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Cavs Free Throw Shooting

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Dillinger

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I haven't seen this discussed much, but the Cavs have been painfully bad at shooting free throws. And not just this season, but for the past eight years now...

2005/2006 - 72.9% - 22nd
2006/2007 - 69.5% - 29th
2007/2008 - 71.7% - 28th
2008/2009 - 75.7% - 21st
2009/2010 - 72.0% - 30th
2010/2011 - 74.5% - 24th
2011/2012 - 71.6% - 28th
2012/2013 - 70.6% - 27th


Which equals a 72.31% average over an 8-year span. Not good.

It's disheartening for me, because often times one or two more made free throws can be the difference between winning and losing.

Free throws are one of the strangest instances in all of professional team sports. It's literally the easiest attempt at attaining points within a team concept. In any other team sport, an attempt at garnering points is always met with some sort of resistance. For every touchdown or field goal attempt in football, there's 11 members of the opposition trying to stop you. In baseball, scoring any run must be done against the will of your opponent. There are plenty of other examples, but you get the idea.

It is both the easiest and most difficult shot to make in basketball. It's one of those conundrums that reveals how important psychology is in athletics. Even for a small moment in time, the free throw takes the team aspect out of the equation and turns it into an individual sport. It's just you and the basket with no one defending your shot or defending the goal.

The roster makeup from 6, 7, or 8 years ago is completely different than it is now, so we can't blame that. We've had different coaches, assistant coaches, and players yet we remain near the bottom of the league each and every season.

I don't know. Maybe I'm making too much of this. It's just one of those things that gets under my skin.
 
For most of those Lebron years he sucked at shooting FreeThrows so he put the average right in that 72%ish zone. Also, we did not have any elite FreeThrow shooters to help bring the average up. But what we did have was BenWallace and Shaq for a couple of those years bringing the average down.

For this years team, we have a couple guys who should be above 80% pushing 85-90 (Irving,Waiters,Gee,Gibson) so that will help the overall average, but again, we have TT with his 50%.
 
Man I think Gee has been playing well, and he he was leading the league in ft%, but then he missed 3 against the Heat. When you lose by 2 that hurts.
 
I'm with ya, Dillinger. When I'm yelling at my TV during Cavs' games chances are it's because of missed free throws. As a player who excelled at this in high school (I made 126 out of 138 during my senior year which is 91.3%), to this day it irks me when a professional player can't hit them for at least a 80% clip. Being successful at FT shooting is mostly about muscle memory... which means finding a form that works for you and then duplicating that form by repeating it over and over and over again in practice. If these guys are professionals, then they should have no excuse why they can't find the time to work on and "perfect" this important aspect of their games.

As you pointed out, these are basically FREE POINTS that players are just giving away.
 
For most of those Lebron years he sucked at shooting FreeThrows so he put the average right in that 72%ish zone. Also, we did not have any elite FreeThrow shooters to help bring the average up. But what we did have was BenWallace and Shaq for a couple of those years bringing the average down.

For this years team, we have a couple guys who should be above 80% pushing 85-90 (Irving,Waiters,Gee,Gibson) so that will help the overall average, but again, we have TT with his 50%.

To be fair, Tristan isn't the only player going through free throw shooting woes.

Gibson is at 73% right now. He's better than that.

Even Zeller... What the hell is wrong here? This is a guy that averaged 77% in college (80% just last year) and is now at 48%. I know it's a small sample size early on and it will probably even itself out, but it is concerning to me.

It's the same exact shot as in college, yet he comes to Cleveland and suddenly can't even make half of them? What gives?
 
Although free throw shooting is probably one of the most important and easiest ways to put points on the board, shooting 72% is just below the league average. Making just one or two more free throws a game is crucial in close ball games but I wouldn't get too worried about it. I think about 75% would do it! You just have to put the right guys at the line, no guys like TT. Either way I think we will be ok. Look at last years stats, only 1 team was able to put up an 80%, and that is amazing... OKC

Team Stats

Playoff teams are marked with an asterisk (*) · Glossary · SHARESHARE [X] · Embed · CSV · PRE · LINK · ?
Rk
Team
G
MP
FG
FGA
FG%
3P
3PA
3P%
FT
FTA
FT%
ORB
DRB
TRB
AST
STL
BLK
TOV
PF
PTS
PTS/G
1
Denver Nuggets*
66
16040
2572
5404
.476
435
1311
.332
1293
1760
.735
738
2105
2843
1581
540
330
1015
1297
6872
104.1
2
San Antonio Spurs*
66
15940
2611
5463
.478
552
1405
.393
1067
1427
.748
683
2153
2836
1528
490
293
895
1143
6841
103.7
3
Oklahoma City Thunder*
66
15990
2462
5229
.471
472
1317
.358
1406
1744
.806
726
2157
2883
1224
498
539
1079
1352
6802
103.1
4
Utah Jazz*
66
16165
2523
5531
.456
273
845
.323
1258
1668
.754
861
2055
2916
1439
545
385
936
1441
6577
99.7
5
Milwaukee Bucks
66
15865
2502
5652
.443
436
1265
.345
1095
1415
.774
820
1983
2803
1550
548
335
929
1273
6535
99.0
6
Sacramento Kings
66
15915
2490
5712
.436
411
1301
.316
1127
1532
.736
882
1947
2829
1271
561
323
952
1287
6518
98.8
7
Miami Heat*
66
16040
2446
5212
.469
370
1030
.359
1238
1598
.775
686
2060
2746
1317
585
355
1002
1282
6500
98.5
8
Phoenix Suns
66
15840
2495
5445
.458
444
1295
.343
1058
1397
.757
717
2035
2752
1486
431
366
928
1233
6492
98.4
9
Houston Rockets
66
16065
2489
5543
.449
478
1330
.359
1018
1301
.782
770
2014
2784
1404
496
319
955
1347
6474
98.1
10
Minnesota Timberwolves
66
15940
2355
5434
.433
473
1423
.332
1281
1662
.771
797
2089
2886
1290
436
293
1001
1212
6464
97.9
11
New York Knicks*
66
15940
2365
5335
.443
517
1538
.336
1211
1634
.741
743
2012
2755
1328
622
276
1056
1391
6458
97.8
12
Golden State Warriors
66
15915
2489
5443
.457
524
1351
.388
951
1235
.770
640
1947
2587
1470
528
362
915
1410
6453
97.8
13
Indiana Pacers*
66
15990
2354
5375
.438
392
1064
.368
1349
1724
.782
826
2070
2896
1228
523
357
925
1430
6449
97.7
14
Los Angeles Clippers*
66
15965
2439
5366
.455
514
1441
.357
1046
1538
.680
800
1943
2743
1385
556
315
879
1399
6438
97.5
15
Los Angeles Lakers*
66
16065
2429
5319
.457
362
1112
.326
1202
1589
.756
799
2251
3050
1485
390
351
997
1109
6422
97.3
16
Portland Trail Blazers
66
15965
2402
5417
.443
478
1382
.346
1133
1423
.796
735
1949
2684
1349
528
322
935
1251
6415
97.2
17
Atlanta Hawks*
66
16165
2429
5348
.454
492
1330
.370
1025
1385
.740
652
2066
2718
1481
536
303
921
1178
6375
96.6
18
Chicago Bulls*
66
15940
2467
5462
.452
419
1117
.375
1006
1394
.722
915
2165
3080
1527
456
388
923
1139
6359
96.3
19
Dallas Mavericks*
66
16065
2398
5412
.443
497
1464
.339
1029
1334
.771
665
2158
2823
1380
565
337
926
1226
6322
95.8
20
Memphis Grizzlies*
66
15940
2425
5422
.447
277
849
.326
1142
1504
.759
831
1944
2775
1290
631
345
955
1316
6269
95.0
21
Orlando Magic*
66
15965
2275
5162
.441
670
1785
.375
995
1508
.660
742
2060
2802
1321
451
275
984
1168
6215
94.2
22
Washington Wizards
66
15865
2414
5475
.441
344
1075
.320
1008
1386
.727
775
1975
2750
1262
527
417
1008
1405
6180
93.6
23
Philadelphia 76ers*
66
15915
2471
5516
.448
349
963
.362
889
1198
.742
704
2144
2848
1453
526
340
738
1157
6180
93.6
24
New Jersey Nets
66
15890
2262
5320
.425
507
1481
.342
1113
1433
.777
783
1879
2662
1311
493
260
995
1268
6144
93.1
25
Cleveland Cavaliers
66
15965
2261
5360
.422
440
1273
.346
1178
1645
.716
841
1949
2790
1308
466
262
1017
1317
6140
93.0
26
Boston Celtics*
66
15940
2341
5086
.460
363
988
.367
1017
1308
.778
509
2051
2560
1557
498
362
979
1315
6062
91.8
27
Detroit Pistons
66
15965
2291
5232
.438
317
916
.346
1098
1461
.752
775
1882
2657
1232
460
278
1033
1293
5997
90.9
28
Toronto Raptors
66
15965
2268
5154
.440
365
1075
.340
1085
1410
.770
697
2074
2771
1382
429
321
1001
1532
5986
90.7
29
New Orleans Hornets
66
15940
2300
5103
.451
259
777
.333
1057
1397
.757
724
1991
2715
1368
488
316
1024
1324
5916
89.6
30
Charlotte Bobcats
66
15890
2193
5293
.414
263
892
.295
1090
1462
.746
677
1894
2571
1326
397
361
957
1249
5739
87.0
League Average
66
15968
2407
5374
.448
423
1213
.349
1116
1482
.752
750
2033
2784
1384
507
336
962
1291
6353
96.3

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Even Zeller... What the hell is wrong here? This is a guy that averaged 77% in college (80% just last year) and is now at 48%. I know it's a small sample size early on and it will probably even itself out, but it is concerning to me.

It's the same exact shot as in college, yet he comes to Cleveland and suddenly can't even make half of them? What gives?

First couple games it was probably just nerves. The last few i'd blame some on the mask...it's driving him crazy. He'll by fine from the line as the season progresses.
 
Isn't it pathetic when these dudes who get paid to do this shit can't hit 9 out of 10 FTs?

You can find normal people who can do that.
 
Outside of an endgame situation, I never felt like missed free throws / points earlier in the game meant all that much. There always seems to be a letdown where the winning team (and/or the refs) will let you back in, and then it's all about which team can keep control once both teams are fully engaged in the outcome.
 
Outside of an endgame situation, I never felt like missed free throws / points earlier in the game meant all that much. There always seems to be a letdown where the winning team (and/or the refs) will let you back in, and then it's all about which team can keep control once both teams are fully engaged in the outcome.

I think you are right about this. Points at the end are worth more because the team knows approximately how many additional points will be needed to win.

It also obviously depends on how much your team gets to the line. Teams vary a lot in in regards to the percentage of their points that come from foul shooting.
 
Outside of an endgame situation, I never felt like missed free throws / points earlier in the game meant all that much. There always seems to be a letdown where the winning team (and/or the refs) will let you back in, and then it's all about which team can keep control once both teams are fully engaged in the outcome.

Hahaha, easily one of your worst posts of all time.

Points are points are points. You won't be in a position to win a game if you don't score enough points leading up to the end of the game...
 
Isn't it pathetic when these dudes who get paid to do this shit can't hit 9 out of 10 FTs?

You can find normal people who can do that.

9 out of 10?

Hell, only 3 players in NBA history have been able to hit 90% of their career free throws..
 
Isn't it pathetic when these dudes who get paid to do this shit can't hit 9 out of 10 FTs?

You can find normal people who can do that.
Yes and no. Put a regular guy who couldn't play at an NBA level but shoots 9 out of 10 from the line may be different in game. Free throws have more to do than putting the ball in the basket. Put a regular guy in the situation and add fatigue, the pressure of thousands watching you and a team relying on you in a tight game then you probably won't see that high percentage. Only repitition and being placed in those same situations again and again will get you more comfortable.
 
Last edited:
I still think it's pathetic. It's a skill... nothing more, nothing less.
 
I remember thinking during the Heat game, "Why are the Cavs always so awful at free throw shooting?" Guess you read my mind, Dillinger.
 

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