Another area of concern for the C's: Free Throws

[SCeltic34]

We all suspected that rebounding would be an issue this season.  In both games against the Bulls we've gotten smashed on the glass (though we did outrebound BKN and CHA slightly in those two games).

The other area that concerns me a bit is getting to the free throw line.  In each game, we've had less free throw attempts than our opponent, and through four games, we've taken in total 33 less free throw attempts.  This was most pronounced against the Hornets where we took 17 FTAs while the Hornets took 33 FTAs.  We can blame bad officiating to a small extent, but bad officiating is not responsible for this large of a discrepancy.  And this isn't a new problem either.  Last season, we were 25th in FTA differential at -2.5 per game. The encouraging thing however is that free throw differential doesn't seem to correlate strongly with a team's success; for example, Houston was 1st with +4.8 per game thanks to Harden, while Cleveland was 16th at -0.9 per game, and Golden State was 26th at -2.7 per game (not too surprising as they're a jumpshooting team).  Nevertheless, I'd argue that we can't be having these huge free throw discrepancies and expect to win close games.

The explanation for this is simple - we're a jumpshooting team.  The only player that can consistently penetrate and get to the foul line is IT.  The rest of our players can't/don't get to the line much.  Hopefully Brown will eventually help to remedy this, but he's clearly can't be expected to do so in his rookie year. 

It's hard to complain when we're 3-1 despite missing multiple key players.  But a free throw is among the easiest shots in basketball, and we have a lot of good free throw shooters.  Would love to see more of them.

Concerning or not?

[crimson_stallion]

We all suspected that rebounding would be an issue this season.  In both games against the Bulls we've gotten smashed on the glass (though we did outrebound BKN and CHA slightly in those two games).

The other area that concerns me a bit is getting to the free throw line.  In each game, we've had less free throw attempts than our opponent, and through four games, we've taken in total 33 less free throw attempts.

This is why I really want us to go after Monroe.  Horford is a ice player but he doesn't rebound and he doesn't get to the line - that's been true for some 2-3 seasons now.  Bradley has never been one to get to the line, nor has Amir.  Crowder can get there on occasion. 

Really IT is the only starter on this roster who can get to the line at a high rate.  Cant blame the loss of Sully for this one though - he was even worse at drawing fouls then Horford is.