ESPN - Free Throw shooting struggles - Dwight related

[RandomFan]

OK, I tried to paste this very good article from ESPN about free throw shooting and why so many bigs have struggled with it throughout the history of the NBA. But it is ridiculously long and has a lot of pics and graphs that didn't copy+paste over properly. So it's probably best to take the time to click the link and go read it with the proper formatting on the website. But I will post some highlights to whet your appetite to click the link.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/17115866/real-root-nba-intentional-foul-epidemic

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:17116510

Drowning in a sea of bricks: Why NBA bigs struggle at the line -- and always will

Tom Haberstroh  ESPN Staff Writer

--- keeping the game electric is mostly a case of hoping big men get better at shooting free throws, which seems unlikely. Among the most stable statistics in the sport is the reality that men 6-foot-9 or taller, as a group, make only about 72 percent of their free throws. Within that group of giants lies a trend: 75 percent of the worst free throw shooters in NBA history are 6-foot-9 or taller. But the worst of them have long been among the league's best players -- All-Stars and all-timers -- who have shot below 60 percent.

--- Practice more! It makes so much sense. Yet according to those who have gone to the trouble of diagnosing the actual root of the problem, it's the exact opposite of good advice.

--- Though a dearth of historical NBA data on hand size makes rigorous, decades-long study impossible, an analysis -- based on hand-length data extracted from NBA draft combine measurements -- of 118 NBA players who have taken at least 100 career free throws confirmed that hand size is not a statistically significant predictor of free throw success.

--- However, research guru Michael Beuoy, of Inpredictable.com, found some other possible explanations for poor free throw shooting aside from hand size. A deep dive into SportVU-generated granular data revealed to Beuoy that tall players tend to have higher shot trajectories, which means the ball approaches the rim as if it had been dropped from a greater height -- i.e., faster. Dirk Nowitzki's free throws approach the rim at 20.4 feet per second; Kyrie Irving's approach at 19.4.

That doesn't matter if the shot is dead on. But if it catches rim, as many do, Nowitzki's shot would bounce off the rim with more force than Irving's. And in basketball, there are plenty of makes to be had from a softly bouncing ball lucking its way into the net.

Beuoy also found that big men were just all over the place with the ball. The starting position, the release point, the velocity and angle of the ball as it left their hands ... the best shooters had very little variation in these things. The tallest players had a lot, and the worst free throw shooters had a ton.

In other words, the search for physical differences in tall and short shooters uncovered evidence that the actual difference is not physical at all.

Putting in golf is about as similar an act as there could be to free throw shooting. The essential challenge is to stand before a crowd, size up a target and move your body in a carefully rehearsed way. The sin is surprise. The virtue is in mastering a motion you can replicate no matter the circumstances. And practice is famously the bedrock of succeeding at it.

But it's not the whole story for everyone, every day. Many of the game's finest -- from Tom Watson to Sergio Garcia to Johnny Miller to Ben Hogan to even, at the end, the famed Bobby Jones -- have seen things turn horribly, irreparably wrong on the greens, more or less because of something happening between the ears. In golf, they call it "the yips" -- when they mention it at all. It has been studied for decades in not just golf, but everything from baseball to darts to concert piano.

--- To the best of Cassidy's knowledge, the guy he beat out to become an astronaut had a food allergy. Yes, a food allergy.

The lesson: Any  weakness can doom you in such a competitive field. In this way, a 6-foot NBA player is like an astronaut. To separate himself from millions of similarly sized people who'd like to play in the NBA, he must be strong, mentally and physically, in whatever it takes to have a nicely replicable shooting stroke.

If you're a bad free throw shooter at 7-foot, though? Well, OK, you still have a darned-good chance of making it to the NBA simply because there aren't many 7-footers in the world. David Epstein's 2011 book "The Sports Gene" estimates, based on government population data, that a staggering 17 percent of all 7-foot American men between the ages of 20 and 40 are playing in the NBA.

--- "If these guys do much better in practice than the game," Rao said, "it points to psychology."

 

OK, that should be enough to entice people to read it. If you are like me and crave in-depth material to read, you will love it. If you have the attention span of a gnat then you will probably hate it and post some lame TL:DR to try and make yourself seem like the cool kid in class - you're not, you're just dumb. <eyeballs kg01's reflex to post "TL:DR" just to appear to be a smartass >

[RandomFan]

OK, one more part:

"It causes us to think more," Howard said.

Howard remembers hitting 465 out of 500 free throws in practice one day with the Los Angeles Lakers. He made 49.2 percent of his in-game freebies that season.

"And for the next two or three games, I was really locked in," Howard said. "But then I started thinking so much about it, I started missing. I was working so hard not to miss, I missed all of them.

"Free throw shooting is all mental. In practice, I don't miss. In warm-ups, I don't miss. When I get into a game, I hear people say, 'He's going to miss,' and it gets inside my head."

Like Jordan, Howard suffers from Shaqtin'-A-Fool-phobia. Hack-a-Shaq only makes it worse.

"Because of all the attention to it, our flaw has been magnified to the whole world," Howard said. "I've got little kids at basketball camps telling me, 'My dad says you suck at free throws.' Other players have flaws, but they aren't getting magnified the way the free throws are."

In Orlando early in his career, Howard said he hired a personal sports psychologist who used to work with Tiger Woods. He has also tried singing songs in his head to keep his mind off the task.

"I used to sing Beyoncé songs, that was my thing," Howard said. "I told her about it when I saw her. I said, 'When I sing your song, I make my free throws.' She seemed to like that."

[DS17Fanboy]

Dwight instead of trying to smile and look OK when at the line, should start doing some unwinding from active-play techniques and then breathing techniques and create a whole routine for each shot. And he should be grimming from start to finish. Not singing Beyonce.

[RandomFan]

It's pretty clear from this article that one of the things that he needs to be doing differently is focusing on the good result you want to happen, and not the negatives of messing up. That is obviously easier said than done. But then again, that is the very definition of mental toughness. As the article points out, average sized people have to be mentally tough to rise to the cream of the crop of the NBA level, where 7 footers are such a rare breed that they make it to the NBA without having to have that same mental toughness. I think we have all seen that mental toughness is Dwight's biggest weakness.

In light of that, I'm not sure if his free throw shooting will ever impove. There is no amount of phsical practice or repetition that will overcome a genetic weakness of the mind. This is something only a psycholigist can fix (if it's fixable at all), and it sounds as if he's tried that route also, with no success so far.

Edited July 22, 2016 by RandomFan

[bird_dirt]

Well, I don't know how much any psychologist has heloped Tiger these past few years, so maybe he should seek someone new.

That is an interesting point about big, big guys not having to work as hard to make it (paraphrasing). But I swear, I really believe that I could drop kick a soccer ball through a hoop from the foul line if someone were willing to pay me millions of $ a year. Maybe that's just the mental toughness in me coming out.

[Sothron]

I have always wondered why big guys that struggle at the line don't go seek help from big guys that do NOT struggle at the line. If you are a big guy and can hit say 70% of your free throws or more that is the kind of active or retired player I would seek help from if I was a player like Dwight.

[AUhawksfan]

I always wondered about the trajectory part.  Sounds like it can be a factor but not a major one.

We all know it's mental since he can make so many in practice and he actually shot 67% his first year in the league!  I think the article is kind of right, that maybe he should practice less.  The hard part is (like Dwight has admitted), he cares too much about what others think and I think that's the mentally weak part coming to play.

Funny how that works.  When I haven't played ball in months, I have some of my best shooting games because I don't expect much and the don't care attitude actually makes me play better.  Once I've been playing awhile I can start to get in my own head and overthink, that's when I struggle.  Probably a little bit of that going on there.

I'd be really happy if he manages anywhere near 60%.  One good success story not mentioned much around here is Bazemore.  He's gone from being pretty poor to extremely reliable this past season, maybe we can have the same sort of success with Dwight.

[Thomas]

Don't guess Olajuwon would consider helping since he's a Rocket guy through and through. Kind of a humorous idea for the Hawks to ask him.  

[AHF]

2 minutes ago, Thomas said:

Don't guess Olajuwon would consider helping since he's a Rocket guy through and through. Kind of a humorous idea for the Hawks to ask him.  

I'd guess the Rockets already asked him and he either refused or was not effective.  Bud has some connections and personnal relationships.  Bring in Duncan.  There are lots of things he could teach Dwight and he has been through his own season of yips so he should be able to relate.

[macdaddy]

My favorite is Bill Cartwright.  77% career free throw shooter with this form.   It may look ugly but leaves his hand with confidence.   

 

[Guest]

51 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

My favorite is Bill Cartwright.  77% career free throw shooter with this form.   It may look ugly but leaves his hand with confidence.   

 

Lol, my cousins and I had a contest once - who could do the best imitation of a 'Cartwright Freethrow'.  What a laugh, lololololol.

[thecampster]

I discussed this in a previous thread (about 10 days ago).  

The biggest issue with shooting free throws as a big is the taller you are, the less you can see the back of the rim. It throws off your natural ability to see the depth you are shooting.

[RandomFan]

13 minutes ago, thecampster said:

I discussed this in a previous thread (about 10 days ago).  

The biggest issue with shooting free throws as a big is the taller you are, the less you can see the back of the rim. It throws off your natural ability to see the depth you are shooting.

You didn't read the article did ya? Hehe

[Thomas]

With guys as big as the NBA's serious bigs are, their hands are huge and fingers are so long that the old Stetson rules for shooting a foul shot really don't apply the same to them. Its not that those fundamentals don't apply like they used to because they do but big physical seven footers have a whole different level of difficulty at the line. Its like they are shooting a volleyball as opposed to the rest of us shooting a basketball. A shooting coach that knows how to help these type of bigs as well as the other positions to improve at the foul line is immeasurably valuable in this league. Heck, we may need two different shooting coaches on the same team for that reason. Whatever helps get the big wins during and after the regular season. We know how much the foul line impacts any game.

[AHF]

Just now, Thomas said:

With guys as big as the NBA's serious bigs are, their hands are huge and fingers are so long that the old Stetson rules for shooting a foul shot really don't apply the same to them. Its not that those fundamentals don't apply like they used to because they do but big physical seven footers have a whole different level of difficulty at the line. Its like they are shooting a volleyball as opposed to the rest of us shooting a basketball. A shooting coach that knows how to help these type of bigs as well as the other positions to improve at the foul line is immeasurably valuable in this league. Heck, we may need two different shooting coaches on the same team for that reason. Whatever helps get the big wins during and after the regular season. We know how much the foul line impacts any game.

The article addresses big hands too - using Kawhi Leonard as an example of why they haven't seen that as a really significant variable.

[thecampster]

3 hours ago, RandomFan said:

You didn't read the article did ya? Hehe

actually I did...the end result of a big not seeing the back of the rim is to put more arc on the ball in an attempt to drop it straight through or shooting with little to no arc to avoid the extra velocity.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Hawks big men FT shooting:

 

Dwight - 49%

Splitter - 81%

Humphries - 71%

 

Tavares - 71% ( D-League )

"I will show Dwight how to shoot. Don't worry."

[Thomas]

Wow

5 hours ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Hawks big men FT shooting:

Dwight - 49%

Splitter - 81%

Humphries - 71%

Tavares - 71% ( D-League )

"I will show Dwight how to shoot. Don't worry."

Wow, looks like Splitter should earn some of his paycheck coaching D8 at the line with that 81% stat. Him coaching along with playing could help make up for all those games he missed. 

[thecampster]

FT shooting percent is pointless if you aren't drawing fouls.

Per 48 free throw shooting for 2015

Player,,,,,,,,,FTM/48,,,,FTA/48

 

Howard,,,,,,,,4.9 - 10.0

Humphries,,,,5.2 - 7.3

Splitter............3.2 - 4.0

Tavares...........2.0 - 5.3

[benhillboy]

20 hours ago, thecampster said:

I discussed this in a previous thread (about 10 days ago).  

The biggest issue with shooting free throws as a big is the taller you are, the less you can see the back of the rim. It throws off your natural ability to see the depth you are shooting.

Interesting, but Ming disapproves that notion alone.  It was the only thing he was totally comfortable doing on an NBA court.

50 minutes ago, thecampster said:

FT shooting percent is pointless if you aren't drawing fouls.

Per 48 free throw shooting for 2015

Player,,,,,,,,,FTM/48,,,,FTA/48

 

Howard,,,,,,,,4.9 - 10.0

Humphries,,,,5.2 - 7.3

Splitter............3.2 - 4.0

Tavares...........2.0 - 5.3

I can't wait until around January when Hump is seriously eating into Dwight's minutes.

I didn't realize Jack was so accurate, 42nd in percentage All-Time.

From my experience, it's pretty simple.  Poor FT shooters by and large aren't very smart.  Of course there are outliers I have to mention like Iggy and Duncan.  But watching Josh for 8 years I feel he's all the example I need.  I'm pretty sure Dwight and DeAndre didn't push for valedictorian in high school.

Tristan Thompson is a good example of players who work hard to improve with no excuses. He knows how important it is that his rebounding be available late in games.

Outstanding FT shooters are usually cerebral players.  5 of the Top 10 in career percentage I would consider supremely intelligent.  Then they're followed by 2 near-7 footers in Bird and Durant, which contradicts the seemingly ideal FT shooting size found atop career and seasonal leaderboards of 6"1"-6'3", 185-190 lbs.  It definately points to mental ability much moreso than physical traits.  

That being said I must do due diligence and actually read the article at some point.  Just one question, though.  Did they address underhand FTs?  It's disgusting that NBA players feel they're "too cool" to do it when it could possibly help a number of them signifigantly.

Edited July 23, 2016 by benhillboy