Huskies' free-throw shots are off the mark

At some point in every Washington men's basketball practice, all other activity is halted and the Huskies shoot free throws.

And almost unfailingly, they meet the coaches' goal of making a combined 80 percent.

"When guys are tired, when they are not tired, during scrimmages, whatever," said UW coach Lorenzo Romar of the free-throw sessions. "We put them in all different situations. And our team makes 80 percent most of the time."

But something isn't carrying over to game day — the Huskies are hitting just 59.5 percent for the season, making them last in the Pac-10 and 318th out of 328 teams listed in the Division I-A stats. If that shooting percentage continues, it would be the second-worst in UW history since the school began keeping tabs in 1953, ahead of the 57.5 percent average in the 2000-01 season, Bob Bender's second-to-last as Washington's coach.

Never was it more costly than Saturday against Washington State, when the Huskies converted 5 of 13 — 2 of 9 in the second half — all critical misses in a 56-52 defeat.

"It actually is a big deal because it's a difference between winning and losing games," said sophomore forward Quincy Pondexter.

The problem could be magnified by the Pac-10's especially strong free-throw-shooting teams: WSU, Arizona State, Cal and Arizona all rank among the top 28 in the nation.

The two Huskies who attempt the most free throws — Jon Brockman and Justin Dentmon — are each down from a year ago when the Huskies shot 72.4 percent, fifth-best in school history.

Brockman is 48 of 82 this season (58.5 percent), compared with 66.2 percent his first two seasons. Dentmon is a still solid 71.4 percent (45 of 63), but down from 80.6 percent his first two years.

Pondexter, Joel Smith and Tim Morris are also below their career averages.

"That's why I'm not panicking," Romar said Tuesday. "I said early on it would work itself out, and it hasn't, so I was wrong on that. But I'm still not panicking because these guys have demonstrated in the past that they can make foul shots."

For now, Romar isn't planning to do much different in practice, saying putting too much emphasis on it "can make it a mental thing more than anything else."

Romar has reason to feel confident that the way he and his staff teaches free throws works — three of the top five free-throw shooting seasons in UW history have come under his watch, including a record 74.9 percent in the 2005-06 season.

Players seem as stumped as Romar for reasons they've suddenly fallen off at the line.

"I don't know what's going on," said Dentmon. "I'm just missing. I got to get that up, big time." Pressed for a reason, he says, "We're just not focusing hard enough. We're just shooting from the hip. We need to take our time."

Lineup likely the same

Romar said UW will likely open the UCLA game with the same lineup as the past six — Artem Wallace and Brockman up front and Morris, Smith and Ryan Appleby in the backcourt. UW is 5-1 with that group.

Dentmon, who started all but six games his first two seasons for the Huskies, continues to come off the bench. Dentmon admits he'd rather be starting.

"It ain't OK with me," he said recently. "But it's an adjustment I have to deal with right now and be patient. Nobody would really be OK with it when you've been a starter for two years."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com.