Is Charlie Villanueva contact shy?
Immediately following Milwaukee's first round ouster by the Detroit Pistons I criticized Bucks SF Bobby Simmons because he did not get to the foul line enough. His "basket attack" ratio (FTs attempted/ FGs attempted) for last season was a paltry 22.3%.
I just calculated new Bucks PF Charlie Villanueva's basket attack ratio. I almost got sick to my stomach. It was 15.79%, which was the lowest among all of the projected starters in the Central Division. The really weird part is Villanueva is not one of these 'sit outside the arc and keep my jersey clean' players. 40% of his shots were "inside shots" as categorized by 82games.com. So how do you only get to the line 15% of the time? When you're in that close, shouldn't you be getting fouled more than that just by accident? I need some help solving this one (paulpressey25, Cheesehead, Sam from 5-point, et. al. -- I need theories).
The good news is this could be an aberration. I went back and looked at Villanueva's college statistics, and his basket attack ratio in his final season at UConn was a robust 46.5%, and it was a very respectable 38.8% for his entire college career. That's more like it.
One thing is certain. Next season the Bucks, as a team, need to make a concerted effort to get to the foul line more often. They can't constantly play uphill as they had to against the Pistons and expect to be successful.
posted by Ty Will @ Tuesday, July 25, 2006
2 Comments:
Here's my theory, which I shall call CV FT Theory #1:
With Bosh on the inside, the offense was geared to go through him. Thus CV did not have the pressure of driving to the hoop and creating contact. Also, the Raptors shot the 3 the 4th most in the NBA. If the team has a jump shooting mentality, the drives to the rim (and thus the fouls) don't come as often to a guy who is the #2 option when the team does go inside.
I'm not so worried about a player who in his first year in the league next to a superstar down low not get his FT attempts. Rookies don't understand that part of the game for the most part. As he gets more comfortable in the NBA and his role, they will come. I am more concerned about Simmons who is supposed to be a slasher, not getting his FT.
Good points Cheesehead Craig... I might also add that rookies are notorious for not getting calls in the paint. If CV keeps progessing, like he should, then a lot of these no calls in the paint, will turn into free throw oppportunites.
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