I am not sure if this was posted before and I know realgm is not a reliable source and all but i thought this was interesting. Alot of people are talking about K.Durant getting to the line alot and getting superstar calls. But I am shocked to find that 30% of his points are from the charity stripe. But what I am even more surprised is that K.Lowry is second at 34.7% of his points are from the line. Percentage of Total Points At Line 1. Chris Andersen: 36.6% 2. Kyle Lowry: 34.7% 3. Corey Maggette: 33.2% 4. Chauncey Billups: 32.7% 5. Dwight Howard: 32.1% 6. Kevin Martin: 31.5% 7. Kevin Durant: 30.6% 8. Gerald Wallace: 30.4% 9. Devin Harris: 28.5% 10. Paul Pierce: 28.5% Read more: http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archi...9_10_points_at_free_throw_line/#ixzz0laR2tqjm Also, this year 09-10 the rockets made 19 FT's per game. 08-09 Rockets made 18.7 Ft per game 07-08 Rockets made 16.4 Ft per game This leads me to believe DM values people that can get to the line alot. Also, this fits perfectly when Yao comes back. The reason I say this is that the rockets offense is now faster. Because of Yao's size he would tire easily. However if 20% of our points come from Ft, this will mean that 1 in every 5 possesion there would be a stoppage for FT. Thus allowing Yao to rest. Anyway, I know my assumptions are very basic so dont flame me please. I just thought it was interesting.
top 10 teams for 2009-2010 in FTM Denver 23.6 OKC 21.7 Utah 20.2 Cha 19.9 Pho 19.9 GSW 19.9 Toro 19.7 Memp 19.6 Port 19.6 Orlando 19.2
The reason DM values these guys so much is that late in the 4th quarter, with the Rox in the bonus, the opposition will have no effective way to stop Yao. Someone started a thread about this a while back (verse, maybe?), saying the NBA is going to eventually change the rule when the Rockets start abusing that loophole. Just like they made rule changes to thwart Rudy's successful use of ISO tactics.
Its not about just getting to the foul line, its about percentages. Yao and Martin are at the top of the league in terms of FT percentage. When you are in the penalty and Yao gets the ball, what do you do? You can't foul him, or its an automatic two points.
True, Yao doesnt get to the line very ofte. But his FT% is pretty high. That is what sets him apart from Dwight in my opinion. I guess my real concern and what I started to notice towards the end of the season is,with the trade to of KM, it seems that KL wasnt getting as many calls as he used to especially in transition. I wonder if the refs will purposely not call as many fouls for us because we have soo many people that draw the foul really well.
Good thread. No, Yao is not a big ft guy, but his percentages are always high. That's a positive for any big man in the league. Imagine if DD got his wish and had Corey Maggette on the team. We would be at the line even more.
It's not just free throws alone. The idea seems to be that getting in the penalty early with people like Martin/Lowry would allow Yao better freedom to operate in the post. I don't have any stats at all, but I wonder how many fouls Yao draws that do not result in free throws. This is where I think the Rockets might be looking. Post players in general often receive fouls that do no result in free throws, especially players like Yao who have to establish post position and are not able to get into an "and one" situation when they draw fouls. By getting in the penalty early, the pushing,two hand in the back fouls that Yao receive will either result in free throws, which are almost guaranteed points, or less agressive defense which allows Yao to establish the position that he seems to have problem with getting and gving the Rockets a chance for a higher percentage shot. And sans last year, Yao has been in the top 25 for free throw attempts per games, for the last four year, so I wouldn't say that he has never been a high ft guy. In fact, in 2006-7 he was #7, 2007-2008 # 13.
I'm not knocking the fact he shoots at a very high %, i'm saying going forward for a guy who will play less than 25mins a night and is more jump shooter than power player, there is a difference. When shaq and kobe played together, it was huge because shaq would always be tops in ft atts and this helped kobe alot because he was the closer. Even being a poor ft shooter, shaq was the constant bull in the china shop. Martin gets to the line pretty often also except in the 4th qt for some reason and in close games brooks will be in vs lowry. All in all, its good to have guy who can get to the line, but I've seen way too many times the rockets get into the penalty and settle for jumpers or yao shoots fade-aways.
How is that abusing the "loophole"? Are we supposed to change our #1 option on offense because he is ultra efficient? The hack a Shaq/Ben/Dampier is abusing a loophole. I know it can be a sound strategy, but to me its downright disgusting and I'd hope we never rely on that tactic.
Actually, Yao was 7th in Free Throws Attempted in 2006-07, 12th in 2007-08, and 26th in 2008-09. That's pretty good.
Before I disagree, I do agree that relying on Yao might be foolish at this point, and this whole strategy will not be very effective, if Yao is only playing 20/25 minutes. But right now I think the Rockets are expecting Yao to return to close to his original form at some point next year. I am not emphasizing his free throw shooting pct alone. I did mention that Yao has shown an ability to draw fouls and has ranked at the top of the league in regards to this. So Yao does draw fouls at a high rate. Fouls are not always drawn on agressive to the hoop moves. They can also be drawn on the jump shots/turn arounds that Yao does. You have to recognize that the defense changes when one team reaches the penalty, especially when it is early in a quarter. Yao/martin are not kobe/shaq but unlike kobe/shaq, they do not have to be as dominant since they have teammates who are probably superior to their Lakers counterparts. Getting in the penalty early can create situations for the whole team like Brooks/Scola/Lowry that might not have been there before. But right now, having the ability to draw fouls like Yao had previously does not seem very useful if he can't be on the court to create these opportunities so I am not sold on this plan unless Yao returns to form or we add another front court player of his type like a Bosh.
