“UK can’t shoot free-throws!”….an old complaint that fans are rambling about again.  Here’s the thing and there are several points made by Kentucky Sports Radio…

“The problem is when you actually dig into free throws and their impact on a game, you find out that under Calipari, UK teams haven’t really lost many games “because of free throws”.  Cal’s loss in the national title game with Memphis forever tainted him as bad on free throws.  And it truly did cost him in that game.  But at Kentucky, just how many games has UK lost because of them?  Well, here’s a little research for you.  Below are the actual free throw shooting percentages for UK in each year under Calipari:

2009-10: 68.0% (207th nationally)
2010-11: 71.0% (96th nationally)
2011-12: 72.3% (68th nationally)
2012-13: 64.2% (314th nationally)
2013-14: 68.2% (242nd nationally)
2014-15: 72.6% (71st nationally)

Some good years, some bad, and one historically bad year in 2012-13.  But just how many of the losses under Cal could have been prevented with better free throw shooting.  Well, and follow me here, I would say a really good free throw shooting team is one that ranks in the Top 50 nationally.  Below are the free throw shooting percentages for the team that ranked 50th in each year:

2009-10: 72.8%
2010-11: 73.5%
2011-12: 73.1%
2012-13: 73.2%
2013-14: 73.4%
2014-15: 72.7%

Now, looking at the losses in the Cal era, just how many would have been changed if UK had shot that percentage above in the game they lost?  The answer is 6 losses. 

2010-11: at Alabama, lost 68-66 (shot 13-22 from foul line)
2010-11: UCONN (Final Four), lost 56-55 (shot 4-12 from foul line)
2011-12: at Indiana, lost 73-72 (shot 10-17 from foul line)
2012-13: at Louisville, lost 80-77 (shot 11-23 from foul line)
2013-14: Michigan State (Champions Classic), lost 78-74 (shot 20-36 from foul line)
2013-14: at Arkansas, lost 87-85 (shot 26-40 from foul line)

6 losses out of the 39 in the John Calipari era should you really have a legitimate argument UK could have won with better foul shooting.  Because if you are arguing that UK should shoot better than a Top 50 foul shooting team nationally, then you are just an unrealistic boob.  In fact, in TWENTY of Cal’s 39 losses, even if UK had shot 100% from the foul line, they still would have lost the game.

Here is the point, and really there are 2 points.  First off, UK has had a mixed bag of results when it comes to foul shooting, but they certainly are not as bad as people like to point out under Cal.  Half of his teams over 70%.  But more importantly, when arguing how much of an impact they have on a game, it simply comes down to perspective.  If you think that UK should shoot 80% from the foul line and if they don’t then that lost them the game, then we just have to disagree.  I think UK should attempt to shoot whatever the team ranked 50th in the country shoots.  By that standard, UK has lost very few games, basically one a year, due to poor free throw shooting.  And to me, that says there are many other bigger problems to worry about than this.”