Free throw gurus…
Posted by hoopsknowitall on July 6, 2008
Up next is minutes per free throws made. While obviously inside men have the advantage here, the forwards and centers tend not to shoot as well from the free throw stripe as the guards do, and so there’s always a chance the more aggressive guards will show up in the lists.
MINUTES PER FREE THROW MADE
This number should be as small as possible for effective free throw shooters, especially forwards. For guards, the number is only okay to be small if the player can hit their free throws and get into the lane without turning the ball over.
1. A.J. Ogilvy, Vanderbilt (5.1) – It’s rare to find a reliable big man who shoots 76.9% from the stripe, but Ogilvy once again shows his level-headed approach to the game by leading his second category thus far. Leading the SEC in this category as a freshman is very impressive.
2. Nick Calathes, Florida (8.2) – And yet another fabulous freshman leading the category. Calathes not only shot 72.4% from the free throw line and got to the line 199 times, he led the Gators in scoring and had a better than 2/1 assist to turnover ratio, proving his excellent decision-making.
3. Tasmin Mitchell, LSU (8.3) – This is a bit of an outlier, considering Mitchell only saw 3 games. However, he played 22 minutes per game in those three games, and hit 8 out of his 10 free throw attempts.
4. Tyler Smith, Tennessee (9.0) – The ever-dynamic and talented Smith was a force inside for the Vols this season, including at the stripe, where he hit 70.6% of his attempts.
5. Alonzo Gee, Alabama (9.4) – This is a case of Gee’s affinity to avoid an organized offense and instead charge the lane, as Gee only shot 67.9% from the free throw line but got there 156 times in 994 minutes.
5. Jodie Meeks, Kentucky (9.4) – Another way in which Meeks shows his very high potential is at the charity stripe, where he shot 79.4% and got there a lot for a guard without turning the ball over much.
7. Joe Duffy, Vanderbilt (9.5) – Another skewed stat, as Duffy only saw 19 minutes and hit both of his two attempted free throws.
7. Zach Graham, Ole Miss (9.5) – Much like Gee, Graham has a tendency to drive the ball too often, turn the ball over too much, and only hits 66.2% of his free throws.
9. Patrick Patterson, Kentucky (10.3) – Patterson is again much like Ogilvy, just less so. He’s insanely talented in the paint and gets to the stripe effectively, where he hits a solid 73.1%.
10. J.P. Prince, Tennessee (10.4) – And yet another overly aggressive guard, as Prince shoots a miserable 55.7% from the free throw line and turned the ball over at a very high rate.
I’m somewhat surprised at the number of guards (5) in this list, and three of them shouldn’t be shooting as many as they are.
Next up will be minutes per free throw attempted.
