Inside The Panthers

Pitt's Free Throw Struggles Fall on Players

Jeff Capel said the Pitt Panthers' struggles from the free throw line fall on the players.

Stephen Thompson

Pitt's Free Throw Struggles Fall on Players
Pitt's Free Throw Struggles Fall on Players /
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers' shortcomings at the free throw line cost them in a big way against Syracuse, as they missed 13 free throws in an eight-point loss that sunk them to 0-2 in ACC play. 

Pitt head coach Jeff Capel is out of answers after another deflating day of shooting foul shots. He said the Panthers practice them enough that this shouldn't be a problem anymore and it now falls on the players to put the ball in the hoop.  

“It’s nothing that I can do or any coach can do," Capel told Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. "We can practice them, which we do. We have to be able to have the necessary strength to step up and make free throws in situations that extend the lead, to cut into a lead, to stop a run — things like that.”

Capel has maintained throughout the season, as the Panthers have consistently struggled at the charity stripe, that they have good shooters who are simply missing the game's easiest shots with inexplicable frequency. 

Pitt entered this game making 45% of their field goals overall and 35% of their 3-point shots - both marks that rank in the top half of Division I basketball. But their 68.4% clip from the free throw line ranked 286th in America entering the trip to Syracuse and that will only depreciate after an 11-24 showing against the Orange. 

There were plenty of reasons why the Panthers lost, but their inefficiency from the free throw line was one of the most glaring. And, while in theory, it is a fixable set of errors, the fact that it's persisted through 13 games of the 2023-24 season doesn't provide much optimism that it will improve any time soon.  

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

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