They're Not Really Free If It Costs To Miss Them

One of my pet peeves is missing free throws. It's one thing to miss one here or there, but missing all the time is just atrocious, and I don't think there is any excuse for it. If you play in a professional basketball league and you can't shoot free throws, then you are either a) not practicing or b) in need of a coach to teach you how to shoot properly. There is no reason why the average man or woman, much less an NBA (or WNBA) player should miss free throws if they practice them.

I understand that sometimes nerves come into play, but seriously, if your free throw motion is automatic, you should only miss every once in a while. And if you are a paid professional, I'm going to need you to suck up the nerves.

What brought this on, you ask? Wednesday night's game between the Houston Rockets and the Detroit Pistons. In this game, the Rockets nearly set an NBA record for missed free throw shots. In fact, let's play a game. How many free throw shots did the Rockets miss? Was it:

a) 8 out of their first 9
b) 10 out of their first 11
c) 14 out of their first 15

If you guessed "c," you are correct! The Rockets ended up making 6 of 22 free throws and winning the game by 3. The only thing that saved them was even more atrocious shooting from the Pistons.

The Rockets worse offenders? No, not Yao Ming, who made half of his free throws. The worst free throw shooter of the night is a tie between Tracy McGrady, who went 0-5, and Bonzi Wells, who was 2-9. I can't tell if Bonzi should get points just for making 2 of his, or if the fact that McGrady shot less should spare him from the title.

Seriously, that kind of performance may get you the occasional win during the regular season but it will not get you very far in anyone's playoffs. Do they need to start incentivizing free throws in player contracts? They ought to be ashamed.