So Fair and Foul a day I have not seen.....

I think we are getting near my review of the men's basketball season.  Sometime came out of looking at the four factors and what role they played in BG winning that I thought was interesting.  It has to do with getting to the free throw line...and it was something BG was not good at.

These numbers are for conference games only...BG was...

• Last in MAC, creating 16 fouls per game (21st lowest in D1)
• Last in MAC, 182 FTs Made (316th in D1)
• 11th in MAC in Fts attempted with 311 (271st in D1)
• 8th in MAC in FG% (67%), (247th in D1)
• 10th in FT Point %, 307th in D1.

So, the picture is not good.  BG simply didn't force teams to foul them, which resulted in BG getting fewer and making fewer free throws than almost everyone in our conference.  And, for that matter, BG was among the worst teams in D1 at getting to the line and making free throws.  This might not have been too bad if BG was a good FT team, but the Falcons were somewhat below average in that category too.

BG wants to play inside out, and part of that is getting fouled near the basket and converting the free throws.  Simply put, BG does not have the players who can create fouls in the paint...and that makes it more difficult to put up winning point totals...and when you don't shoot especially well and maybe turn the ball over a little...well, its tough to win like that.

I'm guessing that if BG was fouled more, it would be in the place of 2FG attempts.  Extending the logic, it stands to reason that on those possessions now we get inside and are guarded, and if we were harder to guard we'd he fouled on what would otherwise be decent shot attempts...in other words, tough shot attempts would be replaced by better FG attempts and more FTs...probably a few less turnovers too.

So, as the team heads into the off-season, they are going to hve to figure out how to score more consistently.  Most of that will be by shooting better...but, creating fouls would be a huge improvement.