Ben Howland is hoping to fix the Bruins' free-throw shooting woes. UCLA has made only 61% of its free throws this season.
Bruins spend time on free throws
By Chris Foster
The Los Angeles Times
January 27, 2010
UCLA is making a woefully low percentage of its foul shots, a situation Coach Ben Howland aims to improve.
UCLA freshman forward Tyler Honeycutt was one free throw from being done in practice Monday.
"I had made 79 of 99 free throws," Honeycutt said. "I just needed one more and I missed it. So I had to start all over again."
Call it 15 feet to frustration.
If there is a glaring weakness for the UCLA basketball team, it comes when players stand alone, unguarded. The Bruins shoot like Bob Dylan sings these days . . . poorly.
UCLA has made a woeful 61% of its free throws this season, ranking them last in the Pacific 10 Conference and 323rd out of 334 Division I teams.
The question at this point is, can they get better?
"It won't be for lack of trying," Coach Ben Howland said.
UCLA spent Monday focusing considerably on the inability to make free throws, especially at key moments. The Bruins made 16 of 28 free throws Saturday against Washington State and were only 10 for 18 from the line in the last five minutes.
It was hardly an anomaly. UCLA's free-throw percentage has been above 70% in four games this season. They are un-Howland-like numbers. UCLA shot 72% from the line last season and 73% in 2007-08.
The solution?
"Just working at it, working at it, working at it," Howland said. "We have been putting them in different situations in practice, having them do it after they were tired."
"Bigs" (power forwards/centers) had to make 70 of 100 and "smalls" (perimeter players) 80 of 100 during Monday's practice. Coming up short meant starting again.
The problem is that simulating a game situation is difficult.
"You can stand there and just shoot them, and make a lot, but it's different in a game when you have the crowd, you have to score and there is little time left," Honeycutt said. "It's a whole lot different when you're shooting two down by one at the end of a game. You have to try to mentally prepare for that."
Honeycutt is shooting 55% from the line, one of four regular players under 60%. Jerime Anderson is shooting 58%, Reeves Nelson 55% and James Keefe 36%. "I shot free throws better in high school," said Nelson, a freshman. "To be honest, the crowd is not much of a factor. It's all in my brain, like I'm fatigued in my mind."
Porter patter
Howland's biggest concern about facing Oregon on Thursday is the Ducks' 5-foot-6 guard Tajuan Porter, who is averaging 12.5 points per game. The Bruins are now a committed zone team and Porter is a zone-buster. "He's a little guy who is a nightmare for a zone, especially at home," Howland said. "His range is 30 feet."
The Bruins handled Washington State's Klay Thompson, who was five for 17 from the field Saturday. But Porter "is more a penetrator with his size. He can get into gaps easier because he's low to the ground."
Etc.
This is the last season Oregon will play in creaky, noisy, hostile McArthur Court, so for each game honorary captains are chosen. Oregon's captain will be Greg Ballard, whose number will be retired. UCLA's captain will be Bill Walton, whose last game at McArthur was a 56-51 loss to the Ducks. . . . UCLA's Anderson, who has played only nine minutes the last two weeks (hip flexor injury), practiced a half-hour Monday, but remains questionable for the game.
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UCLA is foul from free-throw line
By Jon Gold, Staff Writer
The Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 01/26/2010 10:22:10 PM PST
Free throws have been anything but easy this season for the UCLA men's basketball team.
In fact, they've been quite costly.
The Bruins rank last in the Pacific-10 Conference in free-throw shooting percentage at a .613 clip, after hitting .724 percent last season.
The foul shooting struggles have left the players and the coaches frustrated, as even extensive work in practice - as much as 200 free throws in a day for some players - has not translated to success in the games.
"I don't have an answer for that, that's not an easy answer," senior forward James Keefe said. "We work on it a lot in practice. I don't think we have bad shooters on this team. A lot of the guys that are missing are confident when they go up to the line. I don't know what it is - I think it's just something that will come around."
It won't get easier in Oregon's notoriously loud McArthur Court.
Keefe and senior guard Michael Roll recall the backboard rumbling in 2005-06, when the undefeated and top-ranked Bruins traveled to Eugene and lost 68-66 to end a 14-game winning streak.
"I know what it's like - it's very hostile," Roll said. "The rim, the backboard were shaking. We're just going to jump out hopefully early, so the crowd isn't after us."
With just three road games so far - UCLA's other 16 have either been at Pauley Pavilion or on a neutral court in Southern California - the crowd isn't to blame, however.
Unfortunately for Howland, he isn't quite sure what is.
"I tell you it's not through lack of trying," Howland said. "We had a couple guys who had to hit 200 yesterday. (Sophomore guard) Malcolm Lee made 45 foul shots in a row. We spent a lot of time free-throw shooting yesterday. We'll spend a lot of time working for it."
The problem hasn't cost the Bruins in their past two games, both wins, over Washington and Washington State.
But, Howland said, it all adds up.
"The percentage is what's the key," Howland said. "Those free throws you miss in the first half are just as important as the ones with five minutes to go. Front ends of one-and-ones hurt you. Some of that also is we're not playing a lot of guys and there's more of a fatigue factor."
Middle of the Pac
Despite a five-game losing streak earlier in the year, disappointing losses to Arizona and Stanford that followed big wins, and a crushing defeat to crosstown rival USC, the Bruins are very much alive in this topsy-turvy season.
At 4-3 in conference play - and 9-10 overall - UCLA is in the thick of the Pac-10 race, with five teams at 4-3, one game behind Cal.
"We're in position, we're in the driver's seat," Keefe said. "We can still make a season out of this. I just think it's up for grabs. When we had that huge losing streak, there was a lot of indifference. Everyone's not happy when you're losing. That was just turmoil. We've got a couple wins, a couple big wins, and I think everyone is realizing we can do something."
Leading the charge
Howland again mentioned the team's willingness to take charges against the Cougars, a point of emphasis in practice that had fallen by the wayside.
Nelson and Keefe each took a charge against Washington State, eliciting an excited reaction from Howland on the sideline.
"I looked over at the bench when I took my charge. He talks about Alfred (Aboya) sometimes, just the toughness, do whatever you can do to make the team win," Nelson said. "But it's not really instinct to want to get run over."
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