There are four types of shots Michigan coach Dusty May wants his players to take. Those include layups and dunks, catch-and-shoot threes, what he calls mastery shots — think junior center Aday Mara’s baby hook shot — and finally shots at the line.
Shots at the line, as May describes, are typically the highest points-per-possession shot. They also move the other team’s players into foul trouble while bringing your own team closer to the bonus. All in all, besides perhaps an uncontested jam, a trip to the charity stripe is a possession perfectly executed in May’s eyes.
The third-ranked Wolverines have been getting to the line, averaging the second most attempts per game in the Big Ten at 25.6. However, they haven’t been as consistent as they can be, ranking 15th in free throw percentage.
While a team issue, some players are more to blame than others. Out of anybody who receives consistent minutes, Mara’s 46.7% average from the line lies far near the bottom for not just Michigan but also the Big Ten as a whole. At 7-foot-3 with an offensive bag, smaller teams like McNeese and Oregon have relied on shooting fouls to limit his offensive production, to varying degrees of success. With a fundamental shooting motion, Mara’s difficulties from the line are more mental than mechanical.
“The pressure free throws, live play free throws, they all look great,” May said Jan. 5. “It’s 100% he’s overthinking it. He’s got a beautiful stroke. He’s going to make them. He’s got to figure out a way to separate all the distracting information.”
Though not optimal, Mara has recently demonstrated the ability to capitalize on his free throws, going 6-for-9 against the Ducks and 5-for-7 against Ohio State. As Michigan continues to dive into conference play, Mara’s ability at the line has the potential to define games. Against No. 7 Michigan State — yet another smaller team — ‘hack-a-Shaq’ strategies on Mara may be utilized into place at the tail end of matches if he continues to struggle from the stripe.
Though a bit disappointing, Mara is still an abnormally tall center. Struggling percentages aren’t completely expected for players like him, but they are accepted. Sophomore guard LJ Cason and junior guard Elliot Cadeau on the other hand, don’t have quite the same positional luxury.
Coming in, Cadeau was never adept from the line. Shooting 67% from the line last season at North Carolina and now only a touch higher at 67.9%, Cadeau’s continual subpar shooting from the line has been a bit surprising considering how he’s improved from three with the Wolverines. The shooting prowess is obviously there, but Cadeau simply hasn’t corralled it within the arc.
A successful free throw shooter his first year, Cason hit a sophomore slump. Nailing over 80% last year, Cason is now hitting just over 60%. Much the same as Cadeau, Cason has drastically improved his 3-point shot, but it hasn’t translated to the line. Especially as a player who garners a large portion of his points by driving into the lane and looking for contact, this middling figure from Cason removes the option to capitalize on every tough drive downhill.
An obviously volatile shot, Michigan doesn’t always struggle as a collective. Due to successful trips to the line, the Wolverines held on against TCU, almost avoided an upset against Wisconsin and won a top-five matchup against No. 5 Nebraska.
“I believe you make your own luck and you try to do the best you can to put yourself in position to win every single night,” May said Tuesday postgame against the Cornhuskers. “And then I thought our guys stepped up and made the free throws, especially winning time. And when you’re down four and five and three like we were, those are the hardest ones to make because they’re all so pressure filled. And our guys, they stepped up and made most of them.”
For a team that gets so many opportunities and has championship dreams, Michigan has to capitalize on what it can control. And as May wishes, that starts from getting and making shots from the line.
