front end of a one-and-ones, but had he shot 75% to this point he might have scored another 8 to 10 points.

And by the way, 38% from 3 is far from something to be concerned about.

I was more saying that it's incredible that a guy who shoots 38% from three, which is great, is shooting so poorly thus far from the line.

 

[Cowtown]

None of you guys ever saw Wilt shoot free throws, huh? I feared for the glass backboards every time he loaded up

edit: oddly enough, although a career .511 FT shooter, he was 28-32 from the stripe in his 100 point game. (final score 169-147 in 4 quarters, no OT)

 

[CusefanATL]

None of you guys ever saw Wilt shoot free throws, huh? I feared for the glass backboards every time he loaded up

edit: oddly enough, although a career .511 FT shooter, he was 28-32 from the stripe in his 100 point game. (final score 169-147 in 4 quarters, no OT)

Wilt was a center.

Gbinije is our de facto late game PG

 

[CusefanATL]

Last season he shot about 65% from the line. Not great, but not awful. And he somehow managed to go 7 for 7 as a freshman at Duke.

This season he is 14-29 through 14 games; that's a small sample (and he only shoots about 2 per game), so I'm not willing to write him off just yet. I'm not sure how many of his misses have been the front end of a one-and-ones, but had he shot 75% to this point he might have scored another 8 to 10 points.

And by the way, 38% from 3 is far from something to be concerned about.

you misunderstood the context on the 38%. He was saying how can someone shoot 3's well and ft's so bad?

 

[Cowtown]

Wilt was a center.

Gbinije is our de facto late game PG

Wilt was one of the greatest players ever, who changed the way the game was played. Silent G, not so much ... although he's young yet.

edit: I agree, however, that it would be nice if he could get to somewhere in the 67-75% range, although I'm sure in the back of his mind he knows the power game (dunks, blocks, rebounds) will get him a shot at the NBA one hell of a lot more readily than his PG skills. Especially given how the heir apparent to the PG spot, KJ, has never been a notably good shooter either.

 

[cuse2013]

I once made 52 foul shots in a row goofing around in the gym - I don't get how D-1 players can't consistently hit foul shots, because I stink at the game.

"In the gym"

I once knocked out Mike Tyson...in a dream.

No he hasn't shot well. It's also a small sample size (29). His biggest problem is letting one play affect the next. Not his form or anything like that.

 

[upperdeck]

None of you guys ever saw Wilt shoot free throws, huh? I feared for the glass backboards every time he loaded up

edit: oddly enough, although a career .511 FT shooter, he was 28-32 from the stripe in his 100 point game. (final score 169-147 in 4 quarters, no OT)

of course for much of his life he didnt have to shoot ft's , they changed the rule to stop him. One of my teachers played against wilt in HS.. he recalled coming out to run warm ups and wilt was leaning on the backboard watching them. It was over before the game started.

 

[OrangeDW]

I once made 52 foul shots in a row goofing around in the gym - I don't get how D-1 players can't consistently hit foul shots, because I stink at the game.

Generally agreed, though it's quite a bit harder at game time. And that's just from playing in scrubby high school gyms in front of hundreds. I can't pretend to know what it's like to shoot them in front of 10,000+ on ESPN.

 

[OrangeDW]

Yes I believe Shaq didn't work hard enough on his free throws. The dude was a dominant athlete who excelled in most other areas of basketball, but a piss poor free throw percentage that lead to the creation of a "hack-a-Shaq" defense that was capable of slowing him down is ridiculous. They are called "free throws" they are supposed to be easier to make, no one should be building a defensive strategy around forcing someone to shoot FTs over regular shots, and yet that's what teams did to Shaq for quite a while.

Shaq was one of the best to play the game, one of the most dominant at the position ever, but the dude was a terrible free throw shooter.

Regardless, he won 4 titles. And nobody remembers, but he actually did make a lot of big ones in big games. Only the misses drew attention because he was known as a horrible FT shooter opposing crowds went nuts when he missed.

I remember when the media tried to make the narrative that he would never win a title because he "didn't work hard" and couldn't make FT's. Wrong

*These same idiots also tried to create the narrative that Jordan would never win because he shot too much.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Plus exhaustion. My old coach used to have us run laps between free throws to simulate the game experience. It's much harder than parking your butt on the line for 52 shots in a row.

This^.

Seriously this. Running around then going to the line is a massive difference than making 52 foul shots in a row just standing there (still impressive ).

Add in nerves, and it's not nearly as simple as we all wish it was.

Absolutely he should be better, but some players struggle with zoning everything out and just shooting like they've done thousands of times in a gym.

 

[CusefanATL]

"In the gym"

I once knocked out Mike Tyson...in a dream.

No he hasn't shot well. It's also a small sample size (29). His biggest problem is letting one play affect the next. Not his form or anything like that.

He actually made 53 in a row.

29 is not that small of a sample size.

 

[Jack Hall]

Hes been busy learning to play 3 different positions, i am shocked he doesnt have a ton of time to practice his fts....

 

[SUMBA]

I'm sorry but I don't understand why being a guard or a big should make a difference in how acceptable a 50% FT shooter is. I realize traditionally bigs tend to be weaker FT shooters, but that is still massively unacceptable. Nobody who is a legitimate basketball player should be under 60% and frankly being under 70% just means you aren't putting in the work to make FTs.

I agree about FT%. Andy Rautins seemed to have a low FT % given how deadly he was from beyond the arc. I often though that perhaps he should stand at the back of the circle and shoot the FT as an uncontested jumper rather than launch from the actual charity stripe. I think there are a few reasons for the low FT % these days:

1. The mid range game is a dinosaur. Today's game has become jam it inside or launch a trey. The mid range game is a lost art and the FT is a mid range shot.

2. Shooting a trey is different that shooting a free throw. Muscle memory is different for these shots. The trey requires more strength due to the distance from the hoop, while the FT requires more touch.

3. Weight rooms. Today's players spend a lot off time in the weight rooms. Muscular upper bodies flatten out shots and players lose the touch required to consistently make free throws. The demands of today's game require that bigs have significant upper body strength, which is why so many of them produce bricks when shooting FTs. (I know this topic is debated and controversial but I am speaking from first hand experience.)

4. The Sports Center Syndrome. Kids spend too much time trying to make the highlight or top ten reels and not enough on fundamentals. this is not only true on FTs but when was the last time you saw a player on any team set a perfect screen? Fundamentals are losing out to athleticism and becoming a good FT shooter requires repetition and more repetition.

 

[AZOrange]

Generally agreed, though it's quite a bit harder at game time. And that's just from playing in scrubby high school gyms in front of hundreds. I can't pretend to know what it's like to shoot them in front of 10,000+ on ESPN.

It's kind of a silly convo when you think about. It's the same reason guys like cooney hit twenty 3s in a row in practice and a third of those in game spots. Same reason guys like Tom Watson couldn't make 5 foot comebacks. Same reason chuck knoblauch couldn't throw a baseball 30 feet.