Free throws are exactly what they sound like — free shots at the basket.
For a college or professional the physical action of the shot isn’t the hard part. It’s the mental pressure of taking an uncontested shot with everyone in the building focusing on the shooter that gets to players.
That mental pressure had led to the LSU men’s basketball team’s free throw woes during the Johnny Jones era.
As a team, the Tigers have shot just 64 percent at the free throw line under Jones.
“As soon as I step up to the line I’m thinking about [missing],” said junior guard Anthony Hickey. “Everyone tells you to just go up and shoot, but as soon as I start thinking it throws me off.”
Hickey’s struggles at the line have been well documented, as the diminutive guard has shot only 50 percent from the line during his time at LSU.
Hickey said he didn’t have problems shooting free throws in high school, but since he’s been in college, his confidence at the line has been lacking,
“In my mind, I just feel like I’m going to miss it every time,” Hickey said.
The Kentucky native said coach Jones stresses the importance of free throws during practice, and Hickey stays after every practice to work on his free throws.
Hickey isn’t the only Tiger experiencing troubles at the line.
Fellow guard Andre Stringer said the key to free throws is concentration and even he — a career 78 percent free throw shooter — experiences lapses in concentration when shooting his free throws.
“I’m struggling a little bit,” Stringer said, despite shooting 77 percent from the line this season. “I’m always making one, missing one. And I consider myself a decent free throw shooter, but it’s all about concentration.”
Even junior forward Johnny O’Bryant III has experienced struggles from the line. Big men have traditionally struggled more than wing players at the line, but O’Bryant also attributed his struggles to the mental side of the game.
O’Bryant said being able to consistently focus at the line when the pressure is on is the toughest part of shooting free throws.
“It is different shooting in a game rather than practice, it’s a big difference,” O’Bryant said. “The more you focus the better chance you have of making any shot on the court.
One thing the players agreed on was the effect, or lack thereof, of fans trying to distract them at the line by yelling or waving their hands.
“It really doesn’t bother me, when I’m playing I pretty much forget there is even a crowd there,” O’Bryant said.
Some fans do some distracting things, though and when asked what was the craziest thing he’s ever heard at the line, O’Bryant’s face cracked into a smile, then decided some things were best left unsaid.