Free Woes

I certainly hope this trend changes, but the Wolves have given away all three games at the free throw line. They've outrebounded two of their three opponents and are only averaging 13 turnovers per game, which is quite good considering the teams youth. But the fouls and the free throw disparity is attrocious. They've attempted 54 freethrows compared to their opponents 121, and have been outscored there 89-38.

Versus Denver the Wolves were 14/19 compared to the Nuggets 28/38. They were outscored at the free throw line by 14 and lost the game by 8.

Against Orlando they were 18/15 to the Magic's 31/44. They lost the game by 8 while being outscored at the line by 13.

And to top it off, the game against the Knicks was glaringly bad. The Wolves were 6/10 compared to 30/39. They lost by 4 and got crushed at the free throw line by 24. If that difference is even a third, the Wolves win that game.

I know that they're young - and the officials know it - so they're not going to get the calls, they're going to make mistakes, and they may not be aggressive at the right times, but that has to change if they want to win any games. They've been in all three games this year, so it's the little things that are going to make a difference. Randy Foye should help get their free throw attempts up because he likes to go to the basket so hopefully he'll rub off on the rest of the team.