FREE THROW ISSUES

[The Sultan]

Hate to break it to you, but you're going to have to do the math again. Probably next week.

[Scoop Snoop]

MU is 245th in ft%.  Houston is 296th.   Separated by less than a percent.  Somehow in the sweet 16.

That's awful. Both teams should forfeit their next game.

[tower912]

Hate to break it to you, but you're going to have to do the math again. Probably next week.

Later today.  Using larger font and smaller words.

[Dr. Blackheart]

To add, eFg% is a 90 correlate to MU's offensive efficiency. FTR is a 6. 

[Pakuni]

Free throws matta, but not that much.

https://thecommutesports.com/2020/03/11/free-throw-importance/

[MarquetteDano]

Given that we don't get to the line that much (last I looked we were one of the worst in the country in getting to the line),  the FT%  means even less.

I would say the real issue is we don't even get to the line.  If we did,  the FT% would burn us more.  Let's GET to the line more and then we could complain about our percentages.

[Newsdreams]

But if Buzz's team makes 1 of their 16 free throws they missed in regulation, they advance to the Sweet 16.   Analytics aside, seems like FT's matta...

They actually scored 8 more points on Fts than Houston

[Herman Cain]

PORKY HATES TO KEEP HARPING ON THIS BUT...........

VS WKY
8-15
50%

VS COL
4-8
50%

THIS IS A PROBLEM!   WHAT ARE THEY DOING ABOUT IT???????????    Yes Jop was ice when it counted today.  Fair enough, but they have to get this sorted moving forward.

P'sB:
The off season is the time skills improvement takes place.

During the course of season not much can be done ,other then relax and stick as closely as possible to a consistent shooting form.

[Scoop Snoop]

Hate to break it to you, but you're going to have to do the math again. Probably next week.

You lie! You love to break it to him.

[WhiteTrash]

They actually scored 8 more points on Fts than Houston

The lesson is - foul the heck out of A&M.

[tower912]

Houston did.  4 players fouled out.

[WhiteTrash]

Houston did.  4 players fouled out.

Houston won. Master Class in how to play A&M.

[MU82]

C'mon guys, it's not that hard to understand statistically. Free throw percentage is just not a primary influence on a basketball team's performance. Don't you have the humility to defer to high level coaches across the game, to understand that they aren't prioritizing it for a reason? Shaka isn't going to waste a precious two hours of practice time in March on free throw shooting. There are 1,000 better uses of that time.

You have these opinions because it agitates you emotionally to see missed free throws. You feel like it should be easy. You're not right about that. You're not the ones out there. And you're certainly not the ones coaching. Thank God for that.

This describes my buddies perfectly. I'm worn out explaining it to them. I need to show them this thread.

[Scoop Snoop]

This describes my buddies perfectly. I'm worn out explaining it to them. I need to show them this thread.

The last paragraph of KOLEk's post is spot on. The only thing I will add is that the contrast between the fast pace of shooting and running up and down the court vs. the screeching halt and slow shooting of FT's psychologically makes FT's seem to be much more important than they are when the game is viewed as a whole. If the game hinges on last minute FT's, some fans can understand only what is right in front of them  , and of course all they focus even more on the late FT's after the game is over.

Edit: KOLEk's last line-"Thank God for that." is perfect. 

[The Sultan]

I also think a lot of fans have Viper's mind-set. That because it is unguarded, an 80% rate is what should be expected. But hitting FTs is way harder than people think.

[CTWarrior]

Sigh I see we have to do the math again.

Marquette has shot 70.7% from the FT line.  Thats good for 245th in the country.

If they increased their FT% by 5% to 75.7% they would be top 45 in the country for FT%. Hopefully we can agree that top 45 out of 362 is aacceptable.

That increase of 5% would mean we would have made between 27 and 28 (27.621 to be exact) more FTs over the course of the season.

We've played 36 games, so divide that by 36 and you get .767 extra points a game.

You're complaining about leaving less than a point a game on the table.

In the micro, FTs matter. Joplins FTs were huge in that moment.  But over the course of a game, they matter very little compared to other factors. Over the course of a season,  they mean nothing.

I know in my brain that the above is true, but missed FTs drive me crazy more than most things in a basketball game.  And knowing you are right doesn't change that.  I had little faith in Jop making the first of two, let alone both.  Those FTs meant a whole hell of a lot, and he buried them and was clutch as could be.

[Viper]

Buzz's team missed 16 free throws in a game that went to OT, but free throws don't matter....

smack that upside TAMU's metrics.

[The Sultan]

smack that upside TAMU's metrics.

It's not "metrics"... it's basic math.  Not really hard to understand either.

[Viper]

But if Buzz's team makes 1 of their 16 free throws they missed in regulation, they advance to the Sweet 16.   Analytics aside, seems like FT's matta...

on point PointWarrior...but the crew here will argue that we are whacked. So...A&M needed one more 2-ball rather than a FREE throw.

[The Sultan]

on point PointWarrior...but the crew here will argue that we are whacked. So...A&M needed one more 2-ball rather than a FREE throw.

LOL...you realize that free throws aren't free points right?

Why you continue to show your ignorance by not understanding this is astounding to me.

[tower912]

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/stat/free-throw-pct

A complete list of team free throw shooting %.   MU is 245th.   Houston 296.


https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2020-10-22/best-free-throw-shooters-mens-college-basketball-history

Article from 2020 saying the cumulative free throw percentage is 70.8.

MU misses one free throw out of 100 more than average.   


This one matters more.
https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/stat/effective-field-goal-pct

[Its DJOver]

Man it sure is good to see that no matter what level of success the program has, we can have the same arguments year in and year out.  I can't wait for the "who is a Blue Blood" argument.  I expect it to start about 20 minutes after the final buzzer in Phoenix.

[Jay Bee]

The lesson is - foul the heck out of A&M.

No, it's not. A&M shot 64.4% from the line that game, and 70.7% for the year (same as us). That is ELITE offense.

We score under 1.13 ppp. More than happy to live at the line.

Remember, "bad" FT% is ELITE offense.

[FairWeatherEagle]

In the micro, FTs matter.

This is the thing. So when Oso goes to the line at the end of a game, not worried so much. He seems to be clutch at the line despite his 60+% season. (Now that I said that, l bet someone zaps me with a stat that shows he's not). In any case, FREE THROWS MATTER. I think the micro is what we're talking about. I feel like MU has no hack-a-shacks on our team. But it's certainly possible a missed FT could cost or make MU a national 🏆.  Wouldn't that be a moment!

I was a Michigan fan when Remuel Robinson hit clutch FTs in 89 to win it. Seton Hall had a player on a mission ...but UM pulled it out

[WhiteTrash]

I think what gets to people on FTs is that we can all see great defenses causing low FG% but the FT% has nothing to due with the opponent. I do agree unless you are in the fringe upper or lower FT%, they are not as impactful as they feel. Obviously PFs can greatly impact the outcome but not the resulting FTs so much.