Free throws.

That’s why it’s called such.

It’s supposed to be a gimme, a sure thing. It’s the opponent that “pays” for it when you get fouled in the act of shooting. Or when they are called for technical, unsportsmanlike or flagrant fouls.

It is supposed to be the easiest shot in basketball.

Why?

One, you have 10 seconds to shoot it. Secondly, while it may be 15 feet away, there is no defender contesting your shot. And perhaps most importantly, it is the easiest shot to practice. Even if you are alone, you can keep putting up shots from the free-throw stripe.

Again and again.

More often than not, shooting is muscle memory built on correct basics and fundamentals — from the grip of the ball and proper stance, controlled power flow from the legs, up your torso to the arms, wrist and fingers working together in one fluid motion up to the release of the ball, then follow-through.

Repetition breeds consistency.

And if you need to practice pressure while shooting those charities, there are so many ways to do it.

If there’s a will, there’s a way.

Find one. Have somebody heckle or distract you. Play crowd noise through a Bluetooth speaker. Shoot after running sprints when your legs are heavy. Create your own pressure because come game time, there will be pressure.

Yet how many games — even championships — have been lost because of missed free throws, especially in the endgame? How many times has a team missed enough free throws to equal — or even exceed — the final losing margin?

Take Gilas Pilipinas in the recent 20th Asian Games, for example.

Against Bahrain, five free throws were missed in a game it lost by only four in the end. A win would’ve meant a place in the quarterfinals. Against China, Gilas missed six free throws, which would’ve also meant a place in the quarterfinals had the team made them all.

Looking at it from the bright side, how many games or championships have been won because somebody calmly knocked down free throws when they mattered most? That’s why teams in the penalty area intentionally foul in the endgame.

Stop the clock. Send them to the line. Hope they miss.

There is always that ecstatic thrill of victory when a player, with all eyes on him or her, sinks pressure-packed, game-winning or championship-winning free throws, especially with no time left.

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has had its share of remarkable free-throw shooting performances.

Alvin Patrimonio once went 16-for-16 from the line in a 40-point game for Purefoods against San Miguel Beer. That record stood for more than 35 years until Arvin Tolentino also went 16-for-16 for NorthPort in 2024.

Equaled, but not broken.

Among imports, Rob Williams’ 23-for-23 remains the standard from more than four decades ago now.

Then there is Allan Caidic.

Arguably the greatest shooter in Philippine — maybe even Asian — basketball history, Caidic made 76 consecutive free throws in the PBA from 1992 to 1993.

More than three decades later, that record still stands. And why do players from East Asian basketball nations like China, Japan, and Korea seem to be better shooters, especially from the free-throw line, even with “not-so-wide-open” eyes?

Maybe because their fundamentals are drilled into them from a very young age.

And they keep practicing those fundamentals even when they’re already good. They start ’em young. And they keep at it.

Moral of the story?

Practice free throws and make ’em in a game.

More so if you’re already a pro.

More so if you’re playing for your country.