Free Throws Are Not Our Friends
On consecutive nights, Seattle basketball teams got stymied by events at the free throw line. On Sunday night, the Husky men lost a heartbreaker to Stanford after Stanford's Chris Hernandez hit three free throws to tie the game and send it into overtime.
Monday night, the Sonics were down 106-101, late, with the Blazers' Jarrett Jack at the free throw line. He missed them both--but the Blazers' Theo Ratliff snared the rebound over the Sonics' Robert Swift, and the Blazers got two more chances at the line. They converted both, assuring a win.
The free throw was not part of James Naismith's original 13 rules of basketball. But it has been around since at least 1895, when the free throw line was established in its current location, 15 feet from the basket. Ted St. Martin is the current world record holder for consecutive free throws made--he hit 5,221 in a row. One of the worst free-throw shooters in history was Chris Dudley, who retired with a 45.8% success rate at the line. Mark Price's 90.4% is the NBA's all-time best.
