Şengün's free throw woes are concerning. Can he overcome this weakness, following Ingram's path, or will it hinder his Rockets' playoff hopes?
Every year we see NBA players make leaps and bounds in their game. Putting in work throughout the offseason, plus learning and adapting on the fly in the regular and now postseason. From obvious stats, to things that might not even show up in a box score, I find it important to keep track of those things.
While different guys work on different parts of their games, one of the less commonly looked at stats is free throw percentage. Maybe it’s just me, but it’s hard to think of individual players who have greatly improved there.
I think of people trending in the wrong direction. Russell Westbrook only shot below 80-percent one time in his first nine seasons, with his sophomore year finishing at 78-percent, per Basketball-Reference.
What was a career low for the first half of his career would be a career high in the second half. His last time shooting above 70-percent for a season was with the 2020 Rockets.
Brandon Ingram is one player on the opposite end of the spectrum though. He shot 66.2-percent through three seasons with the Lakers, before immediately improving to above 85-percent and never really looked back. His averages definitely never dropped back to how poorly he was shooting in LA.
This can give hope to Rockets fans, as it’s a part of Alperen Şengün’s game that desperately needs to be improved. Currently shooting 69.9-percent through five seasons, it’s not too late to make improvements, but it is getting concerning.
I don’t expect any changes this postseason, so don’t be surprised if we get an ugly first round. The Rockets and Lakers are tied with Detroit for the fourth worst free throw percentages this season, per ESPN.