Poor free-throw shooting concerning?
Q >> When does the free throw percentage become a serious concern? Almost everyone is shooting bricks.
BENNETT >> The way it’s concerning is more so the way it’s impacting physicality and confidence about getting to the line. It’s a team-wide issue, but the topic really begins and ends with Aaron Gordon. Michael Malone has said recently he wants Gordon to seek trips to the line more aggressively. Even though he has attempted the second-most free throws on Denver’s roster so far, Gordon’s trips to the line are down significantly from last year, when he was building a strong All-star campaign.
He has attempted 50 foul shots in his first 18 games of 2023-24, making 26 of them.
In 2022-23, he reached 50 attempts during his 13th game and had attempted 80 through 18 games. Gordon is an effective bully-ball scorer when he’s inviting and playing through contact. In those 18 games, he was 61.3% at the line, still not great but a wide margin better than his current 52%. By the turn of the calendar, he was averaging more than 17 points through 30 games. He’s closer to his career average right now at 13.1 per game.
It speaks to the wider trend that is the Nuggets’ inability to get to the stripe: They’re averaging the third-fewest foul shots per game as a team (19.5) and the fewest per game on the road (17.1), amounting to an Nbaworst 70.8% mark (69.4% on the road).
“We’re leaving a lot of points on the foul line,” Malone said. “And you’re in a lot of close games. Very rarely will you just blow teams out. So when games are close, it’s a one- or two-possession game, you don’t want to keep the opposing team in the game because of all these missed free throws. The hard thing is the schedule hasn’t really helped us get in the gym and have any practice, but I do know guys are getting in the gym individually and getting their reps in. And I hope that sooner or later, we’ll find a rhythm.”
Michael Porter Jr. is 5% below his career average; Reggie Jackson is 20% below his; Nikola Jokic is worse than 80% for the first time in his career, even after getting back on track recently.
Q>> So should Reggie Jackson be named to the ALL-NBA team? Before you say no, how could Murray be named (ALL-NBA) with similar stats?
BENNETT >> Well, the whole point is Murray couldn’t be named ALL-NBA with those stats right now. You’re referring to the fact that Jackson averaged 16.3 points in his 13 starts while replacing Murray, the exact same scoring total Murray was averaging before his return from multiple injuries Wednesday night. Not only that, but Jackson achieved that average on better shooting (53.8% from the field).
The point of the stat is to illustrate the commendable job Jackson did filling a void that, before this season, was probably fair to question whether he could handle.
Murray is one of the best guards in the NBA, and Jackson was someone who wasn’t cracking Denver’s rotation during the playoffs a few months ago. It’s hard to overstate how timely his offensive resurgence has been.
That doesn’t mean 16.3 points per game are ALL-NBA numbers. Now that Murray is seemingly healthy, he faces a steep uphill battle if he wants to reach that achievement, both in terms of usage and statistics.