Consider the most organic properties of basketball: ballhandling, passing, screening, footwork … and … wait for it … the free throw.

Oy. The free throw. The poor free throw. Forgotten, but not gone. They used to be A Thing. Now they’re a cling. And a clang. And how come nobody can make one anymore?

It’s an epidemic around here. Go to a local high school game — or a non-local high school game — and you wonder how it could possibly have degenerated into this. It’s a free throw. Unguarded. Fifteen feet away. I saw New London High, for instance, miss 26 in one game already.

In the 1978-79 season, Rick Barry missed nine free throws.

All year.

There are theories. Doc Rivers, erstwhile coach of the Celtics, once told the Boston Globe a missed free throw “is the mind interfering with a fine motor skill.” Not bad. But I prefer this one: Nobody makes free throws anymore because they don’t lend themselves to celebration. And this is sports now: Participants dreaming up ways to celebrate rather than working on the fine motor skills of their respective sports.

Think about it. A free throw never makes “SportsCenter.” You know what makes “SportsCenter?” Dunks and 3s. Dunks are celebrated. Throw one down and stare at the nearest defender. Or into the crowd. Or gyrate like an overloaded washing machine.

And 3s? Let us count the ways. There are “3-goggles,” a hand gesture where one holds the thumb and index finger in a circle while the other three fingers are in the air, otherwise known as the gesture for "OK." Then place the thumb and index finger over the eyes, as if they were goggles.

There’s the Russell Westbrook guns-back-in-the-holster bit, Carmelo Anthony jamming three fingers into the side of his head (“three to the dome”) and “stirring the pot” by James Harden.

I’ll never forget the night DeAndre Daniels, in his first (preseason) game at UConn, broke out the 3-goggles. Jim Calhoun, breaking off the bench like he was trying to go first to third on a single, removed Daniels from the game forthwith.

"Why would you do that?" Calhoun said that night. "He can do that on a night if we're in New Orleans playing for the national championship. To do it against a Division II team up 35 points? I just don't think that's needed.”

This just in: I miss that man.

Anyhoo … think about the free throw. Has anyone ever celebrated a free throw? I know. First, you actually have to make one. But they’re just a mundane part of basketball that requires diligence, time, patience and technique. Who’s going to put the time into something now that can’t be celebrated?

Forget the idea that it’s where you win and lose games. Run the offense right, draw a foul, get to the line. Boring.

I have ideas how to fix this. And I’m not sure it’s the responsibility of high school coaches anymore. They just don’t coach the kids enough throughout the year to establish the habits necessary. Hence, I believe this falls to parents, AAU coaches and the kids.

Parents: Take a hiatus from whining about your kid’s playing time and get his or her keister in the gym. Rebound for said kid as he or she launches free throws until they become Doc’s “fine motor skill.”

AAU coaches: For one thing, actually practice with your team. Practice fundamentals. Never, ever run a play. Teach them how to play. Play zone only under the penalty of a transatlantic flight seated next to Trump. Then get them to the line. Frequently.

Kids: Free throws are part of the game. You might actually impress a college coach with good form.

Meanwhile, I’ll be the guy sobbing at high school games this year. The ECC is pretty good, too. Several decent teams that may last deep into March. I just hope they’re not derailed by the terror of an unguarded 15-footer.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.