Free throws are so important

This again proves my theory, FTs are so important. I don't care how you look in the game, but if you can get tons of FTs, you are AGGRESSIVE!!!

NBA insider:


For Lakers, free throws are the game plan
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Tuesday, December 16
Updated: December 16
12:39 PM ET


Everyone wanted an investigation into the so-called atrocity that occurred Nov. 19 at Madison Square Garden. You remember: The visiting Lakers shot 47 free throws to the Knicks' six in a 104-83 L.A. victory.

Well, the investigation has been filed, and the report released: The Lakers probably could have shot 50 free throws that day, while the Knicks probably could have been held to five.

As the numbers indicate, there is no better team in the NBA at getting to the free throw line than the Los Angeles Lakers, and there is no worse team in the NBA at getting to the free throw line than the New York Knicks.

On average, the Lakers get 33 free throw attempts per game, while the Knicks get only 17.8.

But what makes the disparity even worse is that the Lakers allow their opponents to get to the line only 24 times a game, while teams take 26.4 free throws per game against the Knicks. Do the math: The Lakers take nine more free throws a game than their opponents, while the Knicks take 8.4 less.

But before we start blaming the referees, let's look at some other stats.

In that notorious November game, the Knicks took 19 3-pointers. The Lakers took eight. On the other hand, Shaquille O'Neal, the Lakers's interior force, took 15 shots, while the Dikembe Mutombo, the Knicks' starting center, took three.

Also in that game, Allan Houston, the Knicks' leading scorer and franchise player, took 14 shots but didn't get close enough to the rim to grab even a single rebound. On the season, he is the only player in the NBA to average more than 20 points per game without having made more than 5 free throws per game.

So far, Houston has made 78 free throws this season. The next-lowest among top scorers is point guard Baron Davis, who has 85. On average, the 20-point per game players have made 116 free throws each.

Meanwhile, Shaq was the Lakers' leading scorer that game with 23 points, including 11 of 16 from the line. Karl Malone scored 17 that game, including 7 of 8 from the line. The two also combined for 20 rebounds.

On the season, O'Neal and Malone have taken 519 shots,none of them 3-pointers, while also grabbing 22 rebounds per game. The interior play has resulted in a free throw every 1.5 shots.

But that isn't anything new for these guys. For his career, Malone gets one free throw every 1.9 shots, while Shaq gets one every 1.7 shots. And those are ratios based on a combined 40,401 shots over 31 seasons.

Compare that to Houston's perimeter game of 85 3-pointers in 331 total shots and 2.2 rebounds per game resulting in a free throw every four shots.

Of course, comparing a power forward and a center to a small forward really isn't fair, but that's how the two teams are built. And 47 free throws to six doesn't really seem fair at first sight, but if it was ever going to happen, it was going to happen with these two teams.

Most prolific free-throw shooters
1. Los Angeles Lakers
FT Margin: +9 (33 per game to opponent's 24)
See above.

2. Detroit Pistons
FT Margin: +7.5 (27.8 per game to opponent's 20.3)
The Pistons are an anomaly. They win by playing defense, and they only win by playing defense. Their leading scorer, the point guard, shoots 38 percent from the field, and their second-leading scorer, the shooting guard, shoots 21 percent from 3. They have to win by playing defense. And you don't play good defense by fouling a lot. As a result, they've held opponents to an NBA-low 20.3 free throws per game. That's only 10 a half. That's only five a quarter. That's only going to make it harder and harder for opposing teams to get easy points.

3. Denver Nuggets
FT Margin: +5.4 (29.3 per game to opponent's 23.9)
It has taken Andre Miller almost five years and one assist title to earn the kind of respect he's now getting from NBA officials. It has taken Carmelo Anthony less than 23 games. When Miller was a rookie, he averaged 3.6 free throws per game. By the time he led the league in assists, he was averaging 5.5 per game. This year, he's averaging a career-high 6.1, having shot 141 in 23 games. Anthony, on the other hand, also has taken 141 free throws in 23 games and the number is going up. In November, he averaged 5.1 a game. In December, he's averaging more than 7.3 a game. He already has had three games of double-digit free throws. He had a preseason game with 13. On national TV against LeBron James, he had 12. To put that in even better perspective, the rookie is ninth in the entire league in free throws made and 11th in free throws attempted, despite being only 22nd in scoring. And you thought a R-O-O-K-I-E couldn't get any R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

4. Philadelphia 76ers
FT Margin: +4.3 (26 per game to opponent's 21.7)
Nobody has taken more free throws to this point than Allen Iverson. Not Shaq. Not Tim Duncan. Not Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki combined. Where most guys would be overjoyed to shoot 10 free throws once, perhaps even a bit uncomfortable in the spotlight, this guy has been shooting 10 a game every game for the entire season. For his career, this 6-footer (on his tiptoes) has averaged 8.7 a game. For their careers, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon, all 7-foot centers, all bound for the Hall of Fame, averaged 6.1, 8.3 and 6.1 free throws per game, respectively.

5. San Antonio Spurs
FT Margin: +3.8 (27.1 per game to opponent's 23.3)
Tim Duncan is Tim Duncan. He scores in double figures. He rebounds in double figures. He leads the league in double-double figures. Day in, day out, he is Tim Duncan. For his career, he has averaged 7.6 free throws a game. This year, he's averaging 7.9 free throws a game. The difference for the Spurs, though, isn't the big guy from the Virgin Islands. It's the skinny kid from Argentina. Manu Ginobili went from 171 free throws in 69 games last year to 111 free throws in the first 26 games this year. And what is making an even bigger difference is that where Duncan is shooting 65 percent from the line, Ginobili is shooting 81 percent.

Least prolific free-throw shooters
29. New York Knicks
FT Margin: -8.4 (17.8 per game to opponents' 26.4)
See above.

28. Minnesota Timberwolves
FT Margin: -4.5 (17.8 per game to opponent's 22.3)
Where do we start? Only one player has shot more than 83 free throws so far this year, and only two players have shot more than 62. The team's new starting center, Ervin Johnson, has four free throws and five starts, while the team's old starting center, Michael Olowokandi, had 13 free throws in 15 games. Latrell Sprewell has more 3-point attempts than free throw attempts. Trenton Hassell has committed 60 personal fouls but shot only nine free throws. It takes Sam Cassell, the team's second-leading scorer, almost six shots to get one free throw. There are three players on the team who have played but not shot a single freebie. Where do we end?

27. Miami Heat
FT Margin: -3.9 (22.8 per game to opponents' 26.7)
It's a good thing Eddie Jones is shooting 83 percent from the free-throw line, because, as we speak, the poor guy is in a career-low 37 percent funk from the field and career-low 31 percent from distance. But even so, he's still the best thing the Heat have in the scoring column. Of course, it doesn't say much in a story on free throws when the same poor guy is on pace to shoot 525 3-pointers when he's never shot more than 389 in any previous season. Go to the rim. Go to the rim. Eddie Jones, please go to the rim.

26. Atlanta Hawks
FT Margin: -3.8 (22.7 per game to opponents' 26.6)
Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Jason Terry have made 220 free throws so far. The other 10 guys on the team have made 221. That's an inordinate amount of made free throws considering that those two only take about 33 percent of the team's shots and score about 40 percent of the team's points. But when the rest of your starting lineup sometimes includes the likes of Travis Hansen, Boris Diaw and Jacque Vaughn, you aren't going to get many calls.

25. Phoenix Suns
FT Margin: -3.5 (21.8 per game to opponents' 25.3)
Shawn Marion is a great free-throw shooter. As a rookie, he shot 84 percent from the line. Last year, he shot 85 percent from the line. This year, he's shooting 89 percent from the line. The only problem is that he doesn't get to the line enough. On average, he shoots only three free throws a game -- this season and over his career. By comparison, Amare Stoudemire, the team's best post player, gets a free throw every 2.3 shots he takes. Stephon Marbury, the team's best perimeter player, get a free throw every 3.5 shots. And Marion, you'd think, as the team's all-star small forward, would be somewhere in between ... right? Wrong. He's at one free throw for every 5.5 shots this year.