Free throw stats

[Jester1534]

All I've learned from my drunken thread I made at 2 am is that I'm Minnesota sports fan of course the refs are screwing us. It's my God given right to bitch.

God damn it Drew Pearson pushed off in 1975!!!!!

[thedoper]

In most areas of life respect is earned. I suspect the grey area of refereeing is no different even when there is a conscious duty to be impartial.

[FNG]

All I've learned from my drunken thread I made at 2 am is that I'm Minnesota sports fan of course the refs are screwing us. It's my God given right to bitch.

God damn it Drew Pearson pushed off in 1975!!!!

You're damn right he did!

(but Hrbek did not lift Gant off first base...he just fell)

[Jester1534]

All I've learned from my drunken thread I made at 2 am is that I'm Minnesota sports fan of course the refs are screwing us. It's my God given right to bitch.

God damn it Drew Pearson pushed off in 1975!!!!

You're damn right he did!

(but Hrbek did not lift Gant off first base...he just fell)

Bullshit Gant momentum pulled him off the bag :) lol

[DNatagal]

Wasn't Gaetti at 3rd?

[Monster]

I haven't been watching the games but I remember for years we had a crappy team that was good at drawing fouls which was part of why they were a good offensive team.

Ant is the guy that probably should be generating more fouls but I'm cool with him not piling up trips to the line as long as he is having success with his game. Drawing fouls tends to come with time although some guys obviously do it. I mean if Okogie could actually shoot the guy would probably get to the line at a fairly nice rate he has a real knack for that part of the game.

Other than that the team just doesn't get to the line much outside of Towns. Naz Reid has the 2nd highest per36 rate of FTA at 4.4 a game. At one point Russell had been increasing this aspect of his game but that's dropped off back towards what it was before.

I haven't been watching the games but just thinking about the guys on the team it doesn't seem like a team that would be even in the middle of the pack in terms of FTAs. The Wolves around the .500 mark and are struggling on Offense while being a good defensive team. Who would have thunk it? I tend to think eventually they will get that offensive part figured out and part of it will likely mean generating more FTAs.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

It's interesting to me how Kevin Love was able to get more whistles than Karl-Anthony Towns does now. Consider that they have similar strengths with one key difference being that Towns attacks off the dribble more, which would theoretically lead to more free throws since he's attacking the rim -- more potential for contact.

In Love's final three seasons in Minnesota -- where he was a number one offensive option -- he averaged 8.2 free throw attempts per game. In Towns' last three seasons (not including this season), he's averaged 6.1 free throw attempts per game. Towns has never shot more than 6.5 attempts per game in a season. While that difference might seem minor, it's actually hundreds of attempts.

I understand that Towns makes undisciplined moves that result in offensive fouls, but there's no way that he shouldn't be shooting north of eight free throws per game and probably closer to 10. Watch the other bigs in the league, especially Joel Embiid, and see the fouls they draw on minimal contact. Towns basically has to get hammered/wrapped up to receive a whistle and even then he might not get it. Simply, I can understand his frustration when it comes to the referees.

[FNG]

In most areas of life respect is earned. I suspect the grey area of refereeing is no different even when there is a conscious duty to be impartial.

I've never done any basketball reffing, doper, but I have done a lot of baseball umpiring over the years. And speaking from personal experience, behavior of the player (or his coach) was a major factor on which way I would go when one of those gray areas happened. Most balls and strikes are pretty obvious, but there are several during a game which can easily go either way. I know that personal prejudice was a factor in my decision in those instances. If a particular batter, catcher or pitcher were riding me during the game (or his coach for that matter), I know my instinct would be to rule against that person in those 50/50 situations. I mean you have to go one way or the other, and what variable is going to sway you in those situations when you only have a second to make your decision? I've talked with other umpires, and most of them admit the same prejudice.

Where am I going with this? It's the KAT problem. I would argue that reffing a basketball game is even more challenging that umping a baseball game, and there are far more calls that just aren't obvious. I'm convinced in those instances the ref is going to give the benefit of the doubt to the player who hasn't been riding his ass all game...and unfortunately, that is seldom KAT. He needs to court (pardon the unintentional pun) the refs rather than continually challenging them. These guys take pride in their work, and they are going to be annoyed by a player who is constantly challenging them. If KAT can ever mature and learn to work the refs, he is going to have a lot more calls go his way. I just don't know that he has it in him though.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Towns is VERY annoying. But he's not alone. A LOT of the better or best NBA players are perpetual whiners.

[thedoper]

Towns is VERY annoying. But he's not alone. A LOT of the better or best NBA players are perpetual whiners.

Yup. Those guys win though. And have significant fan bases.