Not sure if many people realize this, but the Buckeyes have two Top 30 free throw shooters in the country in starting guards CJ Walker (15th) and Duane Washington (29th). That ranks 1st and 3rd respectively in the Big 10. Small sample size, but also kind of strange given how poorly CJ has shot from the field and Duane is well below his Sophomore season shooting numbers.
- CJ is shooting 97.4% on free throws, yet 32.8% from the field and 23.5% on threes
-Last season he shot 42.7% from the floor and 32.1% on threes. His soph numbers at fsu were pretty similar: 41.2% fg pct, 35.5% three pt fg pct. Not amazing, but certainly significantly better than the numbers so far this year.
- Duane is shooting 92.9% on free throws yet only 36.9% from the field and 35% on threes.
- Last year, Duane shot 40.3% from the field and 39.3% on threes.
As far as predicting the rest of the season, who the heck knows? I mean Ron Harper Jr. has gone from an approximately 30% career three point shooter to Jon Diebler, so you never know.
But CJ's numbers are especially crazy. No way he maintains the 97% free throw shooting (he was 81% last year) , but I also have a tough time believing a guy that has made 38 of 39 free throws and generally has good shot selection, would continue to only make less than a third of his shots and about a fifth of his three point shots. You would think water will find its level.
As for Duane, his numbers aren't dramatically different from last year. Like CJ, I am nearly certain his 92.9% free throw shooting will go down some, but he shot 83% from the charity stripe last year, so hopefully not a big dip. As for his other shooting numbers this year, they are only down about 4 pct pts from the field and threes. They may not jump up considerably or even to last year's level. But besides having a little better shot selection, there are 3 things that could be impacting lower numbers: (1) Being 1st or 2nd on the opponents' scouting report, instead of 3rd or 4th. (2) Playing more mins (over 30 per game) than he ever has (3) His conditioning is not quite where it needs to be. The good thing is I think that Duane can adjust and improve in dealing with all those areas. Will that mean we will see better shooting results? Let's hope so.
