Talk:Free throw

Shoot distance
do you measure from front of rim for a fould shoot distance?

What is "one plus the penalty"?
Occasionally, I hear commentators/PA announcers say that an NBA player gets "one plus the penalty, two shots". What is the meaning of this? It doesn't make any sense because there's never a case where one shot becomes two based on whether the team is in a penalty. --PSzalapski 16:54, 6 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I seem to remember watching the 1954 Indiana high school basketball championship and seeing a single free throw awarded for any foul, even on the floor. Perhaps this is a carryover from those days - if they existed - when the single shot was automatic and the second shot was the bonus.  I don't know if any of this is true, but it's my inference based on one old video. 49giantsharks 23:04, 25 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Seems like it is primarily from Steve Buckhantz, and really doesn't have any meaning in the NBA. --PSzalapski 13:49, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Fouls away from the ball
I'm not certain, but I think the 2-minute rule is more recent than Wilt's time. I could be wrong, but at any rate it needs a citation. Funnyhat 07:29, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

What's the time limit for a foul shot
What is the time limit for a free throw, how much time do you have to shoot it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.75.25.6 (talk) 01:13, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

10 seconds Collegepres (talk) 17:25, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Complicated Question
Okay guys (and gals) here's a question for ya. Imagine that both teams are in the bonus, or the 1 and 1, whatever you like to call it. Now if there is an off ball foul on the offense, does the defense get to take foul shots, or do they just get the ball? This ones confusing, I know. I can't find any sites to tell me about it, so I hope someone knows. Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.240.10.170 (talk) 18:46, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

No, they just get the ball. Offensive fouls don't lead to free throws. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.180.130.190 (talk) 22:22, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Clarification on Procedure
The Procedure section lists that five players take there places on the outside of the lane during a free-throw shot. In college (and high school) in the United States, there are typically three players on each side--one defensive, one offensive, one defensive. Also, these rules may be even different for women's basketball where I have seen situations where there are up to four players on each side of the lane. I would add the changes but I'm a computer geek and not an athlete and would hate to get the particular rules wrong. grfnkmp 16:09, 25 January 2009 (CST)


 * I'm watching the Maryland/Memphis game in the NCAA Tournament right now, and you're absolutely right. Six players lined up against the lane, three on each side, the middle one on each side being on the shooter's team.  It's interesting to note, too, that the lane has small hash marks on each side, marking the places for each of the six players.  I think we should hold off on changing this until some basketball fan (or researcher) can define in what leagues this rules variant prevails.  Deltopia (talk) 20:56, 21 March 2009 (UTC)


 * @grfnkmp, it's not "situations" where there are up to four players, it's a factor of time. Sometime in the last decade or so (I haven't been able to determine when), it was almost common for four players to be on one side. The difference between then and now is positioning. In the past, the defensive player closest to the hoop would be below the large block painted on the lane. Now, there is no one in that position, and the defensive players are both one level further away. I watched a mid-90s broadcast a handful of weeks ago, and saw at least one occasion where there were four players on one side of the lane. Current NBA rules only allow one of the "third position" spots to be filled, though neither has to be. I presume NCAA rules allow both positions to be filled. But, like both of you, I'll hold off on changes until there's a more authoritative source. JeffHCross (talk) 16:58, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

History of the Free Throw
It would be interesting to have a section on the history of the free throw in the rules of basketball. For example, it used to be that at least one free throw was awarded for every foul. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Astrowest (talk • contribs) 18:39, 22 March 2009 (UTC)
 * It would also be of interest to know how the old "three to make two" rule applied and when it was dropped. Newyorkbrad (talk) 03:28, 24 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Now that was a good question. I had to look it up, and found the answer to when it was used at .  Per the link, it appeared prior to the 1954-55 season and disappeared prior to the 1981-82 season.  I also have a 1979 NBA Guide on hand, which states that the "penalty free throw" was permitted if one of the first two was missed (i.e., "three to make two") in the case of flagrant fouls, back court fouls, fouls during unsuccessful field goal attempts, and "swinging of elbows".  Now we just need to integrate this information into the article. &mdash; Myasuda (talk) 04:35, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

False assertion
"(in basketball, a time out may only be called by a team with possession of the ball"

No, the defensive team may call time out during a stoppage of play. Think of "icing" the free throw shooter! GeneCallahan (talk) 02:22, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

Correction to the Free Throws Awarded chart
I noticed that there are errors in the Free Throws Awarded chart in the non-shooting > penalty section. I'm proposing to fix these, wanted to run it by the Talk forum before making the change:

1. They should be "last 2 mins of game" not "last 2 mins of half".

2. Also, for "last 2 mins of game", it has to be further divided into

a. away from the play: 1 free throw and possession

b. not away from the play: 2 free throws

http://www.nba.com/nba101/misunderstood_0708.html

Uw badgers (talk) 22:21, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

Fourth
I'm no professional nor do I really know how to do anything on this site due to a lack of actually doing any editing, but that fourth part in the article looks a bit broken and because of my lack of knowledge and desire I brought it here to kind of bring it to attention despite it being blatant. Sorry if this is bad. 67.185.25.133 (talk) 16:02, 7 June 2015 (UTC) Anon T

History of free throws
In FIBA play, I heard that free throws could be waived; a team could opt not to take it. Is this correct or did I just misread it? – H T  D  20:04, 30 October 2015 (UTC)

== I checked a couple of the citations and they worked. I read one specific part of the article where one of the editors references a few things that past basketball legends said and I immediately looked to see if there was a source near to check the credibility of those claims. None of the information seems to be out of date. In fact. the editors did a nice job presenting the history and origination of the free throw, and including well-known bad free-throw shooters with some names who are still in the NBA today. The editor(s) provided accurate information with precise photos and an informing graph/table. Dcauley5 (talk) 02:41, 14 September 2016 (UTC)
 * A good start here, Dwelly. Make sure that you use our coding correctly for comments and such. Using the "==" for adding a comment is incorrect unless you would like to create a new headline. Make sure you pay attention to things like that as we move forward. Alfgarciamora (talk) 11:48, 16 September 2016 (UTC)

Extraneous information
While editing sone grammar mistakes in the "Description" section, I realised that the following is very subjective, and although it can be sourced, it is probably worth removing, however I will leave it as I don't know the general protocols for removing something.

"Rick Barry and youngest son Canyon Barry, both career 90% shooters who used an unusual underhand method, believe that 80% is the minimum for a player to be considered good at the free throw. Mark Price, who broke Barry's career record, states that 75% is the minimum.[1]"

108.17.59.184 (talk) 04:45, 29 May 2017 (UTC)

Who designates a player to shoot free throws for an injured/fouled player?
Watching a game between Michigan and Kentucky in London. A Kentucky player, Sahvir Wheeler, was injured driving for a layup and had to come out of the game. Michigan head coach, Juwan Howard, selected a remaining player on the floor, Ugonna Onyenso, to shoot free throws in his place. This would indicate the need to update this page to indicate that the opposing coach may select only one of the four remaining players on the court to shoot in place of an injured player. 69.174.145.54 (talk) 19:03, 4 December 2022 (UTC)