Jan 17, 2015 7 min read

The landscape of organized basketball continues to evolve. From nationally televised high school games to the use of technology in coaching and game preparation, there is no shortage of change in a game that began as an activity to keep kids preoccupied on a rainy day.

The one thing that has remained constant in basketball is free-throw shooting. The 15-foot, one-point shot awarded after a foul is, well, free. Yet, players at every level of competition are not taking advantage.

NCAA Division I men’s teams shoot an average of 69 percent at the line and NBA players make 73 percent of free throws. Though the game adopted an emphasis on a physical brand of basketball, it is making one-and-ones or capitalizing on a double-bonus that often wins games.

In the University of Kentucky’s national championship loss to Connecticut last year, the Wildcats made only 13 of 24 free throws. The Huskies, on the other hand, were 10-for-10 to set an NCAA record for free-throw percentage in the tournament and secure a six-point victory.

Whether it is a lack of concentration or attention to detail, basketball players have gotten worse at making free throws at a historic pace.

The Observer-Reporter has tracked free-throw shooting totals this season for area high school teams. In games reported to the O-R, boys teams are making 57 percent of their free throws and girls teams are shooting 53.7 percent.

Washington High School boys coach Ron Faust said he has seen a steady decline in the two easiest shots in basketball: free throws and layups.

“Overall, there has been a regression and I’m not really sure why, because everyone seems to be more interested in shooting the three-pointer, so you would think with that kind of practice and emphasis on longer-range shooting that the free throw would be easy,” Faust said. “It just doesn’t work out that way.”

The importance of the free throw has been magnified in high school basketball this season with the adoption of a new hand-checking rule. A defender is assesed a foul when he or she places a hand on a dribbler who is moving toward the basket. As a result, officials are busy. More fouls are being called and more free throws are being missed.

In a Section 4-AA girls game last Monday, Carmichaels and Waynesburg combined for 82 free throws, making 41. There were 59 fouls called. Despite prevailing 46-34, the Mikes did not take advantage, going 18 of 40 at the free-throw line.

“I’ve felt it’s always been a priority in basketball. I try to simplify it with my kids by telling them they have to make their free throws and layups,” Carmichaels girls coach Jim Lane said. “It’s a big part of the game.”

When the PIAA announced it would emphasize hand-checking, local coaches took notice. McGuffey girls coach Amanda Burchett felt games could turn into free-throw shooting contests. She began implementing them in every practice, sandwiching them between other various drills. The number of misses determines how many sprints a player has to run.

The Highlanders have become one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the area, making 77 percent of their attempts. McGuffey made 22 of 29 in a pivotal section victory over Trinity last Monday.

“With the new rules, we have focused a lot of our energy to adjust our game to those changes, and I think we’ve done a good job doing that,” Burchett said. “Our players are great at them and there’s a reason for that.”

Perhaps nobody knows the importance of free throws more than Ringgold boys coach Phil Pergola, who guided the Rams to the PIAA title in 1995. In the 1994 state quarterfinals, the Rams went 10-for-24 at the line and lost, 56-54, to Penn Hills, despite leading by 14 points early in the fourth quarter.

Teaching high school players proper technique and concentration is a challenge. When multiple players gather at a hoop to practice the shots, socializing often negates the practice. Minds wander and bad habits are formed. Gym time also is limited these days, so having players stay after to practice is not always an option.

“I don’t know why it’s gone down because the three-point shooting isn’t that bad,” Pergola said of the free-throw percentages. “It has to be a lack of concentration. If you get more than three kids at a basket, they start talking too much and don’t concentrate on what they’re doing. They aren’t used to concentrating.”

Coaches spent countless hours and resources studying possible causes of and solutions to poor free-throw shooting, but one theory seems to contradict the next. Some results point to visualization, others stress technique.

NBA players made 72.8 percent of their free throws during the 1998-99 season. That was the lowest percentage since 1957-58, when players shot 66.4 percent. Two years later, the Dallas Mavericks took a proactive approach by hiring Gary Boren, the only free-throw shooting coach in the NBA. Since then, Dallas led the NBA in free-throw percentage 13 times. It is not concentration that Boren stresses, but technique and mechanics. He films players at multiple angles and looks for 39 different mechanical necessities.

High school basketball programs do not possess those resources, but that does not mean they aren’t searching for answers. Faust incorporates game scenarios in the Prexies’ free throw drills to enhance concentration, and he tracks the results. Success in practice, however, has rarely translated to games.

“The opportunities are there, but no one seems to be taking advantage of it,” Faust said.

Pergola agreed.

“I hear from a lot of coaches that they are not good free-throw shooting teams,” Pergola said. “With all the hand checking fouls now, it would be great to be a good free-throw shooting team. You’d get a lot of extra points.”

Many teams are missing out on those points.

Washington’s boys team opened the season by making only nine of 32 free throws against Trinity. The Waynesburg boys missed 21 free throws in a game against West Greene, and the Washington girls missed 21 foul shots in a seven-point loss to University of Morgantown, W.Va.

Even college players are struggling at the free-throw line. Duquesne’s Dominique McKoy was 1-for-10 at the free-throw line Wednesday in the Dukes’ nine-point loss at St. Louis. Duquesne is the second-worst free-throw shooting team among the 351 Division I squads, making only 59 percent.

California High School girls coach Chris Minerd adopted a strategy similar to Burchett. Running sprints can be the cost of missing a foul shot and the Trojans simluate fourth-quarter situations, but the results are a work in progress.

Despite its 15-1 record, California is shooting just 55 percent from the line. In Cal’s WPIAL semifinal loss to Serra Catholic last season, the Eagles made 15 of 18 free throws, while Cal made less than 50 percent.

“I’ve always stressed routine, routine, routine. If you take three dribbles, you take three dribbles every time. Some kids, especially late in games, the referee gives them the ball and they just want to hurry up and shoot it,” Minerd said.

“Look how many points we’re leaving out on the floor by not making free throws.”

They aren’t the only ones.