You’re not always going to shoot as well on the road - and in our three road games (Florida, Butler, Xavier) we have had 9, 4 and 9 free throw attempts. Our defense masked that in the first two, but not at X (and since we won big in the first two and lost in the third, we weren’t fouled on purpose).
One reason JC, for better or worse, stayed away from four out most of his career is that he believed that rebounding traveled - playing big meant you weren’t as susceptible to variance in unfamiliar gyms (the 2012 team with Drummond and Oriakhi showed that philosophy was starting to show cracks - and we won in 2014 playing four out because we had no choice with our personnel). But the same underlying philosophy needs to be there to some degree - when we don’t shoot well, we need to get our points through other means - putbacks, fast breaks, getting to the basket, getting to the line. Or just simply lock down on D and make enough shots to win a tight one.
Our 3 percentage is more like 34 if you take out the cupcake outliers. I don’t think that’s good enough to average 7 FTA on the road, or hypothetically in a cavernous dome at the final four. Perhaps that number will improve to the upper 30s, though, as our guys continue to gel, get more comfortable with their roles, and take higher percentage shots. Our offensive efficiency hasn’t been a big issue this year in the metrics and we are 14-1, of course, so we don’t have to tear it all down or anything - but it’s a touch concerning that we’ve been trending in the wrong direction lately. We needed a Joey C explosion against Georgetown and if AJ misses that corner three up 2 against Nova, we’re in a war down the stretch.
