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• Lodi-area dairies feel the pinch of reduced prices and lower demand

• A neighborhood in Lodi considers redevelopment

• State furloughs barely make an impact on Lodi

• Norman Ezell: He's fighting cancer — and writing books

• False burglary report leads to three gun, drug arrests

• Regional Roundup

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

• Regional Roundup

February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

• Baboon business

• Regional Roundup

• Several Lodi venues let you watch the Super Bowl in style

• Lodi Library celebrates 100 years of serving the community

• Culinary craft

February 5th, 2010

• Kids, teachers help Haiti by collecting pennies for Learning Link

• Lodi, Galt students reach out to help Haiti earthquake survivors

• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam

• Hours of sweat and work go into putting on crab feeds

• Things looking up for state's real estate

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Stray bullet strikes Lodi home; police suspect gang activity may be factor

February 4th, 2010

• Managers at Geweke Toyota answer questions about recall

• Lodi City Council votes to replace play structure at Century Park

• Lodi extends ban on pot shops for another year

• Mokelumne River triathlon set for June

• Family, friends to run half-marathon in memory of Galt family

February 3rd, 2010

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• Lodi-area senators Dave Cox, Lois Wolk admit to gifts; Tom Berryhill case pending

• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts

• Galt City Council avoids budget cuts — for now

• New Lodi Memorial Hospital emergency room opens to the public without a hitch

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

February 2nd, 2010

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Jumpers across California

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

February 1st, 2010

• Find cuddly alpacas not too far from Lodi

• Public Meetings

• Patients can expect faster, better service when Lodi Memorial Hospital's new emergency room opens

• Man killed by Amtrak train in Lodi

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (75)
• President Obama's first year (67)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future (60)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (49)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (43)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen (31)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (31)

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Prep players are struggling at the line and it's costing their teams

It's just the shooter, the ball and the hoop.

As uncontested shots, free throws are supposed to be just that — free points.

Players have a basketball eternity of 10 seconds to shoot the 15-foot shot, which provides a chance to make opponents pay for committing a foul.

Instead, for many teams, free throws are turning into costly misses that lose games. Area high school boys and girls basketball teams are averaging around 50 percent from the line. Most coaches say they would like to see that percentage in the high-60s and 70s, like the averages found in college and the NBA.

So why are prep percentages so low?

Many coaches believe the game is changing and free throws are no longer a priority for today's players. Others say players lack confidence at the line and struggle with the pressure. Some blame a different style of basketball emerging on the court, or even new gyms.

Lodi girls head coach Erin Aitken says when her players shoots free throws without consequences at practice, they hit around 70 percent. Under pressure situations, like in a game, or when running is on the line at practice, it drops 25-30 percent.

"It is mental for our kids," she said. "Pressure has a lot to do with it. Getting focused and settling in and having confidence. A lot of them just aren't confident in themselves."

Bob Thomason, the head basketball coach for the University of the Pacific men's team, said free-throw shooting changes depending on the makeup of a team. If a squad has a few guards who are great at the line and get fouled a lot, the team will obviously have more free-throw success. If a team relies on a big man who doesn't fair so well at the charity stripe, the percentage drops.

"Some players are great at free throws," he said. "Most are not."

Lodi varsity boys head coach Dave Nutting believes the success rate at the line is down for one main reason.

"It's the 3-point line. When the kids go out, they don't go out and work on free throws," he said. "When they go out, 3-pointers are what they practice. They don't put the time in on free throws."

Aitken and Galt girls varsity head coach Brandon Fletcher believe the struggles to convert at the line is influenced by many factors. While they do shoot free throws at practice, they don't have enough time to shoot as many as they would like. They insist players need to shoot them on their own time.

Both coaches also think free-throw shooting correlates with a team's overall ability to shoot and that has decreased. Aitken, whose team is shooting 54.1 percent at the line this year, even believes the game has changed in recent years.

"People don't necessarily work on fundamentals anymore. You watch a lot of teams and it is like run and gun, run and gun, shoot the 3, shoot the 3. You aren't really working on anything else," Aitken said.

Getting to the free-throw line isn't a problem for Aitken's Flames as they average over 20 free throws a game. Like many teams, not capitalizing on their opportunities has cost them wins this season.

Lodi boys frosh-soph coach Bobby Wheeler has another theory on free-throw struggles. With an abundance of new gyms being built at high schools, brand-new hoops and rims are also being put in. Wheeler believes the new rims, which are tighter and less forgiving than a worn-in rim, may result in more bricks.

Practice makes perfect

One consistent theme basketball coaches say is key to making free throws is repetition. To be a good free-throw shooter, players have to shoot a lot of free throws.

Most teams shoot free throws at end of practice and often in a make-them-or-run situation.

Tokay varsity girls head coach Cip Sanchez says his girls shoot about 200 each day, which is more than most teams. He dedicates time to practice shooting form, has free-throw competitions and incorporates free throws into drills.

Sanchez describes himself as a good free-throw shooter who practices frequently. He's won a free-throw contest in Galt, ordered a how-to DVD and even bought free-throw expert Dr. Tom Amberry's book on how to be successful at the line. (Amberry is the Guinness Book of World Record holder with 2,750 free throws made in a row. Amberry, who says he shoots 500 free throws a day, did it at age 71 and never missed. His streak only ended because the gym had to close.)

Using Amberry's technique, Sanchez has hit 67 free throws in a row. He just can't get the makes to transfer to his team. Sanchez says the Tigers shoot about 50 percent in practice, but in games this year it has dropped down to 39.6.

However, Sanchez doesn't believe there is a trend of lower percentages at the free-throw line.

"The game is improving tremendously on the girls side," he said. "Everything is raising."

The Elliot Christian boys squad has faired better at the line this year, according to Eagle head coach Mike Turpin. Turpin says his team is shooting around 60 percent.

"I think free throws are all about having a good routine and being confident," he said. "I just think you gotta have confidence in yourself when you get to the free-throw line."

Mind games

Some coaches are at a loss on what to do to improve from the line. Fletcher has a free-throw game in which his girls have to make as many free throws as he does. If they match or do better, practice is over. If they miss, it's running time.

"I am trying to teach them that you have to match your opponent at the line," he said. "... If they make them, they can get out of poor situations, but if they miss them, then it puts them further into a hole."

Tokay varsity boys assistant coach George Liepart says the Tigers' coaching staff has tried all sorts of drills, including visualization exercises to work on the mental part of free-throw shooting, but Tokay is shooting 56 percent at the line this season.

"It is weird because we work on them every day," he said. "We make sure the free throws are shot when they are really exhausted and try to replicate late-game situations so they are mentally prepared and they can make them when the game is on the line."

The mental aspect of free-throw shooting is a major factor players and coaches attribute to their difficulty. Galt junior Brittany West says she doesn't think they are that hard, but it's difficult to get back on track after one is missed.

"You go through patches where you can't shoot them. For some reason there is something wrong and you can never do it. Then, for two games, you'll make everyone. Then you'll miss them all the next game," she said. "I think it is mental. As soon as you miss one, you are like 'crap, I am out of my streak.'"

Contact reporter Joelle Milholm at joellem@lodinews.com.