I've watched some pretty good teams this year miss FT after FT, but those Elliott boys (E/Et Faulkner and Ferg) must have the right recipe because their shooting average is WAY ABOVE average.

I heard that the Lions were fourth in the state at 72%. Pretty good actually when you consider the number of free throws they shoot.:clap:

Free throws are definitely a lost art. I'm not that old but I remember being in high school and playing pickup games where the first two people to hit free throws were captains and picked teams. During those days usually the first 2 that shot were captains now a days though IMO it would be safe to say that if it was a 3 on 3 pickup game everyone would get a try at the line at least once. LOL

You can add "blocking out" to your list of lost arts as well. You can count the number of block outs on one hand when you watch a game these days.

Very true. We were always taught to get low and get your butt under their hip and back them out. How often do you see that now? Very seldom.

I'm probably kidding myself, but for me, shooting free throws as a kid became pretty second nature like riding a bike or tying my shoe. I wasn't that great of a player, but I feel like shooting a free throw is so deep rooted in me that even with not having shot for about 6 month or so I usually can get the rhythm back with about 10 minutes of warm up. I went to sleep at night shooting foul shots in my head instead of counting sheep. If I wasn't going to produce that much during a game I felt the least I could do was make an unblocked foul shot. I realize there's a big difference to shooting when you're relaxed than when you're winded and tired, but have kids stopped dreaming about making foul shot because they can't get the video games out of their heads that they've been playing for hours at a time? I don't know? Different generation with different priorities, I guess. :idunno: One thing I have noticed is that there seems to be a misunderstanding of putting a nice smooth rotation and back spin on the ball and that a lot are just tossing up a misguided brick with no real flow to it. :idunno: I'd really like to see more coaches see to it that their players really understand the fundamentals of shooting a consistent foul shot and really make it a high priority to perfect it. I can't say enough about the importance of it to the outcome of a game.

 

I agree most students just don't realize how important free throws are. They are called free for a reason they are uncontested and you have 10 seconds to shoot them. Foul shoots should be second nature to all good players.

I have heard the Cov Cath faithfull complaining about their FT shooting in particular Wellbrock. Looked him up and the poor kid is 5-38 on the year and actually started the season 2-3. That is unreal.

There's got to be some good instructional videos out there that could make it a pleasure to learn and follow. If I were a coach, I'd hand out a copy to all of my players and make sure I didn't rush through the end of a tough practice, and end it with a nice relaxing session of real focused free throw training. I would think that every player would enjoy making free throw shooting a high priority and become real good at it if not for anything else but their pride of achieving excellence is a seemingly easy task that just becomes easier with good technique, focus and lots of practice. Who doesn't like to get a good flow going and develop the confidence in knowing that they can be a pretty sure thing from the line. I'm sure there's even grandmas and grandpas out there that still get a rush out of tossing up a nice swish through the nets. :thumb:

 

I read this morning that former NKU ace shooter Paul Cluxton (94 for 94 his last year) has put out an instructional video per the request of an association in Cincinnati.

Videos may help but its all about form and repetition. Kids will shoot 500 threes on their own but how many work on free throws on their own.

I read this morning that former NKU ace shooter Paul Cluxton (94 for 94 his last year) has put out an instructional video per the request of an association in Cincinnati.

 

Wow! How cool and timely is that? Ask and ye shall receive. Cluxton was amazing! Since he's well known in the Northern Kentucky area, perhaps some 9th Region coaches will jump on that to try to get their guys more interested in perfecting their shot. :thumb:

Where do you find stats? NCC has a one of the best free throw shooters around with Connor. Curious to know his %

It seems that Stephens from Conner is and Popp from Boone seem to be solid as well.

Edited February 16, 200917 yr by Ram
Rule 13

I heard that the Lions were fourth in the state at 72%. Pretty good actually when you consider the number of free throws they shoot.:clap:

 

Way to go Lions. This also frustrates me to no end and it is a good thing I don't coach basketball because I would make them shoot 100 free throws for every 1 they missed in a game. When you look at many of the game scores recently, many are won or lost by 3 or less and I would be willing to bet that both teams had missed at least 3 "free" throws.

Paul Cluxton former NKU guard and the greatest college free throw shooter ever makes a great point when teaching Free Throws. He says to take one dribble and let it fly. I get so tired of watching kids take a bunch of dribbles, spin the ball in front of them, change positions while the ball is in their hands. Just shoot the dang thing.

Paul Cluxton former NKU guard and the greatest college free throw shooter ever makes a great point when teaching Free Throws. He says to take one dribble and let it fly. I get so tired of watching kids take a bunch of dribbles, spin the ball in front of them, change positions while the ball is in their hands. Just shoot the dang thing.

 

Amen!

Edited February 17, 200917 yr by STRIKE3

Where do you find stats? NCC has a one of the best free throw shooters around with Connor. Curious to know his %

It seems that Stephens from Conner is and Popp from Boone seem to be solid as well.

 

From http://www.kentucky.com

 

TOP 15 FREE THROWS LEADERS

(playing a minimum of 14 games)

(more than 3 attempts/game and ranked by percentage)

 

Player School Gms Made Att Pct

 

Aaron Watts McCreary Central 14 68 76 89.5

Jordan McElwain Muhlenberg North 16 48 55 87.3

Nick Fudge Adair County 25 149 173 86.1

Jack Heyburn Kentucky Country Day 23 107 125 85.6

Jonathan King Trigg County 21 112 132 84.8

Zack Irvine Burgin 15 39 46 84.8

Chase Cox Taylor County 22 149 177 84.2

Kyle King Deming 15 70 84 83.3

Zak Metz Bath County 17 87 105 82.9

Joe Gabbard Muhlenberg North 20 53 64 82.8

Will Yager Carroll County 17 64 78 82.1

Bennett Skaggs Grayson County 18 90 110 81.8

Jo Whitaker Johnson Central 21 71 87 81.6

Aaron Cosby Jeffersontown 15 62 76 81.6

Dj Wilson Clay County 21 60 74 81.1

 

 

 

TOP 15 FREE THROW LEADERS

(playing a minimum of 14 games)

(ranked by percentage)

 

School Gms Made Att Pct

 

McCreary Central 14 179 240 74.6

Adair County 25 420 574 73.2

Russell County 23 353 482 73.2

Elliott County 23 382 529 72.2

Muhlenberg North 20 273 382 71.5

Kentucky Country Day 23 244 344 70.9

Grayson County 18 269 380 70.8

Bath County 17 313 444 70.5

Carroll County 17 225 320 70.3

Grant County 16 153 218 70.2

Fleming County 14 164 235 69.8

Wayne County 24 282 406 69.5

Ashland Blazer 22 307 442 69.5

Lex. Christian 20 242 349 69.3

Wolfe County 15 194 281 69.0