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The Pacers free throw struggles go beyond makes and misses

By Tony East

SACRAMENTO, CA - MARCH 29: Thaddeus Young #21 of the Indiana Pacers attempts a free-throw shot against the Sacramento Kings on March 29, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - MARCH 29: Thaddeus Young #21 of the Indiana Pacers attempts a free-throw shot against the Sacramento Kings on March 29, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Indiana Pacers free throw struggles have been turbulent this season, and in more ways than one.

The Indiana Pacers have been tragic from the free throw line this season. They currently rank 27th in the league in free throw percentage, hitting 71.1 percent. But it seems worse than that. Objectively as a viewer, it feels as if they split the pair every time they get to the stripe.

It seems like everyone is individually having a tough time. Cory Joseph has had a great season, but he is shooting a substantial career-low 42.9 percent from the charity stripe. Thaddeus Young has never been a great free throw shooter, but he too is shooting a career low at 46.4 percent. Darren Collison has made over 85 percent of his free throws for his career, and yet he is only making 68.8 percent this season. It is incredibly perplexing to examine.

With many basketball things, there is usually some level of a process or root cause that you can hunt for. With free throw shooting, it’s harder to do that. They are an isolated event. Eventually, one would think that the team’s percentage will rise. They made 77.9 percent last year. They lost some bad shooters from the line. They should be better.

But the law of averages needs to come sooner rather than later. The Pacers have already had their results obviously affected by the poor shooting – they lost to the Rockets by 4 in a game where they shot 20/30 from the line. Last seasons free throw percentage gets them 3 more points. That matters a ton in a game that finishes that close.

Bojan Bogdanovic Indiana Pacers free throws
SACRAMENTO, CA – MARCH 29: Bojan Bogdanovic #44 of the Indiana Pacers attempts a free-throw shot against the Sacramento Kings on March 29, 2018, at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /

But I want to go deeper. I would actually argue the Indiana Pacers have a bigger problem from the free throw line – one that goes beyond makes and misses. The team isn’t getting enough free throw attempts.

The Pacers are currently third-to-last in free throw attempt rate – meaning only two teams take fewer free throw attempts per shot attempt. The two teams behind them – Orlando and Boston – rank 25th and 27th in offensive rating, respectively.

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The Pacers are 18th in ORTG, with is fine. These two stats don’t correlate a ton. But free throws are easy points, and its telling that the three teams who take the fewest number of them struggle to score even an average amount of points per possession.

Even at the Indiana Pacers lackluster free throw percentage, a trip to the line merits 1.422 points per possession. That’s the equivalent of a 71.1 percent two-point shooter or 47.4 percent three-point shooter. Those are impossible numbers to reach. Getting to the stripe frequently is quite frankly the best way to score easy points.

How can that be done? More shots at the rim is a great place to start. The team is 19th in shots per game from 5 feet and in. Most shooting fouls are generated around the basket since teams find it smarter to foul than allow an easy layup. So pushing for more layups is the low-hanging fruit of getting more free throw attempts.

Additionally, racking up more fouls on the other team puts them in the bonus faster. Some teams even make it a goal against skilled opposing big men to get them in foul trouble; in this way we have seen generating fouls be used as a strategy before. Attacking the rim early to get the other team in the bonus could get the Pacers more trips to the line, thus increasing their efficiency.

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Even if the attempts don’t increase, the free throws should start falling eventually. It’s not a given since we don’t always know what causes players to struggle from the charity stripe, but the law of averages suggests it should get better.

But getting more looks from the line should be a goal for the team. It would increase their efficiency and help their offense. Hopefully, they can find a way to do this.

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