He had just had his most meaningful game of the season, playing a vital role in an important victory with the third double-double of his career. And all anyone wanted to talk about was his foul shooting.
The foul shooting that wasn't nearly as foul as it has been most of the season.
Ian Mahinmi scored a season-high 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds off the bench in the Pacers' 98-84 win over Chicago Friday, playing his best game of the season at an opportune time. He hit 6-of-10 foul shots along the way, which, all things considered, was cause for a cork-popping celebration in the locker room afterward.
Mahinmi entered the game shooting just 32 percent from the foul line, but Friday's 60 percent marksmanship lifted his season percentage to 36.5 percent. That tells you how bad things had been going. Back on Feb. 22 he hit 1-of-7 shots against Golden State. Two nights later he hit 1-of-4 against Oklahoma City. Three days after that he hit 1-of-9 against Cleveland in a display so painful parents were covering the eyes of their young children. Then he missed his only attempt against the Knicks on Wednesday.
“He's going to be fine at the free throw line,” coach Frank Vogel said after that game. “He's doing some things that are going to stabilize his free throws down the stretch.”
Those things consisted primarily of working with Vogel and assistant coach Popeye Jones after practice. Working on a pre-shot routine, mostly, tweaking this and that, and putting up dozens of shots. That's why Friday's 60 percent effort brought hope. The Bulls attempted a Hack-a-Ian strategy in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, fouling him on purpose to try to overcome the Pacers' nine-point lead, but it backfired. Eventually. Mahinmi missed his first two attempts with 3:01 left. C.J. Miles rebounded the second one, however, to give the Pacers another possession, and the Bulls fouled Mahinmi again with 2:53 remaining. He both that time. The Bulls fouled him again after a turnover at 2:40, and he hit the first of two. He got two more attempts after the outcome had been assured with a minute left, and hit them both.
Six-of-10 had never looked so good.
It's easy to feel sorry for or make fun of a struggling foul shooter, but it can be deadly serious business. Games are lost at the foul line, and the Pacers' can't afford unnecessary losses as they play this six-team game of musical chairs for two playoff spots in the East. If a poor foul shooter such as Mahinmi is on the floor late in a close game, teams are likely to foul him. If Mahinmi can't hit those free throws, Vogel can't afford to play him. And if Mahinmi has to sit on the bench, the Pacers would have to go without their best rebounder and a valuable defender.
In short, Mahinmi needs to be able to hit free throws well enough that teams don't foul him on purpose to keep the Pacers from scoring. Therefore, the post-practice work with Vogel and Jones.
“I work on it a lot and try to execute the routine and let it go,” he said. “There's no set number of attempts, we just shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot. It's just finally good to see some of them go in.”
Funny thing is, although not in a ha-ha way, Mahinmi used to be a capable free throw shooter. He hit .768 percent over 82 attempts in the 2010-11 season with Dallas. He hit better than 60 percent the following three seasons, including the previous two with the Pacers. But this season had become a nightmare until Friday,
“Free throws are mainly mental,” he said, his feet soaking in a bucket of ice in Friday's postgame locker room. “When you get through a rough time where you can't make a free throw you start thinking about it a lot and that's the thing you don't want to get caught up into. It was good for me tonight to see some of them go in late in the game. I'll keep working on it.”
His teammates have faith.
“It's crazy,” George Hill said. “In practice, we shoot 100 and he might hit 85 to 90, so we don't know what the issue is.”
Confidence, probably.
“You can tell when he hits two-for-two, the next free throws he's more relaxed,” Hill said.
Mahinmi is more valuable than ever this season as starting center Roy Hibbert tries to find consistency. Hibbert played just 20 minutes on Friday, while Mahinmi played nearly 27 off the bench. Mahinmi is the team's leading rebounder when stats are extrapolated over 48 minutes. He isn't the scorer or shot-blocker that Hibbert is, but he's quicker and therefore able to defend some shots that Hibbert can't get to.
“His athleticism gives us a boost.” David West said. “He can move his feet and he can guard, so he just strengthens us.”
Vogel considers this the best of Mahinmi's three seasons with the Pacers. His field goal percentage (.581) is the best on the team and a marked improvement over the past two seasons, and his rebounding average (6.2 in 19 minutes per game) is easily the best of his career.
“He's really under control and poised on the offensive end,” Vogel said. “He's playing a physical brand of basketball, winning the paint-sealing game and winning the rebounding battle. He's just making solid plays around the basket. He's getting paint catches and finishing, making inside-out passes when necessary and he's always been a rim-protecting defender.”
The Pacers have hit stride, winning four straight games and 10 of their last 12. The chemistry on the court and the mood in the locker room is reminiscent of all of two seasons ago and most of last season. The play of the reserves is a major part of that, and Mahinmi is a major part of that.
Mahinmi's answer to a question following Friday's victory probably serves as an indication of the rediscovered chemistry.
“Is this as well as you've played this season?” he was asked.
It followed a line of questioning about his play, and was intended to refer to him. But he took “you” to mean the team.
“I feel the chemistry is great right now,” he said. “We have a great sense of urgency, the focus is there before every game, after every game, before every practice, after every practice. Guys get in extra work. We're working hard every day. Right now we're just feeling good and we're trying to keep this train going.”
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