BrewCity...

[TheSultan]

Bottom line for me is that I'd rather MU shoots 76% as a team on free throws than 67%. That means that out of every 12 free throws attempted, we would make nine instead of eight. This year's team is shooting 81% so far on free throw attempts. We are averaging just under 20 free throw attempts per game (19.2). If we hit 80% of 20, we make 16. If we make only 70%, we make 14. Difference of two points.

On top of all that, I'd much rather have one of our 90%-plus free throw shooters on the line (Markus, Andrew, Katin) than one of our sub-70% free throw shooters (Luke and Duane).

Making free throws is crucial, not just at the end of the game, but at any juncture in the game.

No one is disputing this.

[TheSultan]

Practical matter is that the game is what it is late in the game. Overall stats go out the window at that point as they are rather meaningless at that point. Have a Happy New Year.

Really if what you are saying that it is better to make your free throws than to miss them...well...no kidding.

[Nukem2]

Really if what you are saying that it is better to make your free throws than to miss them...well...no kidding.

Really, thanks for the update. When time is short, making FTs and not having empty possessions is simply not measured by stats. A missed FT in the first minute may be as statistically valid as one with 0.5 seconds to go and the score is tied or down by 1. But, I think most can see that the latter is far more important with the game on the line. Call it cherry picking is you wish. Have a good day.

Every game flows differently. How things play out determines what was actually important in the outcome. Sure, one can say that better play earlier, etc. could be just as important. But, things happen and some plays (includingFTs) are simply more important and obviously are magnified. Stats really don't measure these subjectivities.

[TheSultan]

Really, thanks for the update. When time is short, making FTs and not having empty possessions is simply not measured by stats. A missed FT in the first minute may be as statistically valid as one with 0.5 seconds to go and the score is tied or down by 1. But, I think most can see that the latter is far more important with the game on the line. Call it cherry picking is you wish. Have a good day.

Every game flows differently. How things play out determines what was actually important in the outcome. Sure, one can say that better play earlier, etc. could be just as important. But, things happen and some plays (includingFTs) are simply more important and obviously are magnified. Stats really don't measure these subjectivities.

Right. If you are going to argue that during "crunch time" that pressure can be amplified and some players perform better, well sure. As you said the game isn't played on paper.

But the point is that if you hit your shots earlier, including your free throws, it may not come down to "crunch time." Hitting your FTs, your FGs, hell just about anything you do, is just as important early in the game as it is the end. That's not a statistical argument. That's just logic.

But the point remains, from a statistical point of view, FT% just isn't as important as other factors are in determining the outcome of a game.

[Gato78]

Markus Howard proved his studliness tonight. When he was on the line late, Mrs. Gato said "I'm Novaked". I said huh? She said "I just feel like I did when Novak was on the line. Just don't have to worry". Every game you can see why Traci left as Markus just gets a little better every time out.

Officiating was terrible tonight--terrible. Gaffney had to bail out Prager on that Rowsey three. If he hadn't, the place would have been insane since that was so obvious. Driscoll was pretty competent but Prager and Gaffney were awful.

Georgetown should have been going to the post the whole game. Not sure why they didn't try to take more advantage of size and get our bigs in foul trouble. JT III is now the Georgetown X factor. Great players, will the coaches show up? Pryor is a frickin' stud.

We had our most complete game of the season tonight. Gotta be pumped at the start of the BIG EAST season.

[warriorfan4life]

Markus Howard proved his studliness tonight. When he was on the line late, Mrs. Gato said "I'm Novaked". I said huh? She said "I just feel like I did when Novak was on the line. Just don't have to worry". Every game you can see why Traci left as Markus just gets a little better every time out.

Officiating was terrible tonight--terrible. Gaffney had to bail out Prager on that Rowsey three. If he hadn't, the place would have been insane since that was so obvious. Driscoll was pretty competent but Prager and Gaffney were awful.

Georgetown should have been going to the post the whole game. Not sure why they didn't try to take more advantage of size and get our bigs in foul trouble. JT III is now the Georgetown X factor. Great players, will the coaches show up? Pryor is a frickin' stud.

We had our most complete game of the season tonight. Gotta be pumped at the start of the BIG EAST season.

I was as big fan of Traci's as anyone here, but he was going to be a career back-up here with Howard and Cheatham at the guard spots. Wish he stayed the full season, but cannot blame for wanting to pursue a starting opportunity elsewhere.

[TheSultan]

Marshall coach Dan D'Antoni.

https://twitter.com/CraigMeyerPG/sta...43009244483585

Stresses why three point shooting is so important in college basketball.

[Goose85]

That is a great response by D'Antoni.

Crazy how the 3 point shot has completely changed basketball.

[Goose85]

That is a great response by D'Antoni.

Crazy how the 3 point shot has completely changed basketball.

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Love the D'Antoni response. It's all about efficiency. Free throws are great, but whether you're a good free throw shooting team or a bad one, you're still scoring those efficiently. At the end of the day, it's a marginal difference. And all the stuff about late game, key situation, that's just an excuse for teams that screwed up situations earlier in the game. You wanna know how to win in the clutch? Be up 10 like we were last night.

The reason our offense is great this year isn't because we are a great free throw shooting team (we are) but because we are a great three-point shooting team. What kept the game in our favor last night was our ability to hit threes and, when Georgetown went zone, our ability to find the holes and hit the midrange shots (both JJ and Reinhardt had some nice ones).

Yes, it's better to make a free throw than miss, and you'd rather have a high percentage than a low one, but free throws simply aren't a very important part of our game. Sure, we're 2nd nationally in percentage, but we are #116 in makes per game because despite shooting them at a high success rate, we don't go there often enough for it to really make much of an impact on our overall offense. Far more important is that we are #24 in three-point makes per game.

There's a reason the four factors are considered the way they are. eFG% is king because it is all about making high-value shots. Offensive rebounding and turnovers are important because they give you chances to make high value shots, but less important than the actual eFG% because having the chance to make a shot isn't the same as making one. And free throw rate is at the bottom because everyone scores on those chances at a high rate, they are low-value shots, and more often than not (make or miss) give possession to your opponent to allow them a chance to make a high-value shot.