You gotta admit he has taken a lot of legit charges in his career. If I'm not mistaken, he holds the Indiana HS career record for charges taken.
You are correct. I took the time to look it up and found that he has the top 2 seasons at 28 and 29 his junior and senior years. I talked to a couple of referee buddies of mine who talked about the way he anticipated and took lanes away. We have a lot of kids here in Indiana who anticipate and are taught to take that charge but those guys say in the games they worked he did it better than most they had ever seen.
SBH alludes to flopping which I am sure may be his take on things but I have rewatched several games as I noted that Freeman is not setting up as often as he had in the past. If you watch Norfolk, Temple or Robert Morris games you will see that Freeman has taken to challenging shots and rising up with his player in some cases going chest to chest while keeping his hands retracted rather than getting called for arms or slapping fouls. I had remarked on this earlier this year and wondered why the change. That SBH would dismiss this nuance just tells me he don't really watch the games very close. I replayed the one under the basket over and over. To me it looks like Freeman took away the baseline drive and held his ground. You will see him argue with the ref afterward. Those refs i have talked to about him said he will politely tell you if you missed a call that he believes he should have got otherwise he just accepts it and goes about business. You guys can take some time and look at it to tell me if you have a different take on the sequence. One of the referees I talked to who is a military recruiter during the day and has worked multiple state finals said he had written his dad a letter to tell him how impressed he was with Tommy and the way he conducts business on the court. Said he had never done that before or since. SBH, I wish you would really take a look at stuff before commenting and think about what you are trying to impart based on a fleeting glimpse or a feeling held by many that if a fellow is setting up and taking charges that they must be floppers. Most of those guys study film and see things unfold before them and knowing tendences and traits know whether to slide in or not.
EDIT. I should add that one of the things I see about Freeman is the way he plays defense off the ball. Obviously he understands help Side defense and rotations off the ball. Very frequently this will put you in position to be ready for a charge to be taken. Being a bit Gonzo is not a prerequisite but guys who give it up forr the team are more likely to step in there and take a pounding.If you were to watch Purdue, Butler, Indiana State or any team that is loaded with our kids from here you will see many of the same plays from kids who were taught the same way. Painter teaches defense that way. Whenever Tipton played Delta where Freeman was till 8th grade we always got our fill of tenacious defense.
Last Edited: 1/7/2011 9:39:00 AM by tiptondevilcat