Lakers having trouble taking free throws outside of the practice gym
The common thread in Lakers’ losses this season has been turnovers, poor transition defense and free-throw shooting.
Currently the Lakers are the worst team in the league from the free-throw line, shooting just 68.9%.
After every practice, the players routinely shoot to improve and in the team’s gym. By and large, they are accurate.
A board tracking their progress was recently updated to show individual percentages through the All-Star break.
Steve Nash and Jodie Meeks led the way at 97% over 1,278 and 1,340 cumulative attempts, respectively. Kobe Bryant, Steve Blake, Earl Clark and rookie Robert Sacre also averaged at least 90% in practice.
In games Bryant dipped to 84.6%, Blake to 54.5%, Clark to 67.6% and Sacre to 63.6%. Nash’s actual percentage of 91.9% was actually second to Meeks’ 92.7%.
Dwight Howard hit a legitimate 82% in the gym (1252-1532) but in games he couldn’t come close to that level of accuracy (49.5%).
All other Lakers hit between 82% and 89% in practice but none neared that in live competition. The team as a whole shot 89% in practice (16,527-18,649) through All-Star.
According to the board the team’s facility, over that same period they were 29th in the NBA at 69.3% (1,018-1,468)
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Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.
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