DeMar DeRozan vows to improve free throw shooting this season: "Man, it's terrible"

Deebo is shooting 80.3% from the field – the worst since his rookie year.

© Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports

While he has been on a tear with the Chicago Bulls in the past few games this season, DeMar DeRozan will not be able to avoid a significant drop in his offensive numbers. His free throw shooting, to be exact.

Deebo isn't shooting catastrophically bad, but his percentage dropped. He's been draining 80.3 percent of his 7 attempts per game this 2023-24. But the fact that he shot over 87 percent in the last two campaigns in Chicago and his current rate this season has been the worst since his rookie year in 2009-10, questions are being asked about the star swingman's recent focus in his trips to the line.

Terrible shooting

DeMar himself doesn't deny his current struggles of shooting free throws this season for the Bulls. Even his daughters are acknowledging his inconsistencies at the stripe. With that, he can only ensure that finally improves that efficiency as games continue to go by.

“Man, it’s terrible. Trust me. I hear it from my daughters every day. My daughters tell me every day, ‘Stop missing free throws. Why are you missing free throws? You told me you wasn’t going to miss free throws.’ The pressure is coming from them,” DeRozan said. “It’s going to change. Over the last couple years, I pride myself to shoot above 86 percent from the line. It’s just one of those bad stretches.”

Back to shooting basics

His daily foul shot routine before leaving practice might give DeRozan the needed push to get back to his usual shooting percentage. As such, he desires to shatter that perfectionist mindset and instead direct himself in his free throw process.

“When I come back to shoot at night, I always gotta make 100 free throw before I leave the gym. A lot of times, I don’t count the ones that hit the rim,” DeRozan said. “It’s more so me putting pressure on myself to be perfect instead of just shooting them. But it ain’t gonna last.”

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