WITHOUT a doubt, free throws have been University of Santo Tomas' Achilles heel in UAAP Season 88, with 194 makes in 329 attempts 11 games into the elimination round.
Shooting just 58.97-percent from the stripe has played a part in the Growling Tigers' untimely four-game slump now in the stretch run of the tournament, which has since jeopardized its Final Four bid.
That skid thankfully ended with a 109-97 rout of University of the East on Wednesday, but their free throw shooting still isn’t where they want it to be.
READ: UST reignites playoff flame after running over also-ran UE
The black-and-gold went 24-of-39 from the line against the Red Warriors, good for a 61.53-percent clip — only a few counts above their season average so far.
That slight improvement, however, is still something to be celebrated, with captain Nic Cabañero crediting it to their newly tweaked pregame routine, which now includes a stronger emphasis on free throws.
According to UST deputy coach Japs Cuan, it wasn’t part of their usual pregame practice to zero in on free throws.
But ahead of their matchup against UE — desperate to end their losing streak — they made an exception.
“Kung nakita niyo before the game kanina, we’re just enjoying it, we just shoot free throws like that. Malaking boost sa confidence ‘yun in making those shots,” said Cabañero, who went 5-of-9 from the line against the red-and-white.
“We need to have trust sa kung sino ‘yung titira ng free throw. Dapat we will believe that he can make it.”
For the 22-year-old guard, it’s an area that has required constant improvement. He shot 50-of-94 (53.19 percent) in his sophomore year, 52-of-84 (61.9 percent) last season, and is now 30-of-53 (56.6 percent) after 11 games in the elimination round.
He knows there’s still plenty of work to be done to fine-tune his - and their - 15-foot shooting.
“Kahit this game nga, mababa ‘yung percentage namin sa free throws, pero we still believe na maaangat namin ‘yung comfort zone namin mula sa pagiging mahina sa free throws,” he added.
Collins calling
It’s been a more concerning story for Collins Akowe, who has historically shot below 50-percent in his last two juniors seasons.
He went 76-of-167 (45.51 percent) in Season 86 and 65-of-131 (49.62 percent) in Season 87 before improving to 61-of-113 (53.98 percent) with three games left in his first year in the seniors level.
With 16 makes in 30 tries over his last two outings, Akowe believes he’s finally trending in the right direction as far as free throws go.
“After practice, before practice, we shoot free throws together as a team and not just individually. We want that unity; we need to stay together during these tough times,” he said.
“I’m kind of happy because 24-of-39 [free throws] is still something, it’s still progress. Coming into our games, we’ll keep working and hopefully it gets better from there.”
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