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Jaylen Brown Starting to Improve Free Throw Shooting

By Joshua Bateman

PHOENIX, AZ - MARCH 26: Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics dunks against the Phoenix Suns on March 26, 2018 at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)
PHOENIX, AZ - MARCH 26: Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics dunks against the Phoenix Suns on March 26, 2018 at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Jaylen Brown is finally improving the one real flaw in his game

Jaylen Brown is one of the most improved players in the NBA, and has been the number two scoring option and top three defensive asset to the Boston Celtics this season. He is proving that he can defend four different positions, and score on all three levels. The only real flaw you can find in Brown’s game is his free throw shooting.

It can be maddening seeing Brown look so good on a catch and shoot three, then so completely useless at the free throw line. Brown breaks 45 percent overall and 36 percent from three on his career, but can’t even hit 65 percent of his free throws.

Brown has actually managed to regress from his miserable career free throw percentage of 65.8, down to 64.2. It really is difficult to explain, because Brown has always been committed to putting in the work. There is no real reason he should be a poor free throw shooter.

With Brown’s strength and ability to finish through contact, he could do a lot of damage at the free throw line. The problem is that teams have been rewarded by putting Brown on the line.

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That is until this most recent stretch. It is too small of a sample to say Brown has turned things around, but he is starting to hit his free throws with consistency.

He has not been active at the line in every game, but he has not missed from the charity stripe in six straight, and he has only missed two total free throws in his last 10 games. Brown has gone on decent stretches of free throw shooting in the past, but now that he has more responsibility on offense, he needs to keep it up.

The Celtics are going to have to win playoff games without Kyrie Irving, and Brown has been the second option all year long. He needs to find ways to have a bigger impact on offense, and provide reliable scoring.

Brown can be one of the most effective players at getting to the line, if he uses his athleticism and forces the issue in the paint. The Celtics are bound to go on scoring slumps without their top guy, and Brown can bail them out more often if he is not missing his free throws.

The Celtics still have a lot of things to figure out before the playoffs start, but they have been playing phenomenally as a unit. Brown is not going to force anything, and that is how you get the games where he takes no free throws.

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Brown will not want to disrupt anything, but he is still going to try and find ways to be more effective and more reliable, and getting to the free throw line can be a dangerous weapon, just not when he cannot even hit 65 percent of them.

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