Wakeup call for Buzz?

[ecompt]

If anything good comes out of this mess, it's:
Buzz's theory on not practicing FTs is crapola. This team should be shooting 200 FTs every day. All it means is out NCAA life. We could very well see our season end because we cannot shoot a free throw.
Buzz needs to do more coaching and less watching. His non-use of timeouts is beyond comical.

[detroitwarrior]

With you on the free shows. I don't have a problem yet with his use of timeouts. The bigger problem for me was the diagrammed play for Acker to shoot the 3 coming out of a timeout at the end of the game. Acker is a 24 % free thow shooter who hasn't hit a shot in the last several games.
I like DJ but if Buzz is going to comment on pitiful play by the likes of Butler,Fulce,Otule,Hazel and Burke then a public rebuke or reminder to DJ that his game is taking it to the rack and not shooting threes ( going 1 for 9 does not lose the team game but does not help the team win) is in order.

[MR.HAYWARD]

If anything good comes out of this mess, it's:
Buzz's theory on not practicing FTs is crapola. This team should be shooting 200 FTs every day. All it means is out NCAA life. We could very well see our season end because we cannot shoot a free throw.
Buzz needs to do more coaching and less watching. His non-use of timeouts is beyond comical.

i absolutely disagree with this entire statement. 

Additonally, for clarification Buzz has never said they do not practice free throws.  The ncaa regulates the # of hours the teams can be together therefore that time is very precious, they do not have 13 guys standing around shooting ft's during practice that is the players resposibilty to do on their own time with a team mate or an assitant coach..

People need to realize that Butler, hayward, and Jerel are all very very good FT shooters , look at their percentages, they simply collectively had a terrible night, blame goes to the players not the coach on that one

[g0lden3agle]

People need to realize that Butler, hayward, and Jerel are all very very good FT shooters , look at their percentages, they simply collectively had a terrible night, blame goes to the players not the coach on that one

Don't forget Wes.  Wes is usually huge in terms of FT's for us.  He doesn't get to the line, we don't get a boost in %.  His lack of attempts is just as important as all the misses

[ecompt]

Mr. Hayward, Buzz has said the team does not practice free throws. It has been repeated on TV at least 10 times since he made the statement.

[g0lden3agle]

Mr. Hayward, Buzz has said the team does not practice free throws. It has been repeated on TV at least 10 times since he made the statement.

Did you read his whole post? Unless Mr. Harward is completely making up his post, Buzz is accounting for making the players practice FT's.  What's preventing them from taking another 30 mins of their own time to practice them?

[MR.HAYWARD]

so since it has been reported 10x on tv makes it correct.  This has been blown way out of porportion,  even if it were true then we should keep doing it becuase rel, wes, and hayward are really good ft shooters and Burke sure has completely changed his form and become a decent ft shooter for aguy who doesnt practice

[reinko]

i absolutely disagree with this entire statement. 

Additonally, for clarification Buzz has never said they do not practice free throws.  The ncaa regulates the # of hours the teams can be together therefore that time is very precious, they do not have 13 guys standing around shooting ft's during practice that is the players resposibilty to do on their own time with a team mate or an assitant coach..

People need to realize that Butler, hayward, and Jerel are all very very good FT shooters , look at their percentages, they simply collectively had a terrible night, blame goes to the players not the coach on that one

+1

[ecompt]

OK, fine, don't practice free throws. Buzz has to MAKE them shoot a minimum of 100 free throws every practice. To say Burke is decent at 52% is ludicrous.

[Doris Burkes Thong]

If Tom Crean was coaching this team tonight we win. Bottom line.

[mwbauer7]

If Tom Crean was coaching this team tonight we win. Bottom line.

Teal?

[bilsu]

It was one of those games that happens to every team where the shots were not falling. Free throws, three point shots, etc. That is going to happen. I would not criticize Buzz for the free throw shooting. I would not criticize Buzz for Aker's three. Aker has not been hitting shots lately, but has hit threes in the past when we needed them. If you want to criticize Buzz it should be for the failure to utilize Otule and Hazel. It has been at least three games since Hazel played. Otule's season is a waste. Sure we won some games by going small, but in the remainder of the season when we are facing bigger teams we are going to start looking like Georgetown and Notre Dame. Our record is going to get ugly fast. Don't get me wrong, I really like Buzz and in some ways one game at a time is a good idea. However, what a coach really needs to do is develop the team for March. That is what Pitino, Izzo and the other successful tournament coaches are good at. Crean is not good at that as his teams generally performed poorly in March. Buzz is young enough to learn his lesson this year and adapt in future years, but it ia ashame that the big three will go sown in flames this year, because Burke is all we have for the center position.

[timinatorx3]

If Tom Crean was coaching this team tonight we win. Bottom line.

Oh, absolutely.

Ha.

[timinatorx3]

It was one of those games that happens to every team where the shots were not falling. Free throws, three point shots, etc. That is going to happen. I would not criticize Buzz for the free throw shooting. I would not criticize Buzz for Aker's three. Aker has not been hitting shots lately, but has hit threes in the past when we needed them. If you want to criticize Buzz it should be for the failure to utilize Otule and Hazel. It has been at least three games since Hazel played. Otule's season is a waste. Sure we won some games by going small, but in the remainder of the season when we are facing bigger teams we are going to start looking like Georgetown and Notre Dame. Our record is going to get ugly fast. Don't get me wrong, I really like Buzz and in some ways one game at a time is a good idea. However, what a coach really needs to do is develop the team for March. That is what Pitino, Izzo and the other successful tournament coaches are good at. Crean is not good at that as his teams generally performed poorly in March. Buzz is young enough to learn his lesson this year and adapt in future years, but it ia ashame that the big three will go sown in flames this year, because Burke is all we have for the center position.

Remember MO in the BE tourney last year? Was it against ND? Huge. Get em next time.

[bradforster]

It's one loss people!  Are you all insane?  Earlier this week I posted the potential pitfalls this matchup presented to the team.  Almost every overzealous MU fan chalked this up as a gimme and laughed me right out of the blogosphere.  The team had a Dayton like relapse and still had two shots, one from point blank range, to win the game.  It simply didn't pan out tonight.  Give credit to South Florida and be overjoyed MU is 9-1 in the conference.  The Eagles will bounce back and get a game they aren's supposed to win.  Buzz Williams has done an incredible job and he did NOT lose this game.  

[ecompt]

agreed, bilsu. This is a six-man team now, with Butler being No. 6. Acker and Cubillan do absolutely nothing offensively and the injuries to Fulce and Otule have rendered them useless. As for Hazel, who knows?
Drawing up a crunch-time play for Acker, who has been atrocious from outside the arc lately, looks bad in hindsight. But who's to say anyone else would have hit that shot? If DJ takes it, he and Buzz both get ripped.

[Tampa Warrior]

If Tom Crean was coaching this team tonight we win. Bottom line.

Uh, OK. He did draw up Jerel's last-second basket to beat the Bulls 2 years ago. 

But maybe we'd be at 6-3 in the league.

While there will always be things to question. I'll take Buzz' offense and in-game coaching vs. TCs from the sample I have to go on at this point...including tonight.

[Daniel]

I for one do not understand the time out usage.  It generally is prudent to stop a run by taking a time out, making some adjustments, etc.  There are many times I find myself screaming TO but it doesn't happen.  Bob Knight was the same way, not calling time outs.  I think Al McGuire was the master at when to call a time out.

Maybe I'm wrong and Buzz's stragety on TOs is right - what do I know.  But most coaches would use them more frequently then we do.  Maybe instead of down  10, we're down 6 in the first half - who knows.

[Pakuni]

I'm sorry, but this free throw business is flat-out ridiculous.
For starters, all the free-throw shooting practice in the world isn't going to make a bad shooter a good one (see: Shaq).

Beyond that, though, this is a much better than average free-throw shooting team, ranking 5th out of 16 Big East teams. They rank 79th in the nation in that category - in the top 25 percent of all teams.
We're not talking about a Memphis team that shot 59 percent last year. We're talking about a team that's shooting better than 71 percent overall and 72.4 percent in conference play. Last night was a terrible night from the line, but to claim that it was anything but the exception to the rule is a massive overreaction.

Of course, overreaction is par for the course whenever this team loses.  

[NavinRJohnson]

Maybe instead of down  10, we're down 6 in the first half - who knows.

Who knows is right. This teams overall philosophy is to attack from the opening tip on - whether on offense or defense. A relentless approach that just doesn't allow the opponent a moment to breath, and eventually they secumb to the pressure. You take a timeout, and you are allowing them that chance to breath, so again who know? Maybe instead of down 10, we're down 16 in the first half.

Generally speaking, with our style, the more that clock continues to run, the better off we will be. That's teh way I see it anyway.

[bamamarquettefan]

Give me a break on the free throws.  Of course there are going to be a couple of games where free throws don't fall, but it would have taken you about 2 minutes to check the stats before making this initial post.

- Marquette's 70.8% free throw mark is just better than 2008 (70.5%) and much better than 2007 (67.0%), so trying to blame that on Buzz in complete bull.

- Of the top 9 teams in the Big East, only Villanova and Marquette are shooting over 70%

- MU is more than 2% above the national average of 68.6%

We are above average at the line - not elite - but above average - and we are great in getting to the line.  There will always be a few very cold games, but stop making ridiculous charges that are completely contradicted by even a quick glance at seasonal statistics.

[Big Papi]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!  Where were your posts when we salted away games at the free throw line.  When we shot 30-38, 10-12 and 24-27.  

No you come on this board blasting the lack of free throw practice after we have one bad free throw shooting game that cost us a game.  Yes, this team lost against South Florida because of the bad free throw shooting, no doubt about it but your post ragging this team over the lack of free throw practice is disgusting.  We have won more games because of our good free throw shooting than lost with bad ones.  We have one horrible free throw shooter on this team and the rest are pretty darn good.  More free throw practice time for the majority of the team will not provide a substantial return in the time invested and well DJ could probably spend 24/7 and still not get better.  (Anyways, I am quite sure DJ is not practicing free throws) Buzz should be applauded for his desicion in this matter.  It has won us 20 games and only lost us 3.

[Big Papi]

Who knows is right. This teams overall philosophy is to attack from the opening tip on - whether on offense or defense. A relentless approach that just doesn't allow the opponent a moment to breath, and eventually they secumb to the pressure. You take a timeout, and you are allowing them that chance to breath, so again who know? Maybe instead of down 10, we're down 16 in the first half.

Generally speaking, with our style, the more that clock continues to run, the better off we will be. That's teh way I see it anyway.

I might be mistaken but we weren't able to score over an extended period of time.  A period of time where there was at least one media timeout, if not two.  I don't know what an additional timeout would have done at that point in time.

[avid1010]

OK, fine, don't practice free throws. Buzz has to MAKE them shoot a minimum of 100 free throws every practice. To say Burke is decent at 52% is ludicrous.

First you say they need to shoot 200 a day, then 100???  How many do they shoot each day?  I have no clue (either do you), but I bet it's a lot closer to 200 then it is ZERO!  Should Wes practice his throws as much as DJ?  It comical...they've had two different head coaches and plenty of different assistant coaches and they always are very average from the line.  What was your plan when they were shooting poor under TC...practice 1,000 every day??

[ErickJD08]

I could have predicted this crap.  FTs.... REALLY?  I forget who is was (maybe ND) but we sunk about 9 of 10 (or something close to that) down the final stretch to put the game away.  It was a bad shooting day.

Look, this lose hurts bad.  Not only because its USF but because we missed 2 layups to win the game.  We could have easily (from that point) stole that game away.  We had a bad game.  That was going to happen.  So put yourself in one of these buckets...

If your starting to question if we win another game this season, just jump off the building and get it over with.  You life must be miserable if you that pessimistic. 

If you are upset because we lost a winnable game and you think our record is 9-6 (because you think there is a good chance we go 0-5 in the last 5 games), I understand the frustration.  But its not the end of the world.  There is a chance that a 6 loss team can get that bye. 

If you're over it, your in my boat.  I have faith in our boys.  They are mature and I think they will get back on track.  We are 9-1.  We have a bunch of winnable games ahead of us.  Quite frankly, if we want a high seed, we need to win 3 of 5 in the final stretch.  If you follow basketball, you know big wins have more impact than bad losses. 

GO MU

[ecompt]

avid, if you think DJ shoots 200 FTs a day you're delusional. There is no way in hell anyone older than 10 years old could shoot 200 FTs a day and be that bad.  And DJ hasn't always been average from the line..he has regressed, and badly.  Buzz says he spends ZERO time on free throws, that's it up to the players.

[avid1010]

That's an off-based assumption in my opinion.  Neither you or I have any clue as to how many free throws DJ shoots on a daily basis.  To say that no one who practices free throws to the tune of 200 a day could shoot as bad as James simply isn't true.

That being said.  Please tell me what you would like Buzz to take out of his practice schedule (his time to coach his players) in order for him to walk around and watch players shoot free throws.  I think I'd rather have Buzz coaching and players shooting free throws by themselves than waisting valuable practice time on something that can and is done during not contact times.

[ecompt]

Coaches having players shoot free throws has been part of every college and pro practice I ever covered in my years of covering basketball. Free throws are all confidence and repetition, and that's why coaches (or at least the ones I covered, which was 25 years ago) emphasized them.

[Pakuni]

Coaches having players shoot free throws has been part of every college and pro practice I ever covered in my years of covering basketball. Free throws are all confidence and repetition, and that's why coaches (or at least the ones I covered, which was 25 years ago) emphasized them.

The simple fact is this: despite the hue and cry from some about the lack of free throws during practice, there is no discernible difference in free throw shooting for this team as a whole between this season - in which free throws apparently are not a regular practice activity - and seasons in which it presumably was.
Currently they're shooting 70.8 percent from the line.
Last year they shot 70.6 percent. The year before that they shot 66.9 percent.
It would seem that the lack of free throws during practice has had no negative impact on the team's shooting.

I suppose you could - and perhaps have - argued that DJ has regressed because of the lack of free throws during practice. Could be. I can't prove that he hasn't. Then again, the same logic would lead us to deduce that Jerel McNeal (70.2 to 73.6), Wesley Matthews (79.0 to 83.4) and Lazar Hayward (77.3 to 80.6) all are better free-throw shooters because they don't shoot free throws in practice. Seems like a silly argument, but that's the logic at work.

The biggest fault I have with your argument, though, is that it assume that if players aren't practicing free throws during practice sessions, then they aren't being practiced at all. It seems that's a massive, and possible false, assumption. Guys can shoot free throws during warmups. They can shoot free throws during pre-game shootarounds. They can shoot free throws before practice. They can do it after practice. They can head to the gym in their spare time to toss up 100 shots.

[MUWarrior06]

The simple fact is this: despite the hue and cry from some about the lack of free throws during practice, there is no discernible difference in free throw shooting for this team as a whole between this season - in which free throws apparently are not a regular practice activity - and seasons in which it presumably was.
Currently they're shooting 70.8 percent from the line.
Last year they shot 70.6 percent. The year before that they shot 66.9 percent.
It would seem that the lack of free throws during practice has had no negative impact on the team's shooting.

I suppose you could - and perhaps have - argued that DJ has regressed because of the lack of free throws during practice. Could be. I can't prove that he hasn't. Then again, the same logic would lead us to deduce that Jerel McNeal (70.2 to 73.6), Wesley Matthews (79.0 to 83.4) and Lazar Hayward (77.3 to 80.6) all are better free-throw shooters because they don't shoot free throws in practice. Seems like a silly argument, but that's the logic at work.

The biggest fault I have with your argument, though, is that it assume that if players aren't practicing free throws during practice sessions, then they aren't being practiced at all. It seems that's a massive, and possible false, assumption. Guys can shoot free throws during warmups. They can shoot free throws during pre-game shootarounds. They can shoot free throws before practice. They can do it after practice. They can head to the gym in their spare time to toss up 100 shots.

+1,000,000,000,000,000

Wasn't it 2 weeks ago we're all praising Jerel for spending more time in the gym since he has only 1 class to worry about? Wouldn't you say probably the entire team has a light class schedule in the spring? So wouldn't you think they'd spend lots of time in the gym practicing by themselves? They aren't going to the Rec Center and playing in pick up games, they're working on what they need to. I am sure they work on FT. To assume because Buzz doesn't spend some of his precious hours on FT that the entire team doesn't practice themselves is completely ridiculous. In fact, if they didn't practice by themselves then this whole "senior leadership" thing would have to be questioned. I would think these seniors would set an example if not make the younger guys shoot free throws and practice on other weak parts of their game.

rocky's edit: debate with people all you want, but save the name calling for kids under 6.

[ecompt]

that moron, MUWarriors, has covered more sporting events for major newspapers in his life than you have watched.

[Pakuni]

+1,000,000,000,000,000

Well said. Ecompt is clearly a moron.

Thanks for the +1,000,000,000,000,000, but ecompt is most definitely not a moron. I think he's wrong on this particular point, but he knows his stuff.

[MUWarrior06]

Thanks for the +1,000,000,000,000,000, but ecompt is most definitely not a moron. I think he's wrong on this particular point, but he knows his stuff.

It's one thing to cover a substantial number of sporting events (games), but we're talking about practice here, not the game. [/iverson]

Just because I have taken many many craps my entire life does not make me an expert as to how they make the toilet. Nor does watching a number of games and reporting on them make anyone else an expert on how to run practices.

I'm actually kind of surprised that someone with such credentials would fail to see the reality in this. Basketball players have so much time on their hands to commit to the gym. In practice they have to work on so many other things- game plan, plays, defenses for a certain offense, etc. To spend what, 50 minutes (100 free throws, 30 seconds a free throw) per practice to shoot free throws is a huge waste of time. That's up to the players to organize and show their own commitment to excellence by committing extra time in the gym.

You think Jerel McNeal got that sweet shot from practice with TC and Buzz? No. He got it from hours and hours in the gym.

For someone who knows their stuff and has covered so many sport events, you would think they would be familiar with the concept of practice

[Big Papi]

Thanks for the +1,000,000,000,000,000, but ecompt is most definitely not a moron. I think he's wrong on this particular point, but he knows his stuff.

Ecompt is definitely not a moron but the free throw shooting comment is a dumb statement to make especially for someone who has suppossedly covered more sporting events, practices and games than everyone at MUScoop combined.  I could really understand the comment if DJ had the best free throw percentage on the team  at 45% but not for a team that is overall fairly good.

BTW, in Big East games, Hayward and Matthews are in the top 10 FT% and Butler and McNeal are in the top 32 of all Big East players.  Oh and if you go through the top 35 free throw shooters, the only other team with 4 players in the top 35 is UConn.  I believe this stats take into account yesterdays games as it has Hayward having played 23 games.

Big East Leaders - Free Throw Percentage
Rank Value Player Yr Pos Ht Wt Games Team
1 89.2 Alex Ruoff Sr G 6-6 220 9 West Virginia
2 88.0 Kyle McAlarney Sr G 6-0 195 10 Notre Dame
3 87.9 Sharaud Curry Jr G 5-10 170 10 Providence
4 86.4 Scottie Reynolds Jr G 6-2 190 9 Villanova
5 85.5 Luke Harangody Jr F 6-8 255 10 Notre Dame
6 85.3 Lazar Hayward Jr F 6-6 225 10 Marquette
7 83.9 Mike Williams Jr F 6-7 240 10 Cincinnati
8 83.3 Mike Rosario Fr G 6-3 180 10 Rutgers
9 82.3 Wesley Matthews Sr G 6-5 215 10 Marquette
10 81.29 Eric Devendorf Jr G 6-4 180 10 Syracuse
10 81.29 Eugene Harvey Jr G 6-0 165 9 Seton Hall
12 80.8 Deonta Vaughn Jr G 6-1 195 10 Cincinnati
13 80.6 Austin Freeman So G 6-4 230 10 Georgetown
14 78.9 Gregory Echenique Fr F 6-9 260 10 Rutgers
15 78.8 Jonny Flynn So G 6-0 185 10 Syracuse
16 78.6 D.J. Kennedy So G-F 6-6 210 10 St. John's
17 78.3 Brad Wanamaker So G 6-4 200 9 Pittsburgh
18 74.5 DaJuan Summers Jr F 6-8 236 10 Georgetown
19 74.4 Dar Tucker So F 6-5 215 9 DePaul
20 74.1 Paul Harris Jr F 6-4 230 9 Syracuse
20 74.1 Jeremy Hazell So G 6-5 185 9 Seton Hall
22 73.9 Weyinmi Efejuku Sr G 6-5 210 10 Providence
23 73.5 Samardo Samuels Fr F 6-9 260 9 Louisville
24 72.7 Jimmy Butler So G 6-6 215 10 Marquette
25 71.9 Chris Wright So G 6-1 201 10 Georgetown
26 71.4 Da'Sean Butler Jr F 6-7 225 9 West Virginia
27 71.2 Jeff Adrien Sr F 6-7 243 11 Connecticut
28 70.9 Jerome Dyson Jr G 6-4 190 11 Connecticut
29 70.6 Dominique Jones So G 6-4 210 10 South Florida
29 70.6 Corey Fisher So G 6-1 200 9 Villanova
31 70.5 Dante Cunningham Sr F 6-8 230 9 Villanova
32 70.4 Jerel McNeal Sr G 6-3 200 10 Marquette
33 69.69 A.J. Price Sr G 6-2 181 11 Connecticut
34 68.79 Kemba Walker Fr G 6-1 172 11 Connecticut
35 65.7 Paris Horne So G-F 6-3 185 10 St. John's


http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/stats/ft_pct?games=2&conf=big-east&season=2008-2009

[MR.HAYWARD]

I will say this I have been to dozens of college practices over the years and hundreds of HS practices.  My experience is apparenly different than ecompts.  I have seen teams shoot FT's before and after practices and occasionally during practices as part of drills and challenges to run etc.  But I have never seen a practice where a team took say 15 minutes and split up on the 6-8 hoops and shot FT's.  Have never seen it I am also associated with an AAU program that has put dozens of players in major D1 ball and have never seen them practice them.  We practice shooting all the time, use the gun machine, etc.  Now kids are practiceing them befoe and after practice all the time.  shooting thme to dictate suicides, etc.  But never has practice time been allocated to FT's in the hundreds of College, HS, or AAu practices that I have participated in or observed.  Not denying what ecompt has seen just saying my experiences do not reflect his. 

[ecompt]

I can't believe the controversy here. I express an opinion that perhaps Buzz should do what virtually every college coach does and I'm called a moron. I attended a few hundred of Al's practices at the Old Gym; while covering the Big East for the New York Daily News I witnessed probably 100 St. John's practices, as well as practices by UConn, Nova, BC, Syracuse and Pitt. I would say at about 90 percent of them free throws were given about 15 minutes. Am I an expert? Nope. I'm wrong as often as I am right, and a lot of you guys probably know a load more than I do. But can I ask one question: Why was Buzz's statement so newsworthy? When we equated free throws to riding bikes, why did anyone think it was something out of the ordinary?

[avid1010]

So you are saying it is essential that Buzz be present when players are shooting free throws?  I guess I'd rather have Buzz coaching offense, defense and his game plan for the next game with the limited amount of time he has with his players than walking around the gym as they shoot free throws.

Who knows what Buzz and staff have their players do outside of practice in relation to free throw shooting, but I'd argue that a man making the kind of money he makes and spending the kind of time he spends has better things to do than watch players shoot free throws. 

I've never heard a coach take credit for or the blame for poor free throw shooting...that's on the player.

[g0ldmember42]

coaches care about their players making free throws, but they also have to use the time with the whole team assembled wisely. it's up to the students to find the time to be practicing from the charity stripe..... a certain phenomenal shooter from 2002-2006 that currently plays for the Clippers used to shoot a ton of free throws late at night, whether in the old gym or the Al and Tommy certainly wasn't rebounding for him. This really wouldn't even be an issue if we had made 2 more free throws last night, so no need to harp on it now, IMHO.

[legacy]

People have been citing our rank in terms of free throw shooting and our team averages.  I think these numbers overstate our individual free throw proficiency, simply because we have a guard dominated offense.  A small fraction of our free throws are taken by bigs (i.e., Burke).  This compositional effect gives us an advantage over other teams, even if we had equal shooting percentages at every position.

That being said, I disagree with the argument in this post, and I do think Marquette is a fairly good free throw shooting team.

[ecompt]

avid: I guess you never spoke to Rollie Massimino, whose teams were annually among the best in FT shooting back in the 1980s, and how he stressed the importance of practicing FTs. You ignored my question: If Buzz's statement wasn't out of the ordinary, why was it newsworthy?
Look, at this point it doesn't matter. We don't know how many free throws DJ shoots, or if he shoots at all. All we know is that there will likely be an NCAA game when our season will be on the line, he's shooting a 1-and-1 with us up or down by one, and everyone on this board will be crapping his pants. I know I will.

[ecompt]

   Google Buzz Williams and free throws and here's the first thing that comes up.



Buzz Williams, Marquette’s head coach, has stated that he doesn’t make his squad practice free throws.

    “Do you practice riding your bike?” Williams asked. “Those kids have grown up playing ball their whole life. You step to the line and you make free throws, and your shot doesn’t change. Just like when you’re riding a bike, it doesn’t change no matter how long it’s been since you rode a bike.

    “But your mind needs to be right in order to make free throws … No, we don’t shoot free throws (in practice). Step to the line, shoot to make, be mentally tough enough to make them.”

That seems a little off.  Given that only two of their guys shoot over 80% — Wesley Matthews (82.5%) and Lazar Hayward (80.6%) — you’d think Williams would have them practice their free throws.
9.8 of their 30 free throw attempts per game are thrown up by people that shooting lower than 70% from the line.  Those six guys are shooting a combined 50% so if one of them are fouled during crunch time, it’s essentially a coin toss.

Repetition matters.  If I were Williams, I would allocate at least one segment of each practice to shooting free throws.

[NavinRJohnson]

   Google Buzz Williams and free throws and here's the first thing that comes up.



9.8 of their 30 free throw attempts per game are thrown up by people that shooting lower than 70% from the line.  Those six guys are shooting a combined 50% so if one of them are fouled during crunch time, it’s essentially a coin toss.

I'd be willing to bet you could say that about almost every team. But, even if that is not the case, lets looks who we are primarily talking about here...James, Burke, McNeal, and to a lesser extent Butler. McNeal is about 74% on the year...appreciably better than the last coule years, and essentially equal to host first year, so we can certainly throw him out right off the bat. In fact he would be counter to the argument that they need to spend time practicing. Same goes for Butler really who is 73% from the line.

That leave James and Burke. James has seen his percentage go down this season for sure, but he has been about 65% since he got here. He has had the same crappy fall away motion the entire time. To suggest that not practicing this year is the reason he doesn't make more is silly. Two coaching staffs have had 4 years to try to correct his form, and it hasn't happened. That being the case, shooting a couple hundred FT's in practice is liley to only produce the result of him missing half of those.

Finally Dwight Burke...Shooting 50% from the line as he did last year. Clearly no ill-effects from not practicing FT's. Do you really think spending time in practice will make a 70% shooter out of Dwight?

So, given all of the above...Buzz is absolutely right. Fact is, MU currently has its highest FT% as a team since 05-06 when Novak was here.

Someone please explain to me again, how spending valuable practice time on FT's would be worthwhile. If you think they are going to become appreciably better FT shooters, you might as well practice trying to make guys taller because you are likley to get the same results.

[AZWarrior]

I would expect that a low free throw percentage is analogous to a slice in golf or a poor first-serve percentage in tennis.  It's the result of poor form or a break-down in form.  The player needs coaching from a second party to observe the form, identify the breakdown and take steps to alter and improve the free-throw form (tennis serve /  golf swing).  This happens during "practice".  The player then works outside of practice to repeat the proper form and get the muscle-memory thing working to grove the newly learned, proper form.

So I think its a blend of "practice" activity and outside of practice activity.

[ecompt]

Moron? Simple? Usually I only get that kind of abuse at home. See ya.

[avid1010]

avid: I guess you never spoke to Rollie Massimino, whose teams were annually among the best in FT shooting back in the 1980s, and how he stressed the importance of practicing FTs. You ignored my question: If Buzz's statement wasn't out of the ordinary, why was it newsworthy?
Look, at this point it doesn't matter. We don't know how many free throws DJ shoots, or if he shoots at all. All we know is that there will likely be an NCAA game when our season will be on the line, he's shooting a 1-and-1 with us up or down by one, and everyone on this board will be crapping his pants. I know I will.

I surely don't approve of MU's FT shooting, but I didn't approve of it under TC either (with this group of players).  What I'm saying is FT shooting is on the players and not the coach.  Buzz's quote was newsworthy because he was asked of his plan to deal with their poor FT shooting and he answered the question.  He's never said he doesn't require his players to practice FT's during non-contact hours.  You stated you'd like to see every player shoot 200 FT's a practice...so your proposal is to have MU spend over a half hour of practice time shooting free throws each day???  I don't believe Rollie Massimino watched 30+ minutes of FT's a day.  If you want DJ to practice FT's during non-practice times I'd agree, but like you said, we have no clue if that's happening.  If we have a point guard with NBA aspirations who's struggling from the FT line, but doesn't have the brains to practice them in his spare time we have bigger problems than FT shooting!

[Daniel]

Like you said, if someone can't shoot free throws and doesn't practice incessantly on their own, there is a bigger problem.  If we get to the linbe more than otehr teams, the incentive is HIGH to drain them.  A couple of extra FTs would have come in pretty handy against USF.  And we will need as many as possible from this point forward.  So, I agree you can't take limited team time to practice FTs, but what collegiate athelete would not want to improve their game, contribute to the team's succeess and do that on their own time when they need to?

[mviale]

You know what this this thread has missed? Our players dont know the importance of the bounce pass! They should be doing 200-300 bounce pass drills followed by 200-300 free throws. 

[warrior_jr]

Check the box score: Jerel is the only person on the team who took more than 3 FT's and is responsible for about half of the missed FT's at 6-12  (team: 10-23).  Jerel is a 70% FT shooter, #32 in the Big East (thank you mufanatic), which means that you can chalk the FTs up to a bad night at the line for Jerel.

And can we put a lid on the hostility?  Its just a game.  Chill guys.

[avid1010]

Check the box score: Jerel is the only person on the team who took more than 3 FT's and is responsible for about half of the missed FT's at 6-12  (team: 10-23).  Jerel is a 70% FT shooter, #32 in the Big East (thank you mufanatic), which means that you can chalk the FTs up to a bad night at the line for Jerel.

And can we put a lid on the hostility?  Its just a game.  Chill guys.

You mean data was manipulated to push personal agendas?!?!

[bilsu]

2005-06 season
Loss at Pittsburg 5-12 41.7%
2006-07 season
Loss at home to Syracuse 6-15 40.0%
2007-08 season
Win at home IPFW 12-23 52.2%

Every year we have a bad free throw shooting game.

[Murffieus]

If Tom Crean was coaching this team tonight we win. Bottom line.

You forget back in 2003 with D Wade while leading CUSA going down to East Carolina and getting beat!

I think Crean was the coach.