Memo to John Calipari: Free-Throwing Shooting IS a Big Deal

Memphis Coach John Calipari has been on every sports talk show that will have him on saying that free throw shooting is overrated and not a big deal. I think he is the only one that truly believes those words. Allow me to offer up some examples of how Coach Calipari is just fooling himself. Allow me to use my beloved West Virginia Mountaineers, a Sweet 16 team, as the example.  On January 26, West Virginia lost to Georgetown by one. Georgetown shot 80% from the line while WVU shot just 52%. That came three nights after almost giving a game away to in-state rival Marshall. With 8:30 to go in the game WVU held a 12 point lead. The inability to make free throws allowed Marshall to make a comeback. WVU finished 11-28 (39%) from the line. West Virginia  then traveled to Pittsburgh in early February and lost by one on a buzzer beating three. WVU was 41% from the charity stripe while Pitt shot 62%.  Three games, two losses because of poor free throw shooting. I can hear the Memphis ... [link]