Blakely: Where's the free throws? Celtics not built to get to the line

CSNNE

By A. Sherrod Blakely December 12, 2016 9:13 PM


When close losses become the norm rather than the exception, often the first stat line fans hone in on, other than the final score of course, is the free throw numbers.

Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, it really doesn’t matter.

Fans for every NBA team feel their guys get screwed by the referees on a nightly basis in not getting to the line as often as they should.

So that in itself makes the Celtics not all that different when it comes to this subject.

But when a team consistently fails to get to the line as much as the Celtics do, well it makes you wonder … why is that?

Is there an explanation for this beyond the ‘we’re not getting enough calls’ club?

There is actually.

When I think about the Celtics and free throw shooting, the late Denny Green comes to mind when he said, "They are who we thought they were …”

The Celtics are not built to be a team that will get to the free throw line a lot.

Free throws mostly come about because of a player or team’s ability to drive into the lane and create contact consistently.

It is that latter point – “consistently” – which is often why Boston comes up on the short end of the free throw game.

Isaiah Thomas is still out with a right groin injury.

But when healthy, no one attacks the paint on the Celtics roster like Thomas.

That’s why he ranks among the league leaders in free throw attempts per game (8.8, 7th in the league) which is fueled by him being a high-volume driver.

Thomas averages 14.1 drives per game which is second only to Miami’s Goran Dragic (14.4) in that category.

And then there’s a huge Mount Kilimanjaro-like drop-off before you find another Celtic ranked among the NBA’s top drivers.

Next up for Boston when it comes to penetration is Avery Bradley whose 3.6 drives per game ranks 96th in the league.

Marcus Smart (3.1 drives) and Terry Rozier (2.5) are next on the drive chart, coming in at No. 110 and 135, respectively, in the NBA.

And when those guys drive, they’re often looking to dish to a teammate for an open jumper or relatively open 3-point attempt.

So you have combination of guys who don’t drive the ball a lot and when they do, they’re more likely to pass than shoot the ball or draw contact for a foul.

But the Celtics are far from alone when it comes to the drive-and-kick.

The Celtics average 28.4 drives per game which ranks 10th in the NBA.

Of the top-10 driving teams, most of them (the Celtics included) don’t generate a significant chunk of their points from the free throw line.

In fact, of the top-10 teams in drives per game, none rank among the top-6 in the NBA in percentage of points off free throws despite doing what gets you to the line the quickest which is drive the ball.

Prior to games played on Monday night, the Miami Heat averaged an NBA-leading 36.8 drives per game. And yet when it comes to the team’s percentage of points from the free throw line, they ranked 28th in the NBA with .151 percentage (Boston isn’t much better with their .153 percentage which ranks 26th in the league).

But those drives are positioning the league’s best at driving the ball, to rack up a good number of assists which is evident by three of the league’s top-5 in assists (Houston, Boston and Milwaukee) also being ranked among the top-10 in drives per game which helps explain the value teams find and the success for that matter, in drive-and-kick plays.

And for those who believe the Celtics have fallen off considerably in terms of free throws without Thomas, consider this.

For the season, Boston’s 20.3 free throw attempts per game ranks 26th in the NBA.

In the three games without Thomas, the Celtics average 19.7 free throws attempted which ranks – you got it – 26th in the NBA.

So this isn’t about referee bias or injuries or anything like that.

It’s about the Celtics playing to the strengths of their roster which they believe include perimeter shooting that’s often set up by drives to the basket.

The Celtics have not shot the ball as well of late, but they still rank fifth in 3-pointers taken (31.2), 12th in 3-point percentage (.358) and are one of just six teams (Houston, Cleveland, Golden State, Portland and Brooklyn are the others) averaging more than 11 made 3's per game.

And Boston’s penchant for putting up lots of 3-balls … that ain’t gonna change anytime soon.

But that makes them not all that different than most teams who are all-in on the analytics which make it pretty clear that having as many long-range shooters on the floor as possible is a good thing even if it comes at the cost of not getting to the line.

112288

Blakley is SPOT ON in his analysis.

Either the players they have cannot create their own shot driving the paint or are being told to dish out by Stevens for 3 pointers.

I believe it is the former.  I have seen guys just settle for 3 point shots far too often then getting their nose dirty in the paint.  I also believe far too many guys like KO cannot create their own shot, and when they attempt to do so, look very awkward and fail. For a 7' KO has a good outside shot, but we need that height down low and not outside. His attempts outside takes his height away from the paint and thus diminishes his role as a rebounder.

The team is half empty and they need an infusion of new talent by reshuffling the deck.

112288

A Sherrod lives to write negative articles about the Celtics

112288 and Ram,

I agree with both of your posts.

We are a drive-and-dish team.  The fact that we are not good shooters doesn't make this a particularly effective strategy, but that is who we are.  If we are not fouled on the drive then the chances of getting a whistle go way down since if things go as Brad wants we get an open shot.  This reminds me of the 2008 Finals against the Lakers, I think it was Game 3.  A lot of Laker fans complained about the the discrepancy in ftas, but we were going inside and creating contact and they were doing the triangle in-and-out game.  They were just missing their fgas, but you don't get a foul called if there is nobody within 3' of you.  To beat a dead horse, DeMarcus Cousins is 5th in the league in ftas/game (Westbrook, Harden, Davis, Butler ahead of him.  DeRozan and IT behind him.  Those are all extremely prolific, and desired, scorers and all-stars).

Blakely used to cover the Detroit Pistons for years.  I just don't understand this.  With all the good liberal arts colleges in the Boston area they can't find a couple that can write well and talk on TV?  Emerson College was famous for its communications curriculum.  We can't find a local who went to Emerson or BU or BC that is a Celtic fan to replace Blakely and Draper?


bob


.

Bob, we miss Evan Turner.

112288

112288 wrote:Bob, we miss Evan Turner.

112288

112288,

True that. Rozier and Smart are coming along but they don't have Turner's skill, or size, to replace him. Nor do they do it as consistently as Turner. There is only one player on our team that consistently attacks the paint, that's IT, and that's not enough.


bob


.

Coach has to take responsibility for his poor game plan. This isn't Butler. He has done a good job of motivating NBA players. But he has the wrong game plan to match his personnel. This is a drive and dish team but if your guys on the arc can't hit the shot, why keep going there?

It really frustrates me to see Jaylen on the arc standing around waiting to get the ball. He needs plays run for him that exploit his ability to drive and create contact. He can do it, but it doesn't happen enough. He is also not a very good ft shooter but he has to keep going to the line. Let's not forget how important it is to get the other team in foul trouble and get those shot bonuses'

Smart is a limited player. He has great energy, is a great defender, but he can't shoot. He is not a pg but he can facilitate. One of the C's problems is that they feel they don't need people filling traditional roles of pg and center. Danny likes combo guards and has drafted a bunch of them. Brad likes bigs and we have a bunch. What we don't have are guys who can execute.

I agree we need a trade that moves some bodies. Unfortunately, our most desirable player is the one we seem to need the most. I'm not an IT fan. he is way too short as was demonstrated in last years playoffs. But he is a hero out there with the way he plays. He can put the whole team on his shoulders and carry them through a long NBA season. But it will be very difficult for him to lead us to #18. We may need hero ball at times but that is not the way to win it all. Very few players can do the work necessary to lead a challenged team to a banner. It takes a Kobe kind of player to do that and IT just isn't tall enough to pull it off even though what he does do is absolutely amazing. IT, Bradley, Smart have value beyond the $ value of their contract. Players like Amir and Jerebko have decent value contracts. And all of our bench players have value too. It might take more than one trade to land the right upgrades to truly improve the play of this team. I hope Danny can make a move by the trade deadline. I hope Brad changes the way he has them playing. But if that doesn't happen, we still are a top Econf team and will go deeper in the playoffs this season.

The other night I saw Amir down near the basket after getting an offensive rebound and instead of going right up he passed the ball out to the perimeter.

The Celtics offense is a perimeter offense therefore they are not going to get a lot of free throw opportunities.

All of our guards can get to the rim. Our bigs, not so much.

However I cannot blame the losses on the lack of free throw shooting. The Celtics have not executed well against the better teams when the game is on the line.

I still think that rebounding is a bigger issue.

dboss

dBoss

When you have a 7' footer in KO outside the paint looking to shoot more times then not, chances are we are not going to be proficient in offense rebounding.

112288