None of the guys that Geezer mentioned (although I can't really speak to Wilt on this) were good shooters in general. Maybe they just weren't skilled when it came to a normal shooting motion?
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MICHIGAN'S MEN'S BASKETBALL: 2015-2016
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A lot of these guys who can't hit free throws just have awful form. It may be good enough to hit some in practice but the form unravels when the pressure is on. It's like a golfer with a bad grip. The hands might have something to do with it, but I believe they just never learned a proper form when they were young and changing that takes an awful lot of tedious work in the gym. Shaq had a awful technique, its amazing he was over 50 percent in his career.
I always get a kick out of Rick Barry coming out and telling people to use the underhand technique because he used it. He could have shot 90 percent from the line with a normal technique.
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He wasn't as beefy as Shaq but he was pretty muscular. 6'11", 240.
Wilt wasn't particularly muscle-bound. I think of the likes of Mason, Wallace, Oakley as muscle-bound players. Shaq was just ginormous.Dan Patrick: What was your reaction to [Urban Meyer being hired]?
Brady Hoke: You know.....not....good.
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Its one of those things you need to get kids early on, it saves so much time if they learn somewhat proper form when they are young. It saves so much time, form over results when they are young.
Shooting coaches are fine, if the player is willing to spends hours upon hours practicing what the coaches are teaching them. It isn't something that a few sessions will permanently fix. Durant has a workout coach in the offseason who will have him shoot hundreds of nothing but 2 and 5 foot form shots. For the most part, the really good players practice the most. A lot of what people see as talent is really just a lot of summers grinding it out.
Guys like Wilt and Shaq weren't great at free throws but they always made enough that it didn't kill the teams.
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Definitely on the dribbling, get that left hand going. Learn to drive with your left and you'll always be able to create something for yourself. We used to harass my older daughter calling her Lefty because she didn't have a left hand and had to break presses when she was young with just a a right hand dribble. It paid off because now you cannot tell what her dominant hand is. The younger daughter has already learned that lesson.
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Good discussion. I will say, as one who watched Wilt often that he had fine touch frrom the low blocks on a fade-away bank shot off the high glass. He could do what Shaq did and bully his way in, but he just shot his fade-away much of the time. Just watch some film on him. He had touch, but he couldn't hit free throws to save his soul. He tried all sorts of approaches, even bank shots.
Wilt was such a physical specimen. If he were playing today he would be about 7' 4", because he was about 4 inches taller than the best centers of his era (Russell was a generous 6'9"). And when he was traded to LA, he was told not to score as much (they had West and Baylor) but to rebound and assist. He proceeded to lead the league in assists, and I'm not sure about rebounds. LBJ is the closest I've seen to that type of versatility.
I guess practice as a youngster is probably the best explanation I've heard, but it still seems like a good athlete like Ben Wallace could spend an off-season and improve to 60%. I've also thought of the arch of the ball. Tall, muscular players tend to have a low trajectory.
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Edited the thread title, hope that's okay everybody.
So Max officially moves on to Indiana for year 5. Good for him and I think M. Got into a brief discussion with Nick B from Mlive on Twitter. Would be nice to have Max back as insurance; but I believe it's a good program move to force Wilson and Donnal into performing roles. Max wasn't good enough to ensure he would perform if those guys can't, so I think it's the best move. Also, now Mo Wagner is official and he may be able to log some minutes at the 5 as well. If we can't get through 40 minutes at the C position from the 4 of them, well...oh well I guess.
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