Comments on: Illini Need More Free Throws

By: Rick Gill

Rick Gill — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:08:17 +0000

how do you explain the Swini shooting 20 more last night on
the road?

By: Joshua

Joshua — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:45:40 +0000

Last night in their loss to Wisconsin, Illinois shot only 4 free throws (they were 4-4). Wisconsin shot 13 (they were 8-13). When your shooting 32.8% from the field and 100% from the line, it make sense to drive to the cup and get fouled, rather than tossing up sloppy jumpers. It’s getting really frustrating to watch.

By: Joshua

Joshua — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 03:50:17 +0000

With about 4 minutes to play, Illinois has somehow only scored 36 points in the game so far. In this game so far the Illini are 4-5 from the free throw line. Minnesota is 15-24 so far. They are currently up 15 points, and have shot 19 more free throws.

By: Joshua

Joshua — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:49:18 +0000

From Illinois Loyalty today (quoting the trib):

Coach Bruce Weber was happy with more than McCamey’s scoring and seven assists. He pointed to the box score line that showed McCamey taking 12 free throws and making 11, both career highs.

“Demetri got his points, but the thing I liked — not all threes, he got to the free-throw line and he got into the paint,” Weber said. “If we can get to the free-throw line and get to the paint, we can have some success.”

By: Joshua

Joshua — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:16:50 +0000

It seems like a little more slashing to the basket would work well within the motion offense. Evan, what would you attribute this to? Is it driven more by the offensive model or more by the personnel?

By: Evan

Evan — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:30:21 +0000

James, you are wrong, at least in how your analysis pertains to the Illini. Over the years, Weber’s teams have always been more prone to shooting jumpers. If you go through the scouting reports from 2004-present linked by “the magic bullet,” you’ll see that the Illini’s FTA/FGA percentage has almost always been below average. In fact, the only years in which it wasn’t one of the lowest rates in college basketball were the years Shaun Pruitt got a lot of PT.

Relatedly, Joshua’s analysis of this year’s squad is spot on. Because of the style of basketball and personnel on this team, I don’t see the situation changing.

There’s probably truth to what you or your friend say about home teams shooting more FTs (I’ve never looked up the numbers, though), but that is not the issue with this year’s Illini.

By: the magic bullet

the magic bullet — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:15:53 +0000

It's bad. How bad? The Illini's free throw rate is #342 in D1. It's real bad.

By: Joshua

Joshua — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 05:13:04 +0000

Well, I think the disparity is more than just officiating swings, but that’s also a factor. There was a clear stylistic difference between Illinois motion pop a jumper offense and michigan’s attack the rim offense in the first game. If you get fouled enough on the road by pounding the post and driving to the basket, there’s only so much the refs can screw you over. Three free throws at Michigan. Only 3 free throw attempts in regulation at Purdue. It’s more than officiating.

By: James Prescott

James Prescott — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 03:36:20 +0000

This is not a reflection on the Illinois game plan as the truth of Big Ten officiating. Ask anyone who has followed Big Ten basketball throughout the decades…when a Big Ten team is at home, they get the benefit of the calls. The clemson game the differential is minimal, but for the Big Ten game you show, the majority is Illinois on the road. I was talking to a friend of mine who is a big Purdue supporter, and its just common knowledge that if you go into someone’s house you are not going to get the benefit of the doubt.

That being said, the MSU game was especially bad, on both sides of the ball for both teams. The crew did not call a consistent game. One minute they would call ticky tack, next minute they would ignore obvious fouls.