Losing at the line

The free-throw line is an underrated place on the basketball court.
Calvin Murphy, Rick Barry and Mark Price excelled there. Only Barry is probably considered an all-time great.
The free-throw line is the only place a player can take a shot guaranteed to be uncontested. Yet to find an NBA player who can consistently make eight of 10 free throws is bucking the odds, to find one who can make nine of 10 is downright scarce.
Free throws seldom get the credit they deserve for deciding the outcome of games. Yet the Cavaliers are giving all of us a case study in how missed free throws can directly translate into losses.
In last night's 90-89 loss to the Nuggets, the Cavs missed 15 of 35 free throws, including a miss by LeBron James with 0.6 seconds left that would likely have forced overtime.
Last night's performance comes on the heels of bad nights at the line against the Lakers (14-for-23) and Blazers (17-for-24). LeBron also missed a late free throw to tie against Los Angeles.
The Cavs lost all three games, by a grand total of four points.
Statistically, the Cavs are a middle-of-the-pack team at the line, but it hasn't been due to steady mediocrity. Like their wins and losses, Cleveland's free-throw shooting has been streaky this year.
Currently, they rank 11th in the league. In November, they were a top-three team at the line.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas is far and away Cleveland's best performer at the line, shooting at 85.2 percent among players who average at least one free-throw attempt per game. After Z, it drops off to the injured Larry Hughes (76.9), LeBron (74.2), Eric Snow (73.8), Damon Jones (73.1) and Donyell Marshall (72.4).
Any player who can't convert at least 75 percent of their free-throw attempts could (and should) be considered a below-average performer at the line. The league average, by team, is 74.67 percent.
By that formula, the Cavs have one good free-throw shooter, one decent free-throw shooter, and the rest need improvement.
(Sparingly-used Luke Jackson is shooting free throws at an 80 percent clip, but is averaging less than one attempt per game).
This is what I mean when I say coach Mike Brown has to emphasize offense with the same gusto he hammers home defense. Last night, through all the abysmal shooting, free throws and otherwise, the Cavs held the best fast-break scoring team to five fast-break points.
These guys will listen to what their coach has to say. And while defense might win championships, the object of the game is still to put the ball in the basket.
Even great teams that possess lockdown defenses like San Antonio and Detroit are still skilled offensive clubs. Having the whole package is how they are title contenders.
Brown can't throw offensive caution to the wind in favor of harping on defense. That's only coaching half of the game.
Just like when the Cavs were struggling on defense each night, if they can't bring it at the free-throw line, and from the rest of the offensive floor, they are going to continue to have a fatal flaw that is going to cost them games.