Our team can't even make free throws
by KSBruin on Dec 13, 2009 7:45 AM PST
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Much has been said about the lack of talent and effort on our basketball team. Even with the current squad, our free throw shooting is beyond pitiful. First off, we can't even get to the line. Once we're there, it's brick city. As a team, through 8 games: 72/131 for 55.0%. Our opponents have made 106/162 for 65.4%, and that means we're at a 34 point deficit solely at the line.
I decided to break down how many FT attempts our players get per 30 minutes played, as I thought that might be the best way to get a somewhat fair comparison based on a theoretical game. (Hopefully I'll get it into a readable format!) Take a look.
player FT attempts/minutes attempts per 30 minutes FT results
MR 10/288 1.042 7/10 70%
ML 34/275 3.709 21/34 61.8%
ND 15/174 (missed 2 games) 2.586 10/15 66.7%
RN 23/137 5.036 12/23 52.2%
JA 18/235 2.298 9/18 50%
JK 5/150 1 1/5 20%
players with less minutes...
TH 3/40 2.25 1/3 33.3%
JMM 4/42 2.857 0/4 ha ha ha%
BL 3/56 1.607 2/3 66.7%
As a team, we're shooting 16.375 attempts per game so far.
I realize we're not a team that has driven the ball much, but I think that's kind of my point, even considering the players we have. I also know it's not necessarily fair to compare players at different positions...so I wanted to rank guards and bigs by FTA/30 min.
Guards, most to least: ML JA MR
Bigs, most to least: RN (shock!) JMM ND TH BL JK
And the entire team, most FTA/30 min to least: RN ML JMM ND TH JA BL MR JK
We're not full of All-Americans, and CBH may or may not have the ideal offensive system installed for his current players...but missing 45% of our free throws is simply unacceptable.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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This is something anyone can practice in their spare time
And I am surprised no player has taken it upon themselves to shoot 100 shots a day to improve it (to the best of my knowledge).
Brick..
The easiest form of offense is to make free throws. Somehow we cannot even do that. Some of the attempts were so god awful that it does not appear it is a simple tweak here and there will help.
This speaks to the players' commitments
If they cannot master the fundamentals, how are they going to master Howland’s defensive and offensive schemes? Simply unacceptable that this team would have these kind of numbers. I worry about the mental make-up of this team. They look like a defeated bunch and have basically said “oh well, there’s always next year” before conference play has even started. I’m hoping that someone will step up and tell everyone that this is unacceptable for a UCLA team…. hopefully a young player who will become the leader.
A PG shooting 50% at the FT line
doesn’t deserve to start. That is just horrendous. JA does nothing on offense. The least he can do is make his free throws. These stats are just frustrating. It shows no work and no commitment in the off-season.
How does it show no work or commitment in the offseason?
I know for a fact that JA was in the gym on a regular basis with ML and the two worked very hard all offseason on a variety of things. We haven’t seen the results of that work and it could be because they have no confidence, are having mental issues translating practice to game, did not structure their workouts well enough to work efficiently, etc. That doesn’t mean they didn’t work though. Assumptions are fantastic.
Formerly ryebreadraz
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Dec 13, 2009 8:02 PM PST up reply actions
Is there a way to coach a kid to shoot better free throws?
I remember in high school that I shot hundreds of free throws every day, but no matter what, I only made about 50%. I tried the underhand Rick Barry style, the jump shot Hal Greer style and everything else. But after a summer of probably 5,000 free throws, I concluded that I am a 50% free thrower on a good day.
My point is that repetition might not be helpful if it’s repetition of some sort of bad technique. I have never been a coach or been coached by anyone, but I have to assume that there are adjustments that can be made to a kid’s free throw shooting style that will help him. Or maybe we got dealt a horrible hand of bad free throw shooters and nothing will change that.
IIRC, Shaq
showed noticeable improvement a few years back when he worked with a free throw coach, even if the gains didn’t stick forever. I’m not a huge Lakers or NBA fan (other than former Bruins) so I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong. Considering that we’re not looking at just one player facing FT woes, I would imagine there would have to be some work on mechanics that would benefit multiple players. If CBH is not focusing on this already, and I’d be surprised if he’s not, he needs to. I suppose we’ll find out as the weeks go by.
Anderson
A well known source very close to the program has stated many times that Anderson did not put in the work this off season to improve his game. Very disappointing. We’ve all seen that a player’s biggest improvement comes between their freshman and sophomore seasons. And we’ve witnessed that many times under Howland.
It’s hard to blame a player for lacking talent, but it is completely unacceptable to not put forth the effort (his being disciplined—coming off the bench—for academic issues during the Kansas game only reinforces this idea). I have always pulled hard for Jerime, but I don’t believe he deserves more than 10 minutes a game, let alone a starting role.
I understand what you say about a lack of confidence not translating to game performance in some areas (shooting, perhaps). How does that explain his lack of ball handling skills? You don’t need confidence to have handles. Handles are a matter of work—ask any player.
by truebluebruin on Dec 13, 2009 10:20 PM PST up reply actions
You do need confidence to handle the ball
There’s a huge difference between practice handling and game time handling. He can handle the ball fine when there’s nobody around, but when people are pressuring you, you need to have confidence in what you are doing and maintain composure. That’s not a matter of how much you practice and while you say a source close to the program says he didn’t put the time in, I saw him on campus, in the gym putting the time in. I didn’t sit around and watch him, but I’d pop my head in on the way there, see him working, then pop my head in on the way back and see him still working.
Formerly ryebreadraz
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Dec 13, 2009 10:27 PM PST up reply actions
From my own experience...
I’ve never played college ball, but my handles and my ability to play defense were two things that didn’t leave me during game time.
I respect that you personally witnessed him putting in time. However, don’t mistake activity for achievement. Especially if reports are true that he is not taking care of his body or his head. Also, the source close to the program said he didn’t put in the work, not that he didn’t put in the time.
While I don’t know the whole story, and there could be many explanations for his lack of development, often times Occam’s razor holds true.
by truebluebruin on Dec 13, 2009 11:46 PM PST up reply actions
From what I could see, JA was working
That doesn’t mean he was working efficiently though. When I played a few different sports, I’d see guys working hard, but not working efficiently and despite their efforts, didn’t improve much. 30 minutes of great work is better than an hour of poor work, but both are still work. JA put in the work and his work ethic is not what I think we should be questioning. Whether he worked efficiently and correctly is up for discussion though.
Formerly ryebreadraz
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Dec 14, 2009 12:34 AM PST up reply actions
100% effort
Are you giving 100% or going through the motions? That IS a question of work ethic. I would hope a UCLA scholarship athlete would give this University his all. As an athlete you must consider not only the effort you give on the court (or while training), but also how you spend your time off the court. It’s important to let your body rest properly and refrain from those things that will affect your body’s recuperating abilities (taking care of academics goes without saying). This sophomore class is well known among the UCLA party scene for their hard partying.
This reminds me of how AA talked about his girlfriend being a round orange ball, while the sophomore class named JA as the ladies man of the group. All of the factors mentioned lead me to believe there is a lack of focus.
by truebluebruin on Dec 14, 2009 9:51 AM PST up reply actions
Hard work in the off-season equates to strong performance during the season
I mean if JA isn’t working on his shot in the off-season, then obviously it will suffer during season play. And that’s exactly what we’ve seen. In CBH’s first season, I remember reading about how Dijon Thompson spent each day in the summer taking something like 500 shots to work on his shooting mechanics. It obviously paid off that season. Darren Collison spent one summer working on his shooting mechanics so he had a quicker and smoother release. That obviously helped him out during his final seasons.
More times than not, hard work and commitment in the offseason translate to solid performance during the season. Granted it’s no guarantee, but with respect to FT shooting, there has to be a direct correlation.
by Kerckhoff405 on Dec 14, 2009 4:26 PM PST up reply actions
Is it me
or have we, as a team, been below average in free throw shooting throughout Howland’s tenure? Honestly, I am too lazy to look up that stats, so please no one throttle me for making an observation that I can’t back up. Just my perception.
"I don't forget very much" Rick Neuheisel, 11/28/09
Fox, you know one player does not equate to a team
As a team, within Div I we ranked:
2008-2009: 62nd
2007-2008: 55th
2006-2007: 251st
2005-2006: 166th
Collison who was ranked 4th of all PLAYERS overall in 2008-2009, 20th of all players in 2007-2008, when he shot a significant proportion of our FTs (about 15-20% higher than our team average).
This suggests that FT shooting has not been our strong point (and not a weak point in 2007-2008, and 2008-2009), and highlights the individual effort of Collison rather than good overall FT coaching of the team.
My point was that Collisson's strength accentuated the weaknesses of everyone else
Although there were those two free throws against Gonzaga ….
Is this all just mental? Is it time for the team hypnotist?
Very frustrating
I wonder how many of those misses are the front end of 1:1 wasting even more scoring opportunities.
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