free-throw shooting

Maybe the players in the men's basketball NCAA Tournament should have read the centerpiece Jerry Carino and I did last season on the importance of free-throw shooting in big games.

Some examples:

1) Illinois missed the front end of a one-and-one when trailing Virginia Tech by two in the final minutes of regulation.
2) Duke shot free throws hideously -- including a couple key misses down the stretch by go-to players Greg Paulus and Josh McRoberts -- in a loss to VCU.
3) Louisville missed two free throws trailing by one in the final minute of regulation. Virginia Tech left the door open with two misses of its own on the other end, but Louisville could not capitalize.
4) Pittsburgh's Levance Fields threw up two ugly bricks in a tie game with 2.1 seconds to go in regulation against VCU.
5) Winthrop blew a 20-point second-half lead against Notre Dame because it could not find a stroke at the stripe. The Eagles rallied to win in spite of their choke job.
6) Memphis coach John Calipari went on a ridiculous postgame rant about free throws, emphasizing the team's 31-3 record despite struggles at the line. He continued on, saying that the Tigers no longer practice free throws. Instead, the coach has his players visualize making them. That's fine, John. But when Sunday's game is on the line against Nevada in front of a national audience, you're going to have to visualize going to the Sweet 16 while Nevada celebrates a tight win.
7) The biggest blunder. Xavier was seconds from being crowned 2007's top Cinderella. All Justin Cage, an experienced senior leader, had to do to sink Ohio State was sink two free throws. He made the first, missed the second. The rest is history. And, depending on how far Ohio State winds up going, a defining moment in March lure.


Bernards' Catherine Carr, North Hunterdon's Amanda Tewksbury (now at the University of Maine), Rutgers Prep's Jess Foran (Moravian), Westfield's Mike Venezia, Bridgewater-Raritan's James McNally and Plainfield's Anthony Nelson could probably teach these guys a thing or two.