Anton Grady welcome aboard the Shocker train

[wufan]

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

It has to touch the rim or it is automatically awarded to the defense. It's tough to hit the square and the rim.

[Rlh04d]

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."

Anthony Davis walks around with a giant unibrow. At some point looking unique is more important than looking silly anyway. The first guy that started doing this again would be on SportsCenter constantly.

[Rlh04d]

It has to touch the rim or it is automatically awarded to the defense. It's tough to hit the square and the rim.

I used to go off the square when I was first learning to play. From my memory it almost always went either in the basket or off the rim after coming off the square. Unless you line drive it and it just bounces back at you.

[Stickboy46]

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.

So you tried shooting grapefruits and softballs ... at a basketball goal .. from the free thrown line? :eek-new: ... I bet the maintenance crew loved you :)

[Dupe]

I think it just comes down to practice. I wonder if coach has them practice free throws?

It's a great question that we should be able to get a straight answer on from 3Gv3.3 on the next Coach's show...

[Shock Top]

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

I have wondered if the Rick Berry style would be be official for big men.

It would be interesting to see DJ or DH try some while they are shooting their 1000 FTs in this Rockets/Clippers series.

[im4wsu]

I have wondered if the Rick Berry style would be be official beneficial for big men.

It would be interesting to see DJ or DH try some while they are shooting their 1000 FTs in this Rockets/Clippers series.

Autocorrect got you, I believe.

It seems to me that granny style brings too many additional body parts into the motion; specifically an additional arm, the back somewhat, and more knee action. Lots of movements to coordinate. Seems to me the better approach is to eliminate extra superfluous movements. Oscar Robertson style, just balance the ball on one hand in the shooting position and arm the ball up to the basket. Big strong guys should not really have to involve their legs, back, other hand, at all.

Also, guys with big hands would now have two hands on the ball, not one. This style would seem to me to be more appropriate for guys with smaller hands who are accustomed to shooting from farther away from the basket than for big guys operating close to the basket.

[Shox21]

I really don't care what style they use, just get the damn thing in the basket.

[Husker4Shockers]

I really don't care what style they use, just get the damn thing in the basket.

This. Not much is more frustrating than seeing a guy get to the line and then clank two free throws.

[Art Bunch]

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.

If you are speaking generally about big men vs guards as free throw shooters, the reason has nothing to do with hand size or anything like that. It's simply because the guards on the floor are better shooters than the big men. There are very few people that are actually tall, like 6'7" and up. The main reason they are playing is because of their ability to rebound, defend the goal and score close to the basket. Anything beyond that is a bonus. In contrast, a 6' tall player has to overcome a much more competitive environment just to be able to get on the floor. One of the skills he must demonstrate is the ability to shoot. Notice that it's just about as rare to have a 7 footer shoot 90% from the free throw line as it is to have a guard that can't shoot free throws. Different positions, different skill sets.

ESPN the Mag had an interesting article about the height of adult men ages 19-35 in the general population and the relationship to NBA players. To sum it up, from the total population of men at that age 6'1" or shorter, only .00005 percent (or something teeny tiny like that) are in the NBA. But if you take the total population of men that age that are 6'10.5" or taller, almost 10% of them are in the NBA.

So short guys like me shouldn't feel bad, we never had a chance. But if you are tall, super tall and you couldn't find a place to play then you really really suck. Apologies to David Bowlby.

[rrshock]

Goatlube couldn't shoot them and he was a guard.

[AZ Shocker]

So you tried shooting grapefruits and softballs ... at a basketball goal .. from the free thrown line? :eek-new: ... I bet the maintenance crew loved you :)

Lol - yes...and the 2 or 3 guys working that morning enjoyed it as well! Guess it helps when you're dating one of the young ladies working there even though she absolutely was wondering just how many screws I had loose. Lol But I do encourage anyone to try it for a minute. Actually came away feeling a bit sorry for Shaq after that experience. But then I remembered his salary so didn't feel too sorry for him.

[ShockTop]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2451006-ranking-the-best-graduate-transfers-for-the-2015-16-ncaa-basketball-season/page/13

[Triticum aestivum L.]

First of all, I like this get - from the videos it looks like he has great hands, good footwork, clearly knows the game and can contribute right away. Anyone scared by his inconsistent stats needs to look at Baker's lines in the ISUb games this past season. Stats don't always tell the whole story.

Second, does he play Walker in a game of one-on-one for the right to wear #15 or does he go with another number? I think he needs to go with #51, it make a big body look even bigger.

[1972Shocker]

That's a strong looking man.