Following a 111-108 victory against the Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan was asked about his secrets in maintaining the free throw attempts he has in spite of the new league rules about offensive players.
As attempts from other players have diminished, the swingman offered a savage response.
“I don’t flop — I don’t know. That’s not a knock on anybody who flopped. I don’t know,” DeRozan said while smiling.
“My mentality is always to try to be aggressive. I don’t know — free throws are down across the league, but you know I can’t worry about that. I still try to go out there, be aggressive [and] figure out ways to get to that free throw line.”
In four-game unblemished games with the Bulls so far, DeRozan even slightly increased his charity stripe attempts with 7.5 — higher than 7.2 from last season with the Spurs.
When asked by a reporter why he doesn’t flop, DeRozan narrates an interesting story way back his time in San Antonio wherein Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich encouraged him to do the antic.
“You know, it was crazy — when I was in San Antonio, Pop pulled me to the side one year, he told me I need to start flopping or try to flop because I wouldn’t get all the calls that I should get, because I absorb so much of the contact.”
“I don’t know. I just don’t — I should play football. I don’t know.”
As per Statmuse, in the three-day game stretch of the brand-new season, NBA players are averaging 19.5 free-throw attempts — the lowest in league history.
It may be safe to assume that the new league rules are working, as it limits the exploitation of offensive players in clinching fouls upon non-basketball contact move.
Moving forward, we cannot tell the plans of players to adapt to the new guidelines. As such, their craftiness might pave a way for new plans to smash scoring numbers.
