In our past 3 games...

[dawgstudent]

State has hit 36 three-pointers (and shot 49% at the arc). In the same three games they have made just 30 free throws, in 45 chances.

Courtesy David Murray.

 

[DerHntr]

it's FREE dang it. i know there are a lot of important things to practice but it just doesn't seem that hard to get guys to stand still, all alone on a white line and practice throwing it into the hoop. it also doesn't seem that hard to look at the teams with consistently great free throw percentages and make a few phone calls to figure out what in the hell they are doing.

edit to say: i am pretty impressed also with how few free throws we have had to take. like lawdawg said the threes likely had something to do with it.

 

[lawdawg02]

i sure do wish we had a wing-slasher type player...

 

[dawgstudent]

The dedication that is needed to improve has to be taken on by the player. You can coach better form but I just think the player has to take the responsibility for himself to improve.

 

[gtowndawg]

on ESPN. I don't remember who nor do I remember the commentators, but I recall one of them ( an ex-coach perhaps) made the point that the off season is when you should really practice free throws. Not that you don't practice them during the season but a player should be shooting thousands of them during the off season. Problem is most players don't. Most players practice them when they are made to by their coach.

That was his explanation for poor free throw shooting these days.

 

[8dog]

there are a lot of shooters that can go in the gym and hit 90-95 free throws out of 100. But when you step to that line after running up and down the court, your adrenaline flowing, and a big crowd and you haven't shot 50 in a row to get yourself in rhythm-- that's a completely different scenario- one that's really difficult to recreate in an empty gym. Therefore, you have to rely on form and focus/mentality.

 

[DerHntr]

the teams that are consistently in the top of the country shooting free throws have some sort of influence by the coach to get them to practice free throws. it's just hard for me to believe that those teams recruit guys who already have the work ethic and drive to be good free throw shooters along with being good players in their respective positions. it sounds too similar to recruiting guys with character ala croom.

 

[TheBigDA]

if I had a team I would wait till the end of practice, run sprints, and in the middle of sprints stop and shoot free throws. That is to me the most realtable to game stiuation you can create. Legs are tired and you are winded, much like at the end of the game. Again, I know not of what I speak.

 

[patdog]

Having a guy stand at the line and shoot 50 free throws is great for working on form and technique, but it doesn't do a thing to simulate a game situation. When you shoot that many you can work your way into a rythem after a few shots. You can't do that in a game. You need to simulate game situations in your free throw practice like you suggest.

 

[lawdawg02]

to do brain surgery. i think they were talking about big men, who use so much energy running up and down the court and banging in the paint. it's not an easy transition to just stand there and shoot from the free throw line. of course, lots of big men just can't shoot anyway.

but you're right - running sprints and shooting is the way to do it. plus, you should always practice free throws at the end of practice, because that's when you're the most tired.

 

[8dog]

is that for nearly all players, its not the way they normally shoot. No one would normally take a fifteen foot shot without a jumping. So its a change from the norm that adds to the difficulty.

 

[dawgstudent]

I was trying to point out our % on 3's. That stat is quite amazing.

 

[lawdawg02]

49% as a team is absurd. i sure hope we can keep it up...

 

[uscreb]

and creates drills and practices that help players focus on those aspects of the game, but also motivates players to take the extra time to work outside of practice. Likewise, team leaders will help in this regard. Clearly, some guys are just never going to be able to shoot a free throw, but some of the responsibility for skill AND execution belongs to the coaching staff.

As a sidenote, I coached middle school basketball for years. (Yeah, I know... take your shots, but this is a decent story) About eight years ago, I had a kid who could hit 15-20 footers all day long. Perfect jump shot form, but when he got to the free throw line it was brick after brick. About five games into the season, the other team starting hacking him. After six or seven missed FT's I called a time out and told him to stand three steps back of the line, put the ball on the ground and shoot the foul shot like it was a jumper. He took a two-step dribble and swished the first shot. The idiot ref waved off the basket, saying he wasn't allowed to dribble. The other ref and I finally convinced him that as long as he didn't cross the line until the ball hit the rim, that it was a legal free throw. After about seven or eight FT's the other team stopped hacking. We won the game and quite a few others that season because of his FT's.

I ran into his dad a couple of years later and asked how Ben was doing. He was still playing BB in high school, but his coach would not let him use a jump shot for free throws and his FT percentage was something like 49% while his FG percentage was about 60%.

So, coaches also need to be smart enough to let players work to their strengths.

 

[RonnyAtmosphere]

...I once heard Bobby Knight talking about coaching free throws (which means, yes, coaches coach free throws).

Knight said you should never take over 2 dribbles before you shoot a FT. He said you get mentally side-tracked when you stand there dribbling the ball over & over.

According to Knight, here's how you shot FT's: Kinda hurry the process: Take 2 dribbles, square up, & shoot.

I've noticed MSU players do not abide by the 2 dribble rule.

 

[uscreb]

than I am standing flat footed.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

it puts pressure on you also. And we had two ACC starters on our team, one of whom had the ACC record for free throw percentage in the ACC tourney or something like that.

 

[josebrown]

I have also heard Bobby knight say that his teams practiced free throws throughout practice. He said at different times he would stop practice put them on the line until everyone made ever how many in a row. He said that he would interrupt normal practice to make them have to learn to change focus at any time. He talked about free throws being more mental than anything else, and the more he could get his kids to practice at near normal game conditions the better prepared to shoot them in games they would be rather than just simply having shootaround style free throw practice.