The Little Things...

I woke up early on Sunday morning not so much that I wanted to, but because my mind wanted to drag my body out of bed. My body wasn’t quite ready to attack the day so my mind started to wander. The first thing that my mind started to think about was basketball. The next thing that it started working on was how many basketball games have I seen live. My mind wanted to practice math!

I really started going to ballgames consistently with my family when my brother Don was a senior in high school during the 1959-60 season. I was seven at the time and I have now been attending games for 55 years. In all of those years I have been to varsity, JV, Jr. High, peewee, college and a couple of pro games. I’ve watched games as a young fan, player, coach, and again as a fan.

As the girls’ game progressed I saw those games as a fan, coach and fan of the peewee, JV, varsity and college varieties. It is amazing when you start thinking about it because on average I must see close to 50 games a year by the time the state tournament runs its course. If you take 55 years times 50 games that is a total of 2,750 games. I figure it must be somewhere in that neighborhood.

I’ve seen a lot of rules changes that have improved the game a lot. If I would start listing them all then some would think I was there when there was a jump ball after each made basket.

No, I’m not that old, but I did play when every tie up of a loose ball did have a jump at one of the three circles on the floor. I did get in several “jump” situations with the opposing teams center. Guess who won that battle.

The three-point shot and shot clock have changed the game as tactical influences. It has sped the game up and eliminated the stall for the last few minutes of a game. For those of you that have always had the shot clock you are probably wondering what basketball was like in the dark ages. Honestly, not a lot different than it is now. Unfortunately, those great long range shooters of the past, and there were a lot of them did not get to score the three ball.

I also played when the first five fouls of each half were one shot fouls unless it was in the act of shooting and it was one and one until the game was over. There were no two shot double bonus situations either. As you can see, free throws (FTSs) were extremely valuable commodities and were not taken lightly.

I remember shooting at least 25 FTs at every practice and it was recorded on the gym bulletin board for everyone to see. I think I shot better FTs in game situations than I did at practice. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that I didn’t shoot 25 FTs in a game.

I’ve never heard of a coach that did not make their players shoot FTs at every practice. I’ve seen coaches, myself included, get five kids surrounding a FT shooter to yell at them to mimic late game pressure situations. I’ve seen free throw competitions where two kids shoot five FTs loser runs. Unfortunately the kid that didn’t shoot well was always in the best shape in this scenario.

Fans sometimes get frustrated when basketball players miss FTs especially late in the season. It’s not like they don’t get any practice. Coaches are a lot more frustrated by this than anyone because they know how much time is invested in FTs.

At every level of play you can point to a victory or a loss on missed or made FTs.

It’s not rocket science or brain surgery it is as elementary as it gets. Walk to the free throw line, eye the target, take two or three dribbles, bend knees, motion up shoot ball and follow through with shooting wrist. Swish!

The problem is not with coaches unless a player has a really bad shooting form and it isn’t changed. No, the problem lies with the player. The player must practice shooting FTs all year long. Every time they practice shooting they should start out by making not shooting 25 FTs.

The free throw shot is the best way to focus before a game and can help a shooter zero in on their game shot.

Unfortunately, the free throw is not highlight reel material on ESPN when it should be. The ones that garner victory or lead to defeat are the real stories not the dunks. A dunk is seldom shot in a high-pressure situation with the crowd screaming in your ears. No, only the lowly free throw gets that kind of back ground noise infusion.

It’s the little things that bring success in any sport. Free throws are a small part of the game that can bring huge results both positively and negatively.