This post could also be in the horrible way to end a game thread. When Craig Brown of the 1994 Final Four team was a freshman he was fouled with a two shot foul (I don't remember if it was a shooting foul or a double bonus) with the Gators down one to Texas at the O'Dome and either time had expired or it was close to that. He missed them both. For his Florida career he was 76.6% FT shooter and 40.9% from 3. And he hit those three treys in a row to beat Boston College in the Regional Finals in Miami. I was at both games. Even good shooters miss FTs. In 1994 Donyell Marshall (77% FT shooter in college) missed two at the end of regulation in the Sweet Sixteen in Miami (Dickie V called the Miami Regional "The UConn Invitational" after UNC screwed up in an earlier round) and the Gators CRUSHED them in OT. I was at that game as well.
I saw Rick Barry play and he was a great FT shooter which he did underhanded. He could care less about what some thought or said, he just wanted the points. That's the issue today...how it looks not about how many points the team gives up each game by missing FTs. Wilt Chamberlain was an awful FT shooter, but he went underhand to try to solve it.
So did his son Canyon at UF. Canyon made one of the greatest plays in UF basketball history with his block against Wisconsin in the Sweet 16. Everyone remembers Chiozza's buzzer beater trey and that one will get some replays during March Madness coverage, but his block from behind was incredible.
And Canyon Barry set the UF record for consecutive made free throws in his one season as a Gator. So many big men are bad free throwers. The bad ones really ought to try underhand for a season to see how it goes. I would bet every one of them would improve.
The problem is that they think it doesn't look manly. It is a "grannie" shot. From White Men Can't Jump: "You'd rather look good and lose than look bad and win."
Start making them and the haters shut up pretty quickly. One thing I like about the underhand shot is that it has the right amount of backspin and gets a lot of "shooters' rolls." That said, I've never actually shot more than a couple that way, just for kicks.
You had me at “i don’t know a lot about basketball” haha the problem is, unlike pop-a-shot is that the backboard is an 17-18 foot shot, and without the correct arc it’ll likely rattle around. With the kind of touch needed you might as well shoot a direct shot. Now if we’re talking underhand vs overhand there’s definitely something to be said for shooting underhand - in part because of the natural motion and arc/touch. one thing for certain is this team really does need to work on it’s focus at the FT line. You can make them all day in practice but it’s a very different thing making then in a game, when your heart is at 150+bpm along with the pressure of the situation.
Love a bank shot anywhere from about 15 to 45 degrees. That’s one shot Westbrook has down is the 18-foot bank shot. Duncan was the master at long range bank shots
I shot my free throws with a ton of push with my logs. I tried to duplicate my jump shot, but with a little less lift. I was a good free throw shooter.
Do you think we'll ever see a player so great that he shoots free throws with his back to the basket? Just looking over his shoulder.
Our HS was always best in the state in free throw percentage and it was only because we used to shoot them every morning 90 minutes before school started. Literally nothing but free throws.
Free throws are easy. 1. Develop a repeatable form. I guess it should a makable form. 2. Shoot thousands of free throws. Banking any shot from straight on is a horrible low percentage shot.
It is always weird to me when I see teams practicing free throws without running in between. Run to the other end and back before taking your practice shots and you are a lot more prepared for shooting the shots in a game.
When I first started playing basketball I was taught to bank all my shots and it worked really well. Gradually though I just got away from it but I was still a pretty good shot.
Practicing free throws is for muscle memory only and your muscles work more efficiently when they’re under the least amount of strain. But I agree that when shooting in-game shots you should be also working to keep your heart rate up.