OT What has really been going on with Markelle Fultz?

I'm pulling for this kid.

I love an underdog though and he has been killed by the media and fans despite his draft spot/hype.

 

Right now I just hope Fultz is better free throw shooter than Lonzo Ball.
Granted the bar isn't set too high.

 

TJ Warren is about the worst fit you could find next to Simmons.

 

Fultz and Ball is like what would have happened if they decided to film the sequel to Hoop Dreams.

 

Yeah, forget doing the limbo, you'd need to dig a tunnel to get under that bar.

BNM

 

BTW, concerning Ball's FT shooting - he is currently on pace to have the worst FT% of any non-center in the entire 70+ year history of the NBA. He is currently at .449 FT%. The only players who have ever shot worse from the FT line are:

DeAndre Jordan
Ben Wallace
Wilt Chamberlain
Andre Drummond

.449 is hideous for anyone, but especially for a guard. Not even Shaq (career worst .464) or Dwight Howard (career worst .489), two big men that were often targeted for hacking due to their poor FT shooting, were ever that bad.

BTW, you've heard of the 50/40/90 club. Ball, at .352/.302/.449 is on the verge of creating his own new, exclusive 35/30/45 club. In the entire history of the NBA, no one has ever had a worse shooting season than Lonzo ball is currently having, and it's surprisingly not even close. Ben Wallace, not known for his shooting touch, comes closest at .463/.116/.428 and even then, he shot over 10 percentage points higher from the field than Ball is.

Is this what @HCP was referring to when he said he thought Ball would be a "special player"?

BNM

 

What are your parameters, such as minimum minutes? Many guys play one game for the season and shoot 0 for 1.

 

FIFY

 

Qualified for FT% leaderboard.

To qualify for free throw percentage (FT%) the following minimums are required:

1946-47 to 1947-48 BAA 125 FT
1948-49 BAA 150 FT
1949-50 to 1950-51 NBA 170 FT
1951-52 to 1954-55 NBA 180 FT
1955-56 to 1958-59 NBA 190 FT
1959-60 NBA 185 FT
1960-61 to 1961-62 NBA 200 FT
1962-63 to 1965-66 NBA 210 FT
1966-67 to 1967-68 NBA 220 FT
1968-69 NBA 230 FT
1969-70 NBA 70 G and 350 FTA
1970-71 to 1971-72 NBA 350 FTA
1972-73 to 1973-74 NBA 160 FTA
1974-75 to 1997-98 NBA 125 FT
1998-99 NBA 76 FT
1999-00 to 2010-11 NBA 125 FT
2011-12 NBA 100 FT
2012-13 to present NBA 125 FT

So, guys who go 0-1 don't count.

BNM

 

http://bkref.com/tiny/Hnj8B

Setting it at 2000 minutes, I get 5 players. (Take out Ben Wallace, and 200-pound Lorenzo Williams because that season he played center for the injured Tarpley, but include Dale Davis who was a forward alongside Rik Smits).

Set it at 2600 minutes and you're right.

http://bkref.com/tiny/N4H9D

 

Fultz checking in right now

 

He just scored

 

And an assist

 

Crowd is going crazy for him, cheers whenever he touches the ball.

 

His shot is still very weird. Just shot a mid range jumper

 

Want to see him start hitting jumpers. The kid is probably nervous as hell. Rooting for him.

 

It shouldn't be based on minutes. It should be based on the official qualifying standards dictated by the league, or at the very least, some variation of either FT attempted or FT made. Some guys just don't draw a lot of fouls, no matter how many minutes they play.

BNM

 

That looked like how his shot was in college, he just hesitated, likely because of nerves.

 

Possibly nerves, would have to see it again, it looked like the form he has been filmed recently with in practice. Has a hitch

 

I hope he overcomes this and lives up to his potential. It's hard to consider a guy who was the No. 1 pick in the draft an underdog, but given what he's gone through, he definitely qualifies.

BNM