Bucks and Free Throw Disparity

In truth, this was an awesome game!  I felt compelled to DVR it and I am glad I did because it turned out to be Bogut's career high for points!  Overall, it was a well played game and the foul calling for this game seemed pretty fair.  As far as I could tell, there wasn't too much of a disparity between calls.  I did not find myself wondering if the refs were bought off or that the team doesn't getting any respect.  It seemed like decent basketball to me.  

Let's look at last night's game versus the Orlando Magic.  The free throw disparity was ridiculous.  In fact, the refs took two free throws away from Michael Redd.  I don't understand how they could have not have called that a shooting foul.  Redd was clearly going up to the hoop when he was fouled.  The Bucks didn't get to the line very often.  it doesn't mean they weren't fouled on shots, it just means that all of them weren't called.  The Bucks were 7 (makes) of 9 (attempts) compared to 21 of 26....  

Okay, now I'm curious to take a look at the free throw disparity for each game this season:

Game 01 - 10/30/09 - Bucks (11 of 19) at 76ers (29 of 34) - Loss 86 to 99
Game 02 - 10/31/09 - Bucks (24 of 33) vs Pistons (19 of 25) - Win 96 to 85

Game 03 - 11/03/09 - Bucks (05 of 10) at Bulls (20 of 31) - Loss 81 to 83
Game 04 - 11/06/09 - Bucks (12 of 18) at Timberwolves (10 of 17) - Win 87 to 72
Game 05 - 11/07/09 - Bucks (12 of 16) vs Knicks (13 of 17) - Win 102 to 87
Game 06 - 11/11/09 - Bucks (22 of 25) vs Nuggets (27 of 31) - Win 108 to 102
Game 07 - 11/14/09 - Bucks (19 of 30) vs Warriors (25 of 28) - Win 129 to 125
Game 08 - 11/16/09 - Bucks (11 of 17) vs Mavericks (17 of 22) - Loss 113 to 115
Game 09 - 11/18/09 - Bucks (11 of 13) vs Nets (22 of 25) - Win 99 to 95
Game 10 - 11/20/09 - Bucks (17 of 21) vs Bobcats (26 of 43) - Win 95 to 88
Game 11 - 11/21/09 - Bucks (18 of 24) at Grizzlies (21 of 29) - Win 103 to 98
Game 12 - 11/23/09 - Bucks (9 of 14) at Spurs (22 of 26) - Loss 98 to 112
Game 13 - 11/25/09 - Bucks (16 of 22) at Hornets (28 of 31) - Loss 99 to 102
Game 14 - 11/27/09 - Bucks (20 of 22) at Thunder (26 of 35) - Loss 90 to 108
Game 15 - 11/28/09 - Bucks (13 of 17) vs Magic (14 of 25) - Loss 98 to 100
Game 16 - 11/30/09 - Bucks (11 of 21) vs Bulls (27 of 33) - Win 99 to 97

Game 17 - 12/02/09 - Bucks (9 of 12) at Wizards (25 of 34) - Loss 102 to 104
Game 18 - 12/04/09 - Bucks (14 of 19) at Pistons (23 of 33) - Loss 96 to 105
Game 19 - 12/06/09 - Bucks (12 of 16) vs Cavaliers (25 of 27) - Loss 86 to 101
Game 20 - 12/08/09 - Bucks (17 of 19) at Celtics (22 of 31) - Loss 89 to 98
Game 21 - 12/09/09 - Bucks (24 of 28) vs Raptors (25 of 33) - Win 117 to 95
Game 22 - 12/12/09 - Bucks (10 of 17) vs Trailblazers (21 of 29) - Win 108 to 101
Game 23 - 12/16/09 - Bucks (12 of 17) vs Lakers (29 of 33) - Loss 106 to 107
Game 24 - 12/18/09 - Bucks (11 of 14) at Cavaliers (24 of 31) - Loss 82 to 85
Game 25 - 12/19/09 - Bucks (13 of 20) vs Kings (22 of 29) - Loss 95 to 96
Game 26 - 12/21/09 - Bucks (9 of 20) at Pacers (16 of 22) - Win 84 to 81
Game 27 - 12/23/09 - Bucks (28 of 33) vs Wizards (31 of 35) - Loss 97 to 109
Game 28 - 12/26/09 - Bucks (18 to 25) vs Spurs (15 to 20) - Loss 97 to 112
Game 29 - 12/28/09 - Bucks (18 to 24) at Bobcats (22 of 28) - Loss 84 to 94
Game 30 - 12/30/09 - Bucks (7 of 9) at Magic (21 of 26) - Loss 92 to 117 
Bucks overall win/loss record: 12 wins 18 losses 

Game 31 - 01/02/09 - Bucks () vs Thunder () - Not played yet

When the games are called fair, the Bucks have a fairly even chance of winning.  When the free throw disparity is close to zero, give or take 3 or 4, the Bucks win if they shoot well, lose if the other team shoots well, and the point differential at the end of the game is usually pretty close.  

However, in those instances when the opposing team has close to or exceeding double the amount of free throw opportunities that the Bucks have, the Bucks will lose.  

If you look closely at some of these games, the Bucks did play well despite adversity.  Sure it's frustrating to lose by 1, 2, 3 or 4 points, but to hang with some of these teams and be able to be in the position to win these games is a great achievement.  The key here is too examine why we lost, what key mistakes happened, what wasn't done, etc.  Once you know why these things are happening the way they are, then the appropriate steps need to be taken to correct these mistakes.  

As fans, there are some things we must accept:
1.  Rookie mistakes - they will happen and if the player isn't in the same position in a game situation often enough, the learning curve will be slow.
2.  Basketball intelligence - there are some players that will never get any smarter - why?  Not sure.    
3.  Consistency - not all players are consistent and will not score consistently.  
4.  Foul trouble - As much as we hate the free throw disparity, there's not much that can be done about it from our POV.  Unfortunately, there is no direct way to contact the David Stern or Stu Jackson to ask for clarifications on some of these gross mistakes that the basketball refs make.