I often discuss free-throw rates when I’m breaking down the four factors in an analysis, but I should clarify what I mean. There is a free-throws made rate as well as a free-throws attempted rate. The former is free-throws made divided by field-goal attempts. The latter is free-throws attempted divided by field-goal attempts.

Free-throws made rate (FTMR) is more useful when describing a team’s offense, and free-throws attempted rate (FTAR) is more useful when describing a team’s defense. Ken Pomeroy’s site seems to have shifted entirely to FTAR, but the problem with that approach is that the Four Factors — effective field-goal percentage, rebounding rate, turnover rate and free-throw rate — are supposed to give a full view of what happened in the game. By using FTAR rather than FTMR, a team could, in theory, win all of the Four Factors and still lose the game, if it missed a lot of free throws.

Example of Four Factors box:

This is why I will always use FTMR in my Four Factors box score, and that’s why my free-throw rate numbers are always lower than what you may see on other sites. From now on, you should assume I am referring to FTMR unless I specifically indicate that I am using FTAR.