Florida Gators Basketball: Positive Takeaways From Loss To Gonzaga
4. Free Throw Shooting
During the 2015-16 college basketball season, the Florida Gators were No. 331 in the country in free throw percentage at .647. Florida was also No. 104 at 15.9 free throws made per game despite being No. 41 at 24.7 free throw attempts per contest.
Against the Gonzaga Bulldogs, the Gators shot 22-of-24 from the free throw line—an awe-inspiring mark of 91.7 percent.
Canyon Barry's underhanded free throw style (after dad Rick's style) comes to BWA when Florida plays @RazorbackMBB on December 29th: pic.twitter.com/a1XrDiJer4
— HogStats.com (@HogStats) November 26, 2016
It’s highly unlikely that Florida will shoot above 90 percent from the free throw line in 2016-17. Nevertheless, it’s encouraging to note that the Gators have shot 75 percent or better in four of six games, including two games above 80 percent and another at 79.2.
In the two exceptions, Florida hit 19 free throws at a clip of 65.5 percent and sank 21 free throws on 72.4 percent shooting.
Whether or not the shots are falling, the Gators are doing an outstanding job of creating contact and getting to the line. With better free throw shooters and an offseason of emphasizing improvement, the results are trending in Florida’s favor.
If the Gators can consistently sit around 75 percent from the free throw line or better, this team will be difficult to stop.