Anton Grady welcome aboard the Shocker train

[The Mad Hatter]

Really surprises me his foul average was worse than Carter's.

There may be a timing dimension going on with fouls that is hard to account for in box scores. Given that Grady in fact played a lot of minutes per game and was on a team that was trailing late in games far more often than WSU, it is possible that Grady picked up fewer early fouls that forced him to the bench, but had more late fouls in situations where the team was intentionally fouling to extend a game. Can't say for sure, but it is a possible explanation.

[Shox21]

Could someone explain why most big men are such poor FT shooters. They do tend to get fouled, but they rarely have anything higher than a percentage in the 60s. One would think they would concentrate a little more practice on FTs.

[Dupe]

:)

[Ricardo del Rio]

There may be a timing dimension going on with fouls that is hard to account for in box scores. Given that Grady in fact played a lot of minutes per game and was team that was trailing late in games far more often than WSU, it is possible that Grady picked up fewer early fouls that forced him to the bench, but had more late fouls in situations where the team was intentionally fouling to extend a game. Can't say for sure, but it is a possible explanation.

Also, Grady might play more carefully with 3 fouls than Carter did. The trade off is giving up some defense for personal foul avoidance.

[wufan]

Could someone explain why most big men are such poor FT shooters. They do tend to get fouled, but they rarely have anything higher than a percentage in the 60s. One would think they would concentrate a little more practice on FTs.

Generally big men play basketball because they're big, strong and athletic; not because they are skilled.

[kcshocker11]

Welcome To Shocker Nation.

[AZ Shocker]

Could someone explain why most big men are such poor FT shooters. They do tend to get fouled, but they rarely have anything higher than a percentage in the 60s. One would think they would concentrate a little more practice on FTs.

The hands....the hands.

I remember watching a news clip with a local anchor interviewing NBA Shaq when he spent a couple seasons in PHX. Regarding his free throw shooting...when he held the ball to actually shoot the free throw he commented on how Shaqs hands covered the entire basketball that would be equal to an average man shooting a softball or large grapefruit. I tried it the next day at the gym. Couldn't hit squat.

Of course not all big-men have the hands of Shaq (cause he was a freak of nature)...but I would guess that the hands are a bit of an issue when shooting free throws when you're as tall as an oak tree.

[WuShock16]

Okay. So big men have trouble shooting a basketball. Understandable.

My solution: shoot free throws underhanded. I remember reading an article awhile back where Rick Barry was perplexed on why guys don't do this. He did this, shooting nearly 90 percent for his pro career. I know that guys think it would look silly, but I would think that consistently clanking free throws looks a lot more stupid than consistently making them "granny-style."

[Shox21]

What's granny about it if it works. We win a few close games that way and we'll find out who's laughing.

[Aargh]

Little guys grow up thinking, "I'm gonna show them that I can hit this shot from out here". Big guys grow up thinking, "I'm gonna show them that I can get to the hoop and put it in".

It's easier to control precision movement of shorter arms than longer arms. Longer arms accentuate the effect of any inconsistency. Players with longer arms have to be more precise more consistently than players with shorter arms to get the same accuracy at the release of the ball.

To illustrate what I'm trying to say, a shorter-armed player might have a variation of + or - 2% on the velocity of the release and still hit either the front or back rim for a successful shot. A longer-armed player with that same difference in release velocity is more likely to miss because the longer arm (fulcrum) accentuates the difference in release velocity.

Perhaps a better example would be a left-to-right variation in release angle. The longer arm is more sensitive to minor variations in left-right release angle.

[shoxtop]

The hands....the hands.

I remember watching a news clip with a local anchor interviewing NBA Shaq when he spent a couple seasons in PHX. Regarding his free throw shooting...when he held the ball to actually shoot the free throw he commented on how Shaqs hands covered the entire basketball that would be equal to an average man shooting a softball or large grapefruit. I tried it the next day at the gym. Couldn't hit squat.

Of course not all big-men have the hands of Shaq (cause he was a freak of nature)...but I would guess that the hands are a bit of an issue when shooting free throws when you're as tall as an oak tree.

http://youtu.be/BFhS5F7ubJs

[1979Shocker]

Little guys grow up thinking, "I'm gonna show them that I can hit this shot from out here". Big guys grow up thinking, "I'm gonna show them that I can get to the hoop and put it in".

It's easier to control precision movement of shorter arms than longer arms. Longer arms accentuate the effect of any inconsistency. Players with longer arms have to be more precise more consistently than players with shorter arms to get the same accuracy at the release of the ball.

To illustrate what I'm trying to say, a shorter-armed player might have a variation of + or - 2% on the velocity of the release and still hit either the front or back rim for a successful shot. A longer-armed player with that same difference in release velocity is more likely to miss because the longer arm (fulcrum) accentuates the difference in release velocity.

Perhaps a better example would be a left-to-right variation in release angle. The longer arm is more sensitive to minor variations in left-right release angle.

Cleanthony Early must have been an anomaly then since he shot a higher FT% then Baker and VanVleet.

[shock]

You can shoot free throws the traditional way, granny style, or like Henry Carr. Talk about different

[shock]

What's granny about it if it works. We win a few close games that way and we'll find out who's laughing.

It's also easier to aim if the object is on the same plane as your vision. Try shooting blue rock with your Benelli Ultra Light set against your crotch instead of your shoulder.

[shoxtop]

You can shoot free throws the traditional way, granny style, or like Henry Carr. Talk about different

I've never understood why players that are poor free throw shooters aren't taught to go hard off the glass. Ugly? Yes. But misses have a much higher chance of a long rebound which takes away the rebounding advantage the defense gets. Just aim at that giant square big fella