If you follow the New Orleans Pelicans then you are probably ready for a therapy session after last night’s crushing loss to the Spurs.
The Pelicans were hoping to play meaningful games this season and the possibility of the play-in games has kept that hope alive even though it is nearly dead after last night’s loss.
If you want to know why the Pelicans lost to the Spurs, look no further than the free-throw line. While both teams got 32 attempts from the charity stripe, the Spurs knocked down 27 of theirs for 84.4 percent while the Pelicans made just 17 of theirs for a pathetic 53.1 percent.
I’m sorry, but this is unacceptable for a professional basketball team and the fans are starting to feel the frustration.
There isn't one coach on this team working with players on their free throws? It really is time for fans to bail on this team as a form of protest. Either the coaches do better...or get out. @dg_riff @realStanVG @PelicansNBA @PelicanDebrief
— Elizabeth Cook (@Eli_Lynne) April 25, 2021
Elizabeth is tired of the complete lack of fundamentals and she’s not the only one.
There are small children who could shoot better than 53 percent from the line, so I hope SVG had the entire team stay after last night to shoot them as punishment.
This is a stat that has absolutely killed the Pelicans for two seasons in a row.
What is the New Orleans Pelicans’ free throw percentage?
The New Orleans Pelicans shoot a god-awful 73.4 percent from the line as a team, which is good for 29th in the NBA, nearly dead last.
Brandon Ingram is the only Pelican who currently shoots above 80 percent and most of the rest of the roster is well below league average.
Lonzo Ball has finally made some improvements in this department but it doesn’t much matter when you only average one per game.
Zion Williamson has gotten better but still only shoots 70 percent. Eric Bledsoe is awful and Steven Adams is so bad that I have no doubt I could shoot a higher percentage than his (44 percent) while wearing a blindfold and shooting from my knees.
The Pelicans blow a ton of leads and have been terrible in close games, partially because they can never put teams away from the line.
It’s been a huge problem dating back to last season and is one of the reasons the Pelicans will be watching the playoffs from home again.
The New Orleans Pelicans need to improve their execution in so many ways and one of the most glaring is their pathetic free-throw shooting, which has fans ready to walk away.