Free-Throw Follies in Washington: No Charity for the Wizards

It is no secret that the Washington Wizards are not winning games the way they were expected to. Blame it on turnovers, bad shots, or a lack of fire, but the fact is that they are missing the easiest shots in the game.

Free throws.

Logically speaking, an undefended, stationary, mid-range shot should be a cinch for any professional basketball player. It just never turns out that way.

The league average for free throw shooting is 76 percent. The Wizards are shooting 74 percent as a team from the free throw line, which is better than 12 other teams in the NBA, but not championship contender worthy.

The Wizards' regular starters, Gilbert Arenas, Nick Young, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, and Brendan Haywood, are a combined 73.4 percent from the free throw line.

That stat is skewed because Young has attempted only 21 free throws, making 19 of them which is good for 90 percent.

Arenas is just 72 percent, Jamison is 57 percent and Brendan Haywood is 64 percent from the free throw line. Butler is the only regular starter with a respectable percentage at 85 percent.

Is it more baffling that they are this bad or that they are greatly underachieving from the line?

Arenas, Young, Butler, Jamison, and Haywood are a combined 77 percent from the free throw line for the careers. That total would be good enough for top 10 in the league right now. While most of their problems this season can be traced collectively to chemistry and adjusting to Flip Saunders' offense, free throws, on the other hand, are an individual effort.

Out of 22 games the Wizards have played this season, 10 of them have been decided by four points or less. Washington missed 62 free throws in those 10 games and lost seven of them.

The Wizards have missed 30 free throws over their current five-game losing streak. Good teams don't miss that many free throws.

I can't say whether the Wizards have spent less time on free throws in practice than in previous year, but it looks that way in most of their games. It may be an effort to spend as much time as possible adjusting to Saunders' system, but the Wizards have been in a number of close games that free throws could have won them.

The Wizards have a lot of capable scorers on their roster, but when the best players available can't produce when they need to it doesn't matter how much money they're being paid.

There are 60 games left this season and the Wizards look a little better each week, even if it hasn't equated to wins yet. They have a road trip ahead of them, and every game is a must-win for this struggling team.