November 15, 201312 yr The '12 team was streaky at the free throw line but they had it hot in the Indiana game. Not saying this team will not improve on Tuesday's night performance, but to say a coach shouldn't emphasize free throw form and technique....and accuracy, is just wrong. Asking them to do it do their own is about the same as asking the players to run sprints on their own to stay in shape. Ain't gonna happen. The numbers are what they are. All of Cal's teams are not poor free throw shooting teams. If you think he doesn't value free throw shooting I don't know what to tell you.
November 15, 201312 yr Calipari (4 years) - 68.9% - 23.2 attempts per game Gillispie (2 years) - 75.5% - 21.2 attempts per game Smith (10 years) - 67.7% - 20.6 attempts per game Pitino (8 years) - 70.7% - 23.7 attempts per game Bring back the drunk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just shoot at the one in the middle boys.
November 15, 201312 yr The '12 team was streaky at the free throw line but they had it hot in the Indiana game. Not saying this team will not improve on Tuesday's night performance, but to say a coach shouldn't emphasize free throw form and technique....and accuracy, is just wrong. Asking them to do it do their own is about the same as asking the players to run sprints on their own to stay in shape. Ain't gonna happen. At the college level, you do not devote limited practice time to something that involves little to no coaching. That's just bad coaching if you do.
November 15, 201312 yr At the college level, you do not devote limited practice time to something that involves little to no coaching. That's just bad coaching if you do. BCG would disagree.......oh, wait.
November 15, 201312 yr At the college level, you do not devote limited practice time to something that involves little to no coaching. That's just bad coaching if you do. If you are just having them stand around and shoot free throws, you are correct. There are plenty of way to incorporate them into practice situations where guys are going to the line with some fatigue and shooting them with a little pressure on to keep practice moving...
November 15, 201312 yr I thought I read or heard an interview where Cal said he wasn't going to devote special time in practice, and it was on his guys to improve that themselves i.e. before/after practice, down time, etc.
November 15, 201312 yr If you are just having them stand around and shoot free throws, you are correct. There are plenty of way to incorporate them into practice situations where guys are going to the line with some fatigue and shooting them with a little pressure on to keep practice moving... Right, and I'm sure they do those things. I'm speaking of devoting a chunk of practice time to simply working on FTs.
November 15, 201312 yr If you are just having them stand around and shoot free throws, you are correct. There are plenty of way to incorporate them into practice situations where guys are going to the line with some fatigue and shooting them with a little pressure on to keep practice moving... Yeah I like the idea of coaches stopping practice to put someone on the line and if they miss the entire team has to run suicides or something. Like you said, puts them on the line in a fatigue situation and resembles a game like setting more than anything you can do free throw wise. Plus it doesn't really cut away from practice time. If you make your one or two free throws practice resumes, if not you run for a minute or two and then practice resumes. You can do that multiple times with multiple players and still not eat up anymore than ten minutes or so of practice doing it.
November 15, 201312 yr The numbers are what they are. All of Cal's teams are not poor free throw shooting teams. If you think he doesn't value free throw shooting I don't know what to tell you. After seeing the career percentages that you posted I can see your point. I suppose I am old school, though. I can't see what would be wrong in trying to take a little time to work on their form and technique. Heck, bring in Macy if it takes it. Don't have to do it that often. Macy didn't have much success at Morehead State but, according to a friend I was speaking to the day after the Tuesday game, his Eagle teams had some of the highest free throw percentages in the nation. Free throw shooting is both mental toughness and form. Players have to learn to shoot in pressure situations and they have to have the fundamentals to be successful. I suppose if Cal is willing to accept his team making 6 1/2 shots out of every 10 they take then it's what it is. I think coaches should strive for a higher percentage than that. Poor to average free throw percentage can come back to bite you in games against good opponents. It hurt them in the loss to Arizona n the '97 title game. One player was 0-6 in the loss, which went into overtime. It hurt them in the West Virginia loss a few years ago, and in the loss to UConn in the 2011 FF. And it bit them in the loss to the Spartans. It's difficult to make it through the 6 games it takes to win the NCAA championship without shooting a good percentage from the foul line.
November 15, 201312 yr After seeing the career percentages that you posted I can see your point. I suppose I am old school, though. I can't see what would be wrong in trying to take a little time to work on their form and technique. Heck, bring in Macy if it takes it. Don't have to do it that often. Macy didn't have much success at Morehead State but, according to a friend I was speaking to the day after the Tuesday game, his Eagle teams had some of the highest free throw percentages in the nation. Free throw shooting is both mental toughness and form. Players have to learn to shoot in pressure situations and they have to have the fundamentals to be successful. I suppose if Cal is willing to accept his team making 6 1/2 shots out of every 10 they take then it's what it is. I think coaches should strive for a higher percentage than that. Poor to average free throw percentage can come back to bite you in games against good opponents. It hurt them in the loss to Arizona n the '97 title game. One player was 0-6 in the loss, which went into overtime. It hurt them in the West Virginia loss a few years ago, and in the loss to UConn in the 2011 FF. And it bit them in the loss to the Spartans. It's difficult to make it through the 6 games it takes to win the NCAA championship without shooting a good percentage from the foul line. Any frustration you might have after tuesday is understandable
November 15, 201312 yr I have really mixed feelings about the free throw discussion. But the one thing I always think about, you can tell players that they must get up free throws in their own time, and they very well might. They might shoot more than they ever would in practice. However, if they are continually leaning back with their shoulders, not correcting a release point, if they have a hitch in their shot or etc., then it doesn't matter how many they should, they aren't getting better. If no one is helping you correct your form, then the muscle memory you are trying to create by getting up a lot of shots, isn't going to do anyone any good.
November 15, 201312 yr CoachCal.com @CoachCalDotCom9m Cal says Poythress' stock is "skyrocketing." Says he's proof that minutes, points and shots don't matter. CoachCal.com @CoachCalDotCom3m Cal says he is probably going to slide Hawkins and Lee into the rotation a little more.
November 15, 201312 yr My view on the free throw situation is that it's possible that Cal's philosophy might have flown before - which given what happened to Memphis is debatable - but the equation has changed. With the new rules there are going to be a lot more free throws shot this year and it has already cost them a game. I'm sure they're banking on being talented enough that that doesn't happen against many teams, but it'll only take one in March for that to be important and the one that gets remembered. No one talks about how great that Memphis team was, they talk about two things: a failure to foul before Kansas could get off the three and the fact that they couldn't hit free throws to close it out.
November 15, 201312 yr I have really mixed feelings about the free throw discussion. But the one thing I always think about, you can tell players that they must get up free throws in their own time, and they very well might. They might shoot more than they ever would in practice. However, if they are continually leaning back with their shoulders, not correcting a release point, if they have a hitch in their shot or etc., then it doesn't matter how many they should, they aren't getting better. If no one is helping you correct your form, then the muscle memory you are trying to create by getting up a lot of shots, isn't going to do anyone any good. A good analogy would be a golf swing. It doesn't matter how many practice balls you hit if you don't have the proper stance, take away, follow through, and grip. You're still going to hit bad slices or fat shots. A shot doctor to correct their form could do wonders for these players. That was what the coach that took the Florida team through several rounds of the NCAA tournament last year did in one of his previous jobs, he was an NBA free throw coach. Something like that may work for the Cats too. Give them the "hows" and them let them work on it on their own time.
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