Area of Expertise

Free Throw

The free throw is one of the biggest shams in the game of basketball today.  People may think the free throw is one of the easiest shots in basketball, but it's really not. Even one of the greatest scorers in NBA history had trouble making free throws.  Wilt Chamberlin went to the free throw line a "NBA record 11,862 times and only shot thirty eight percent".  Mastering the free throw takes a lot of practice and patience.  First, you need to have a consistent rhythm every time you go to the line.  Then you also need the confidence to know you’re going to make it. If you lack the confidence, then it gives you a lesser chance to make the free throw.

            This basketball season I took seventeen free throws and made fifteen.  Even though I shot really well from the free throw line, I would still say it’s one of the harder shots in basketball.  I feel as if there is more pressure on me to make a free throw late in the game than to get any other kind of basket.  I believe it’s harder because the crowd is all focused in on you, and all you can see in front of you is the basket.  Making a free throw late game is also extremely difficult in away games where the opponent’s crowd is making a bunch of noises, and trying to distract you.  Concentration is key in making a free throw!
             Free throws are crucial in games, they can decide whether you win or lose.  For example in one of our games this year we missed nine free throws, now if we had made five of those nine free throws we would have won the game.  People may think free throws are over rated, but that example just goes to show that all points are important in a game! When I shoot around I always shoot about thirty or forty free throws.  I use the same rhythm every time, and I make sure I concentrate on every shot.  So my area of expertise is shooting free throws.