Foul play

Shaq's a regular at the line, but what's Rasho's excuse?

By John Hollinger, SI.com

Shaquille O'Neal spends half the game at the free-throw line, or so it seems. He has attempted 688 in just 62 games this year, an average of more than 11 tries a game.

Shaq gets the ball a lot, obviously, and that's part of the reason he's at the line so much. But is he the best at getting to the line, or are there other players more adept at drawing whistles? And who are the NBA's anti-Shaqs-- the guys who never get to the foul line?

Free throw tries per field goal attempt Minimum 250 FGA Player  Team  Team  Haywood  Was  0.74  Collins  NJ  0.72  Ostertag  Uta  0.61  Chandler  Chi  0.60  Kirilenko  Uta  0.60  O'Neal  LAL  0.59  Stoudemire  Phx  0.59  Hilario  Den  0.56  B. Miller  Ind  0.54  Swift  Mem  0.52

To answer that, let's look at the guys who get the most free throws from each shot attempt. It's a real simple equation, for once: Free throw attempts divided by field goal attempts. But it tells us a lot about how players are taking advantage of the charity stripe.

First, for the best. Normally, I set a minimum number of minutes a player should play to qualify for my lists, but in this case, it seems more appropriate to base it on field goal attempts. So I have only included players with at least 250 tries from the line this season.

As the chart above shows, Shaq is way up the list, but he isn't quite the best when it comes to converting shots into field goal attempts. Washington's Brendan Haywood, who has a nice head fake and zero range, is constantly hacked when he tries to convert the opportunities he gets around the basket. Jason Collins of New Jersey is also way up the list, and his twin brother Jarron in Utah was there too before a knee injury ended his season and left him short of the minimum attempts.

FTA/FGA: Little guys Minimum 250 FGA Player  Team  Team  Kirilenko  Uta  0.60  Maggette  LAC  0.52  Williams  Bos  0.48  Jefferson  NJ  0.47  Pierce  Bos  0.47  Hill  Orl  0.47  Francis  Hou  0.46  Snow  Phi  0.46  Stockton  Uta  0.46  Boykins  GS  0.44

You'll notice that, other than spaghetti-armed Andrei Kirilenko of Utah, the list consists entirely of big men who are around the basket most of the time. So now let's look at the little guys -- small forwards and guards -- who excel at getting to the stripe.

Perhaps the biggest surprise on the list is all the way at the bottom -- 5-foot-5 inch Earl Boykins of Golden State, who still manages to get nearly one foul shot for every two field goal attempts. Steve Francis of Houston has the best rate of any point guard, narrowly edging Eric Snow and John Stockton.

But enough about the highest rates. The other question we're looking to answer is who are the guys who aren't getting to the foul line enough?

FTA/FGA: The worst Minimum 250 FGA Player  Team  Team  Shaw  LAL  0.05  House  Mia  0.08  Peeler  Min  0.08  Atkins  Det  0.10  Griffin  Dal  0.10  Cheaney  Uta  0.10  J. Jackson  Sac  0.11  Fox  LAL  0.12  J. Jones  Cle  0.12  Nesterovic  Min  0.12

If you're looking for an anti-Shaq, you needn't look far: His teammates Brian Shaw and Rick Fox fit the bill nicely. This list is dominated by jump-shooting guards, not surprisingly, but a few names jump out. For instance, Jim Jackson of Sacramento has been far too content to shoot jumpers rather than overpower smaller guards in the post, and as a result he visits the line about as often as penguins alight in Nebraska.

The most incorrigible free throw avoider, however, is Minnesota's seven-footer Rasho Nesterovic. The Timberwolves' big man somehow has only taken 89 free throws all season, despite getting 30 minutes a night in the low post.

Since both the best and worst lists contain so many guys who are secondary scorers, let's take another look at the charts, but with a twist. I redid the top 10 and bottom 10, using only players who average at least 15 points a game, to reflect the rankings among key scorers.

FTA per FGA: Best and worst among scorers
Minimum 15 PPG
BEST	Team	Rate	-	WORST	Team	Rate
Shaquille O'Neal	LAL	0.59	- -	Baron Davis	NO	0.15
Corey Maggette	LAC	0.52	-	Antoine Walker	Bos	0.18
Pau Gasol	Mem	0.52	-	Bobby Jackson	Sac	0.19
Karl Malone	Uta	0.48	-	Latrell Sprewell	NY	0.19
Richard Jefferson	NJ	0.47	-	Michael Finley	Dal	0.19
Paul Pierce	Bos	0.47	-	Michael Redd	Mil	0.20
Zyrdrunas Ilgauskas	Cle	0.47	-	Shawn Marion	Phx	0.20
Shareef Abdur-Rahim	Atl	0.46	-	Vince Carter	Tor	0.21
Steve Francis	Hou	0.46	-	Michael Jordan	Was	0.21
Tim Duncan	SA	0.45	-	Mike Miller	Mem	0.22

Baron Davis of New Orleans is the surprising owner of the worst free throw rate among NBA players; of course, if you shot free throws like he did you might not want to go to the line either. Boston mad bomber Antoine Walker and another Jackson from Sacramento round out the top three. The top 10 includes at least two other players -- Vince Carter and Mike Miller -- that have been criticized for settling for too many jumpers, and a few others -- Michael Finley, Latrell Sprewell and Walker -- who are just as guilty but have managed to avoid the daggers.

At the top, this list shows much more than the previous one how adept Shaq is at reaching the charity stripe; among top scorers, nobody else is even close. For every shot attempt, he gets to the line more than three times as much as Antoine Walker and nearly quintuples Rasho Nesterovic. And even when he's only making 57 percent, those additional free thows add up very quickly on the scoreboard.

John Hollinger covers the NBA for SI.com and is the author of Pro Basketball Prospectus.

 

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