Free throws seem so simple.
Stand 15 feet from the basket with no one playing defense and shoot the ball. Then do it again. And again, until it’s no longer a problem.
For all of the optimism surrounding the LSU men’s basketball team’s upcoming season, free throws are the one dark cloud hanging over the program.
Last season, the Tigers shot 62 percent from the charity stripe, the worst in the Southeastern Conference. Even worse than South Carolina — a team that had a player shoot one handed.
But in order to understand the scope of LSU’s ineptitude, one must look at the entirety of Division I men’s basketball. Of all 345 teams in Divsion I, the Tigers finished 331st in free throw percentage. 
None of the teams that finished below the Tigers made the NCAA Tournament, a place senior forward Shavon Coleman said the Tigers are looking at as the goal for this season.
Despite this disturbing trend, LSU coach Johnny Jones said it wasn’t an issue he was particularly concerned with.  
“We got off to a bad start and that hurt our percentage, but I think we finished strong,” Jones said. “We’re not doing anything different this year.” 
There could be help on the way in the form of Jones’ banner recruiting class. Of the freshmen expected to play significant minutes, guard Tim Quarterman of Savannah, Ga., has the best track record from the free-throw line, having shot 82 percent at Johnson High School.
Quarterman said the Tigers shoot free throws at the end of every practice when they are exhausted from running Jones’ up tempo offense. He said it simulates the feeling at the end of a game and forces them to block everything out to focus on knocking down their shots. 
Junior forward Jonny O’Bryant III sparked much of the optimism surrounding the upcoming season in April when he announced he would return for his junior season. O’Bryant and junior guard Anthony Hickey led the Tigers in scoring last season.
But for of all their scoring ability, they were two of the chief offenders from the line last season. The juniors shot almost a third of the Tigers’ free throws at only 55 percent. 
O’Bryant said he is the best basketball player he has ever been after a summer of traveling to camps across the country. Specifically, he mentioned his improved 15-foot jump shot, something that could translate to more success from the free-throw line.
In order to challenge for a spot in the tournament, LSU needs its highest volume scorers to be more reliable from the line. Sophomore guard Malik Morgan said the Tigers just need to focus to get better.
“That was just a lack of concentration on our part really … you can’t take them as a joke,” Morgan said. “It is all inside people’s heads. We have great shooters on the teams, all we need is the confidence to knock it down.”