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Award-winning columnist Tom Archdeacon — an old-school storyteller in a brand-new venue — writes about sports, the city, southwest Ohio and anything else that catches his fancy… or yours.Home > Blogs > Through the Arch > Archives > 2008 > March > 12 > Entry
UD Flyers: A Bunch of Shaqs at the Line
Funny that a basketball program that has so much could be missing one such crucial thing.
The Dayton Flyers have a state-of-the-art facility in the Donoher Center. They have a strength and conditioning coach, a battery of enthusiastic assistant coaches and a workaholic head coach in Brian Gregory.
Except for maybe six weeks of the year, the players are around the UD campus honing their game in open-gym sessions, Cincinnati summer leagues, preseason conditioning drills.
And still they shoot free throws like Shaq.
They entered the Atlantic 10 Tournament here in Atlantic City as the league’s worst free throw shooting team. After the 29-game regular season, they were making an embarrassing 63.9 percent of their charity tosses.
In their tournament opener here Wednesday, they were even worse.
They shot 33.3 percent. They made 4 of 12 attempts and it nearly cost them the game against lowly St. Louis, whom they squeaked by in overtime, 63-62.
Shoot that pathetically from the line again Thursday against Xavier and they’ll be run out of the gym and likely knocked out of NCAA Tournament contention.
If I’d have been UD this season, I’d have had some kind of free throw guru working with these guys, specifically Charles Little, Kurt Huelsman, Andres Sandoval, London Warren, Thiago Cordeiro and Mickey Perry, none of whom shoot better than 58 percent.
Bring in somebody like Tom Amberry, the 85-year-old California guy who just 15 years ago made 2,750 consecutive free throws, then a Guinness world record.
In his book, “Free Throw: 7 Steps to Success at the Free Throw Line,” he tells about specific keys to the shot that he ultimately believes come down to concentration and focus.
On the other hand, Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Gary Boren, a banker who also serves as the only free-throw shooting coach in the NBA, believes free throw success isn’t so much cerebral as it is mechanical.
I heard him in a TV interview talking about how it’s a “coachable skill” and relates directly to how much time a coaching staff puts into it.
Under his guidance, the Mavericks have finished no lower than sixth in the NBA in his nine seasons as coach.
The Flyers aren’t alone in their free throw woes. Memphis, one of the best teams in college basketball this year, makes less than 60 percent of its free throws. UConn won the NCAA Tournament four years ago even though it made less than 65 percent of its free throws.
Last Sunday — as I watched Graham High edge Alter in overtime in the Division II regional final at the Nutter Center — I couldn’t help thinking about the futility of the Flyers at the line.
Graham made all eight of its overtime free throw attempts and 19 of its 20 free throws in the second half. Alter was nearly as deadly percentage-wise from the line.
Afterward, Graham coach Brook Cupps said his team’s success at the foul line all came down to mental toughness. Being able to shut everything else out and do what you have to do.
So maybe the Flyers aren’t mentally tough.
Maybe they have poor mechanics.
Maybe they have no focus.
Whatever it is, they’re lousy at the line.
Comments
By ms
March 13, 2008 11:54 AM | Link to this
Arch,,it’s very simple…Bad players plus bad coaching equals bad foul shooting…By Bob
March 13, 2008 10:39 AM | Link to this
If your looking for an argument …….