SEATTLE — As the shots keep clanging, the questions keep coming for Lorenzo Romar and his Washington Huskies.
Why, oh, why can’t they make their free throws? It’s nothing new, but after an 8-for-18 effort contributed mightily to Saturday’s loss to California, Romar spent the better part of his weekly press conference Tuesday addressing the ongoing problem.
Early in the season, Romar said he wasn’t worried because the Huskies always have done well at the line during his tenure, but now, 22 games into the season, he knows it has become a problem.
“It’s frustrating because it had something to do with several losses this year, so I can’t say ‘let’s not worry about it,’” he said.
Both Romar and his players say the problem is mental, and that for the most part everyone shoots free throws well in practice. The more the struggles continue, the worse the mental aspect of it becomes.
“It’s something that we do need to focus on,” Jon Brockman said. “We said we weren’t going to bring it up as much because we don’t want to overemphasize it, but it is starting to turn into something that has cost us some games.”
Romar joked that the emails and phone calls offering unsolicited advice are “starting to pour in.”
According to Romar, the team routinely makes 80 percent of their free throws in practice, but that’s not translating to games, when the Huskies shoot just 59 percent. That percentage ranks last in the Pac-10 by a large margin and is 322nd out of 328 Division I teams. Last year’s team, which includes many of the same players as this year’s, shot 72.4 percent.
Almost everyone on the team has seen his numbers decrease this year, and Brockman’s drop from 66 percent to 55.8 shows the most since he has attempted 28 percent of Washington’s free throws.
“It is something that we do need to clean up, me personally as well,” he said. “I think I shoot more than anyone, so I’ve got to step up in that area.”
Brockman recovering: While it didn’t keep him out of last week’s games, Brockman said the groin injury he suffered in Jan. 28’s practice has been bothering him. He said Tuesday that things are improving.
“It’s still sore, but it is getting better,” he said.
Washington practiced Sunday, and Brockman said he was a little bit limited in what he could do. The team took Monday off.
“That helped a lot just being able to relax it and not put any stress on it,” he said.
UCLA short-handed: The Huskies will get a break this weekend when fifth-ranked UCLA comes to town. Starting forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute will miss the game after spraining his ankle in Saturday’s win over Arizona.
The 6-foot-8 junior averages 9.2 points and 5.1 rebounds, and is one of the Bruins’ best defenders.
Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com/huskiesblog
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