"I've been terrible from the line" - Anthony Davis on LA Lakers' poor free throw shooting, reflects on loss against Golden State Warriors
NBA and Los Angeles Lakers superstar Anthony Davis and his team's shooting woes continued this season after a poor outing in a 117-115 loss to the Golden State Warriors last night.
Speaking to the media in his post-game press conference after the game against the Warriors, AD was asked about the team's poor shooting from the line, the 28 year old responded by taking responsibility, saying that it starts with him.
"Got to get in the gym and shoot more free throws. And it starts with me. I've been terrible from the line."
Anthony Davis on the team's poor free-throw shooting: "Got to get in the gym and shoot more free throws. And it starts with me. I've been terrible from the line."
It's an honest and expected appraisal from Davis, one of the biggest problems facing him and the Lakers this season has been their inability to convert from the free throw line. They are the worst free throw shooting team in the league with a conversion rate of 72.2%, barring the Houston Rockets who are ranked dead last.
One of the biggest traits championship caliber teams possess is their ability to earn easy points from the charity-stripe.Time and time again, free throws have been the deciding factor in many postseason matchups, often times being the difference between winning and losing a series.
Anthony Davis' season thus far
Anthony Davis, by his incredibly high standards, has not been up to par this season with his performances for the Los Angeles Lakers. The big man is averaging 23.3 points, 9.9 rebounds on better than 53% shooting from the field. While these numbers aren't bad by any means, what they lack is aggression from AD as he is shooting less than 18 shots on a nightly basis.
Another of AD's biggest impediments has been his ability from range. He is shooting at a paltry rate of 16.9% from beyond the arc this season. While he was never a consistent three-point shooter, Davis has not shot below 30% in any season in which he has played over 40 games.
Anthony Davis is the first Lakers player with 3 straight 25-point, 15-rebound games since Shaquille O'Neal in 2001. https://t.co/ZxMVibJ5Kb
Consistency and health have always been the main issues regarding Anthony Davis and that continues to hamper him from performing at an MVP caliber level. He has missed 21 games this season due to a knee injury he picked up in a loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers have lost 11 of those games, underlining his importance to the team.
Upon his return, Davis averaged nearly 30 points while collecting over 13 rebounds and averaging nearly 3 blocks over a five-game span. However, a lack of consistency and assertiveness continues to plague the former No. 1 draft pick this season, as his production has dropped once again, seemingly in line with the Lakers' last three defeats.
Anthony Davis in his last 3 games is averaging:
18.3 pts
7.7 rebs
11.3 fga
The 5 games before that he averaged:
29.2 pts
13.2 rebs
20.4 fga
He went up against an undersized and undermanned GSW and got absolutely embarrassed. 13 shot attempts and 7 rebounds?
Unacceptable. https://t.co/cGHdCige5X
With LeBron James and Anthony Davis at the helm, LA came into the season with championship aspirations. But they have since been given a rude awakening as this current Lakers team (who were unable to make significant moves before Thursday's trade deadline) are barely good enough to make the postseason this year, let alone win a title.