Importance of Free-Throws at Various Stages of Basketball Games
- 1 February 1994
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Perceptual and Motor Skills
- Vol. 78 (1), 243-248
- https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1994.78.1.243
Abstract
Basketball coaches often refer to their teams' success or failure as a product of their players' performances at the free-throw line. In the present study, play-by-play records of 490 NCAA Division I men's basketball games were analyzed to assess the percentage of points scored from free-throws at various stages of the games. About 20% of all points were scored from free-throws. Free-throws comprised a significantly higher percentage of total points scored during the last 5 minutes than the first 35 minutes of the game for both winning and losing teams. Also, in the last 5 minutes of 246 games decided by 9 points or less and 244 decided by 10 points or more, winners scored a significantly higher percentage of points from free-throws than did losers. Suggestions for structuring practice conditions are discussed.Keywords
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