Part of the problem at the rim was due to Michigan's defense, which I expect ACC teams paid close attention to. For those of you that didn't see the game, Michigan's defense was based on stopping penetration by Cat Barber. Not only by packing the interior with helpers, but by obviously giving up rebounds to get back on defense. Cat only got two shots at the rim, making one, and consequently didn't shoot a free throw until the final minute of the game. The defense gave him 2-point jumpers all night and he came out of his slump by making 5 of 10. Unfortunately, the rest of the team went 1-for-10.
I'm sure future opponents have noticed that we are shooting 30% on field goals beyond four feet. Cutting Cat's penetration was a good strategy to limit layups and fouls, especially on a night when Abu was off. (Those two lead the team by far in shots made at the rim.)
After 7 games: (little numbers are national ranking)
Only 27% of our shots are threes -- that's good for 318th in the nation. We only have two guys who shoot from the arc -- Caleb and Maverick have taken 89% of our attempts and they are the only two guys to hit one. Overall we're shooting 31% from the arc.Two-point jumpers are even worse. We're only hitting 30% on jumpers, and they account for almost 35% of the shots we take. Cat takes almost twice as many as anyone else and he's been in a slump, hitting only 19 of 61. Abu is 8 for 32, Rowan is 11 of 25, and the Martins are collectively 7 of 28. See the trend?
Some of my friends criticize our inside game, but I don't think that's the main problem. A very respectable 38% of our shots are taken at the rim, and we're hitting a very respectable 60%. Interestingly, the three big guys are hitting 60% and everyone else is hitting 60% too. The biggest problem here, per the Michigan game, is that Cat and Abu lead the team in attempts and makes at the rim and a combination of a bad night and defense can affect us dramatically. (We only hit 43% at the rim last night.)
We've alleviated our shooting woes to some extent with free throws. We've attempted 202 free throws to our opponents' 122 -- that's more than 10 extra free throws per game. Even with shooting only 64% that has produced 43 more points. To put it another way, a whopping 27% of our total points have come from the line.
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