The Warriors have some of the most deadly shooters in the NBA in Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, but they have one particular player who has a difficult time hitting his free throws. Andrew Bogut shot 34 percent from the charity stripe last season, which is unacceptable for an NBA player. Bogut has been over 50 percent for most of his career, but now he must try something different to improve his shot.
Bogut was brought to Golden State for his impact on the defensive end, but he could become a liability on offense if he us unable to convert his free throws. Bogut has worked hard to improve his shot, but nothing has worked for him and now he must try something different. Bogut tried shooting with his free throws with his left hand in their last pre-season game against the Lakers to try and see if that improves his percentage:
Andrew Bogut shoote les lancers francs main gauche by BasketInfos
Unfortunately, it didn’t work for Bogut, he missed both free throws and came away empty handed. According to Jack Winter of Dime Magazine, although Bogut missed both shots, he should continue pursuing ways of improving his shot or the rest of the league might use that to their advantage in the regular season:
Those didn’t look pretty, but Bogut has nothing to lose at this point. He became an outright liability at times last season due to his deficient free throw shooting, as teams more frequently intentionally fouled him and sent him to the line to keep the Warriors from playing offense. It didn’t happen as much as it did for Andre Drummond or DeAndre Jordan, but it seems only a matter of time until the league wises up and adjusts.
Bogut only shot 64 free throws in 67 games played last season, which means the rest of the NBA didn’t apply the “Hack-a-Shaq” tactic. That could quickly change, especially with the Warriors in the limelight this season. Maybe Bogut should consult with Rick Barry and adapt his style of shooting, it can’t get any worse.