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We are tied for 43rd in the nation for ft%. All of our players except two - mehinti (who's only taken 4 fts total) and CJW (who is at 33%, 6-18 total ) - are shooting 75% or better. If you take CJs numbers out, we'd be shooting 82.1% from the line, which would be good enough to currently tie for 4th place.

We are shooting fts better than we have in years (I checked) in a year where free throw shooting will be paramount with all the new rules and fouls being called.

Our success from the stripe as well as our widely recognized prowess for rebounding the ball indicates to me that we have a solid, fundamental team.

Good work blazers, keep it up, and get your sh!t together CJW!!

Somebody crunched the numbers and wrote a paper a few years ago drawing a direct correlation between a school's men's basketball team's free throw percentages and its academic standards.

(11-23-2013 04:16 PM)Smaug Wrote:  Somebody crunched the numbers and wrote a paper a few years ago drawing a direct correlation between a school's men's basketball team's free throw percentages and its academic standards.

Free throws are all mental, so that makes sense.

(11-23-2013 04:18 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(11-23-2013 04:16 PM)Smaug Wrote:  Somebody crunched the numbers and wrote a paper a few years ago drawing a direct correlation between a school's men's basketball team's free throw percentages and its academic standards.

Free throws are all mental, so that makes sense.

They are!?

I guess so...except for the part about the ball having to physically travel through the air into the hoop. That part is physical I think.

Any idea why a player who can score from all over floor is only shooting 33% from the line? What did he average in juco?

(11-23-2013 04:16 PM)Smaug Wrote:  Somebody crunched the numbers and wrote a paper a few years ago drawing a direct correlation between a school's men's basketball team's free throw percentages and its academic standards.

That's interesting and I definitely believe it.

A few years ago, there was a published "Defense against free throws" stat. Does the NCAA still publish such a stat?

(11-23-2013 04:51 PM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  Any idea why a player who can score from all over floor is only shooting 33% from the line? What did he average in juco?

Washington averaged 67% at Tallahassee Community College, making 3.2 out of 4.7 free throws per game, obviously not one of his greatest strengths.

In the two games that Frazier and Washington played against each other, last season, Frazier made 12 out of 13 free throws and Washington made 8 out of 9. Gulf Coast won both games, the first game by about fifteen points and the second game by one point.

Rod Rucker leads the team in free throw percentage, excluding Purifoy's 2-2. Rucker is 28-32, or 87.5%.

Rucker was worst on the team last year, 72-125 or 57.6%.

My dad always said if you look at the final score, most of the time the losing team would have won if it had made its free throws. One day when he was spouting that stat, I took 10 games that weren't blowouts and took at a look at the box score. He was right. In 8 of the games, the differential was missed free throws.

One day when I have nothing better to do, I'll do a more comprehensive study and write a paper about it.

(11-23-2013 07:18 PM)Grammar-Nazi Wrote:  My dad always said if you look at the final score, most of the time the losing team would have won if it had made its free throws. One day when he was spouting that stat, I took 10 games that weren't blowouts and took at a look at the box score. He was right. In 8 of the games, the differential was missed free throws.

One day when I have nothing better to do, I'll do a more comprehensive study and write a paper about it.

I always hear that, but if you expect one team to make all their free throws, you have to consider if the winning team made all their free throws as well.

A better way to look at it is how for off their season average are they. If a 70% free throw shooting team shot 50%, then free throw shooting might be to blame.

(11-23-2013 07:33 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(11-23-2013 07:18 PM)Grammar-Nazi Wrote:  My dad always said if you look at the final score, most of the time the losing team would have won if it had made its free throws. One day when he was spouting that stat, I took 10 games that weren't blowouts and took at a look at the box score. He was right. In 8 of the games, the differential was missed free throws.

One day when I have nothing better to do, I'll do a more comprehensive study and write a paper about it.

I always hear that, but if you expect one team to make all their free throws, you have to consider if the winning team made all their free throws as well.

A better way to look at it is how for off their season average are they. If a 70% free throw shooting team shot 50%, then free throw shooting might be to blame.

Agreed. You can't arbitrarily blame missed free throws any more than you can blame missed 3s. The question is whether the losing team missed an unreasonable number of free throws. Because sure...it'd be great to make every free throw, and often games are close enough that you can point to the missed free throw stat and conclude that you lost it at the line because you didn't make every single one of them. But nobody makes every single one of them...that's not a reasonable expectation; there's been no perfect free throw shooter. So when you're assessing blame for a loss, the question is whether you made free throws at a reasonably acceptable rate given your collective shooters' ability. And if an individual shooter's ability to make them is not reasonably acceptable in light of whatever else he brings to the table, free throw shooting is not really to blame; he shouldn't be playing in the first place.

Of course, this year it's clearly going to matter more than in the past. Because the sheer volume of fouls called will increase the statistical relevance of free throw shooting. Good free throw shooting teams are going to win more games than they might have.

(11-23-2013 06:31 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  A few years ago, there was a published "Defense against free throws" stat. Does the NCAA still publish such a stat?

Free throws are like the crane technique. If done right, impossible to defend.

(11-23-2013 11:24 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Free throws are like the crane technique. If done right, impossible to defend.

???

(11-23-2013 11:29 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(11-23-2013 11:24 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Free throws are like the crane technique. If done right, impossible to defend.

???

Sadly, I know this:

Yea I think missed free throws only really effect the outcome of a close game if you miss significantly more than your season average. Realistically no team is ever going to make ALL of them.

But yeah I brought this up, because early in the season we are shooting them pretty damn well, outside of CJ, in a season where I think we all know ft shooting will be even more important than usual..