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Has anyone here noticed Russell Westbrook's massive drop in free throw percentage?
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Season     Tm   G  GS   MP eFG%  FT  FTA  FT%  PTS
2008-09   OKC  82  65 32.5 .414 4.3  5.2 .815 15.3
2009-10   OKC  82  82 34.3 .428 4.0  5.1 .780 16.1
2010-11   OKC  82  82 34.7 .454 6.5  7.7 .842 21.9
2011-12   OKC  66  66 35.3 .481 5.2  6.3 .823 23.6
2012-13   OKC  82  82 34.9 .470 5.6  7.0 .800 23.2
2013-14   OKC  46  46 30.7 .480 5.3  6.4 .826 21.8
2014-15   OKC  67  67 34.4 .455 8.1  9.8 .835 28.1
2015-16   OKC  80  80 34.4 .489 5.8  7.2 .812 23.5
2016-17   OKC  81  81 34.6 .476 8.8 10.4 .845 31.6
2017-18   OKC  80  80 36.4 .477 5.2  7.1 .737 25.4
2018-19   OKC  26  26 34.5 .464 3.4  5.6 .607 21.0
Career        774 757 34.4 .464 5.8  7.2 .808 22.9

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/30/2018.

2017-18 - 5.2/7.1 free throws per game; 73.7% free throw shooting percentage
2018-19 - 3.4/5.6 free throws per game; 60.7% free throw shooting percentage

The reason is due to a rule change from 2017 and it has forced Westbrook to change his free throw routine. He clearly has no rhythm from the free throw line this season. If this persists, watch for the Hack-A-Russ to occur a lot over the rest of the regular season and especially the playoffs.

Quote:

How new NBA rules have messed up Russell Westbrook's free throw shooting | Mirror Link: http://archive.li/sjXV7

by Jack Maloney @jackmaloneycbs Oct 26, 2017

[...]

One area where he's really struggling, however, is at the free throw line. A career 82.2 percent shooter from the stripe, Westbrook is just 10 of 18 (55.6 percent) from the line through the first four games. The reason? The NBA changed the delay of game rules over the summer. In an effort to speed up the game, the referees now assess a delay of game violation if a player goes past the 3-point line in between foul shots.

Doing just that has been Westbrook's routine for over a decade. And as he explained after Wednesday night's win over the Pacers, not being able to do his usual routine is messing him up.

[/url]

Westbrook's full explanation:

Russell Westbrook Wrote:

I used to shoot and walk back behind the 3, and I'm not allowed to do that because of this new rule. I've been doing that since high school. Just gotta figure it out, figure out a different routine where I can take some time, take a deep breath, and figure it out. But I'll be alright.

The general idea of the new delay of game rules are messing up Westbrook's free throw percentage may sound a little goofy, but his explanation makes perfect sense. So much of having success as a basketball player is about feeling comfortable and being in rhythm. Especially on free throws where so much of the shot is mental. For Westbrook to lose the comfort of a routine he's been doing for over a decade, it's easy to see why that would throw him off.

But with how talented he is, and how good of a free throw shooter he's been in the past, he should be able to solve this problem without too much trouble.

[color=#6B8E23;">&gt]>But with how talented he is, and how good of a free throw shooter he's been in the past, he should be able to solve this problem without too much trouble.[/color]

(11-15-2014 09:06 AM)Russell Westbrook Wrote: [url=https://rooshvforum.network/post-880507.html#pid880507] 

This new free throw routine is not going in the direction I was hoping for.

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"What did Karl Malone mutter to himself before he shoots his free throws?" #261