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NewsvineUp seven points with 1:49 to play last Thursday at Arizona State, Stanford seemingly had the game in the bag. But the Cardinal hit only four of eight free throws during that final stretch and eventually lost to the Sun Devils 72-68 in overtime.
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Along with the occasional pressure defense and poor perimeter play, free throws have been the Achilles heel for Stanford this season. Shooting 68.3 percent from the charity stripe this season, the Cardinal’s free throw percentage sits at seventh place in the Pac-10 conference.
But head coach Trent Johnson is not concerned.
“They’re not trying to miss them,” he said. “It’s nothing I worry about. The law of averages is going to even out.”
Johnson, speaking to reporters Tuesday, defended his decision to leave sophomore center Robin Lopez on the floor down the stretch against Arizona State. Lopez, shooting 67.4 percent from the line this season, made one of two free throws with 31 seconds left in regulation. His brother Brook — the Card’s second best free throw shooter at 76.3 percent — also made one of two with only 15 seconds left, and Arizona State went on to force overtime.
Sophomore guard Drew Shiller, an 86.4 percent free throw shooter and Stanford’s best option from the line, was on the bench.
“For me, the kid’s been into the game, in a rhythm,” Johnson said of his decision to go with Robin. “Who would you put in? Shiller couldn’t guard the post.”
Shiller had only played 10 minutes in the game at that point. Putting him in cold during the final seconds, Johnson stressed, was no guarantee of success at the line.
“I think you do that kid a disservice, asking him to come in cold and hit free throws,” he said. “That wouldn’t be fair to Drew.”
To the Cardinal’s credit, the squad has shown resilience by bouncing back from defeats. Stanford has not lost two games in a row all season, a testament to the team’s toughness, Johnson said.
“After [Arizona State], they were completely down, they were disappointed in themselves,” he said. “When we came back out and got back to work on Friday, though, it was the same group of guys. That’s refreshing.”
Junior forward Lawrence Hill was up until four in the morning thinking about the game Thursday night.
“Everyone was thinking about it,” he said. “They had to make some really good plays to take it away from us. You can always point the finger at a player or a certain play, but it can go either way.”
Stanford fans feared the worst again on Saturday, when Arizona slowly whittled down an eight-point Cardinal lead in the final minutes. But Brook Lopez hit three of four free throws in the last two minutes, and the Cardinal held on for the win.
While he expressed chagrin about Thursday’s loss, Hill said there were lessons to be learned.
“In reality, no one’s going to be perfect; it’s so hard to win every game,” Hill explained. “I think we have to take the opportunity to be better.”
With five games remaining in conference play and the Cardinal hanging on to second place in the Pac-10, Hill said the results on the court are all that matter.
“Talk is overrated at this time of year,” he said. “We all know what we need to do.”