STL Hoops Insider Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Who says today's NBA lacks fundamentals like free throw shooting? http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/567..._of_foul_shots/ Teams are hitting a very respectable 76.9% of their foul shots in the NBA this season, which is very close to breaking the NBA's long-standing record, according to Elias Sports Bureau. During the 1973-74 season, the league shot a record 77.1 percent from the foul line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Who says today's NBA lacks fundamentals like free throw shooting? http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/567..._of_foul_shots/ Teams are hitting a very respectable 76.9% of their foul shots in the NBA this season, which is very close to breaking the NBA's long-standing record, according to Elias Sports Bureau. During the 1973-74 season, the league shot a record 77.1 percent from the foul line. Of course, 76.9% of the players in the league can't dribble without traveling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyjibo Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Who says today's NBA lacks fundamentals like free throw shooting? http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/567..._of_foul_shots/ Teams are hitting a very respectable 76.9% of their foul shots in the NBA this season, which is very close to breaking the NBA's long-standing record, according to Elias Sports Bureau. During the 1973-74 season, the league shot a record 77.1 percent from the foul line. NBA free throw shooting was pretty stable in the 70's and 80's around 76% each year. Then there was a significant drop that got people's attention in the early 90's down around 73 and 74%. There has been a steady general drift up and has been moving over 75% the last few years (up to 75.5% last year). Anyway we are talking 60,000 free throws so if the NBA is at 76.9% now there will be a nice bump up this year. However, I doubt they will keep at 76.9% as the season wears on (fatigue and pressure/meaningless games). Anyway, it is a good year and if the trend continues the NBA will be back up to 70's level FT shooting. One difference between then and now is the variance; today's best FT shooters (say top 30) are better than that era's top 30 and the worst are worse today (Ben Wallace, Shaq, Josh Boone, etc.). Even last year there were 5 players with 400 or more attempts that hit 90% (Chauncey Billups was a machine) and only Rick Barry would do that in the 70's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Of course, 76.9% of the players in the league can't dribble without traveling.Speaking of the NBA what's the deal with Larry Hughes? He hasn't played in about 6 or 7 games due to coaches decision. Larry makes 12+ million dollars a year and can't get off the bench. I thought he was having a decent year. I know his 3pt shooting % is way up. Hinrch came back from injury and Larry hasn't played. I know he would be hard to trade because of his salary but I still think he could help somebody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Hoops Insider Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 Speaking of the NBA what's the deal with Larry Hughes? He hasn't played in about 6 or 7 games due to coaches decision. Larry makes 12+ million dollars a year and can't get off the bench. I thought he was having a decent year. I know his 3pt shooting % is way up. Hinrch came back from injury and Larry hasn't played. I know he would be hard to trade because of his salary but I still think he could help somebody. Funny you mention Hughes getting traded, because actually a trade is on the table right that would send Hughes to New Jersey for Bobby Simmons. Chicago is just waiting on the Nets to sign off. Maurice Ager might be thrown in to make salaries work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Funny you mention Hughes getting traded, because actually a trade is on the table right that would send Hughes to New Jersey for Bobby Simmons. Chicago is just waiting on the Nets to sign off. Maurice Ager might be thrown in to make salaries work.That could explain why he hasn't been playing. You wouldn't want to blow up the trade by Larry getting hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMM28 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 That could explain why he hasn't been playing. You wouldn't want to blow up the trade by Larry getting hurt. He isn't playing because he has been bitching about playing time since he got off the plane to Chicago. He is a classic malcontent who is lucky to have made the money he has. He has played some of the most selfish basketball on a team full of selfish players, which is very impressive. He cares about 1 thing and that is Larry Hughes. His ass is now planted firmly at the end of the Bulls bench. And that is pretty bad. Yuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Hoops Insider Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 Hughes has always been a pretty good passer. I'm not sure where you're getting this from. He's shot a poor percentage in the past, but never been a jacker. If he anything he's been too passive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Who says today's NBA lacks fundamentals like free throw shooting? http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/567..._of_foul_shots/ Teams are hitting a very respectable 76.9% of their foul shots in the NBA this season, which is very close to breaking the NBA's long-standing record, according to Elias Sports Bureau. During the 1973-74 season, the league shot a record 77.1 percent from the foul line. The fundamentals in the NBA have made a big jump with the influx of players who grew up playing the game outside of the US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 The fundamentals in the NBA have made a big jump with the influx of players who grew up playing the game outside of the US. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/statistics?s...&league=nba 4 of the top 10 FT shooters by percentage are foreign-born. 10 of the top 50 are foreigners. I had some trouble finding a percentage or number of foreign-born NBA players this season, but I found that there were 76 on active rosters in April 2008, or about 17%. So I guess the math says that the foreign guys are bringing the average up a little bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Anyone know what the percentage is for college? D-1? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/statistics?s...&league=nba 4 of the top 10 FT shooters by percentage are foreign-born. 10 of the top 50 are foreigners. I had some trouble finding a percentage or number of foreign-born NBA players this season, but I found that there were 76 on active rosters in April 2008, or about 17%. So I guess the math says that the foreign guys are bringing the average up a little bit. Also foreign-born player are 5 of the top 10 in FG% and 4 of the top 10 in 3 Pt FG%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyjibo Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Anyone know what the percentage is for college? D-1? The FT percentage was pretty stable around 68-69% for all NCAA D-1 for most of the 60's, 70's and 80's (best year is in 1979) then it started to decline in the late 80's but only dropped 2% from peak. Just like the NBA it started back on an upward swing in the late 90's and is back up to over 69% the last 3 years. BTW, I think the "foreign influx" is part of the story but the NCAA trend (still significantly dominated by US raised players) shows that there is a real improvement in FT shooting in US raised players. In a few years if the trend continues there will be a new peak year in the NCAA as well. I suspect that the NCAA has had increased variance as well over time though (better bests and worse worsts). http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/resour...pdf?MOD=AJPERES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baske...0,4913254.story here is the trib's column that discusses hughes recent no play. as bad as the bulls are there is no way that larry hughes shouldnt be playing the majority of games let alone not starting. larry hasnt made the best decisions since joining the nba and his play at times shows bad judgement but he is still a very talented player that deserves better than he is getting in chicago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 The FT percentage was pretty stable around 68-69% for all NCAA D-1 for most of the 60's, 70's and 80's (best year is in 1979) then it started to decline in the late 80's but only dropped 2% from peak. Just like the NBA it started back on an upward swing in the late 90's and is back up to over 69% the last 3 years. BTW, I think the "foreign influx" is part of the story but the NCAA trend (still significantly dominated by US raised players) shows that there is a real improvement in FT shooting in US raised players. In a few years if the trend continues there will be a new peak year in the NCAA as well. I suspect that the NCAA has had increased variance as well over time though (better bests and worse worsts). http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/resour...pdf?MOD=AJPERES Thanks for the data. Call me off base, but if college kids (including 17 and 18 year old freshmen who get very nervous playing for the first time in front of more than the 1,200 locals they are used to at the local high school gym) can shoot 69% from the FT line, I would sure think that professionals can make at least 8% more than the college kids. IMO, the pros should be in the 80% range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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