I have definitely noticed this, but forgot to post about it. I hope he keeps it up and doesn't regress.
My gracious I hope he keeps it up. If Dwight could turn the corner on this part of his game and become a 70% FT shooter, it changes his whole game. It will drastically improve his post up offense since defenses won't be eager to bang him and just put him on the line. They won't overplay him in the post any longer and he could become that 28/12 guy that Shaq keeps talking about.
I posted my thoughts in an earlier thread a month or two ago, which was he needs to stop staring down the rim before shooting the FT. Just dribble once or twice to get the "feel" of the ball and then just shoot (and look at the goal) in one motion. I thought the staring was psyching him out or over-thinking the shot. IMO, this was the same issue Shaq had because, I guarantee you, both of them knock down 80%+ casually in practice. If you notice the last three games, this is exactly what Dwight is doing. JUST shooting it without thought.... just letting his muscle memory take over. It's good to see.
Good point. I agree. That was always my routine. I'd look at the rim for a second right when the ref gives me the ball. Then look down at the floor and dribble 3 times, then bend my knees and "set" as I look towards the baseline at nothing in particular, and then as I start to go into my motion I look up at the rim and release. I did this on purpose so that my free throw was like a natural shot. Whenever you shoot naturally, you don't sit there staring at the rim. You just see it for a split second and let it fly and rely mostly on muscle memory.
Hehe I hope howard keeps this form up, now even the Suns commentators are noticing it. I heard one of the Sun's players say "WTF MAN?!!" when his shot got that lite shooters touch on the free throw.
He looks great on the line now - I always feel like he's going to make it now - his stroke does look better, but more than anything he looks more confident and comfortable.
It may seem strange that a person with bad technique can shoot 80% in practice, but that's the reality. When the pressure is on, you need good fundamentals to fall back on. If you practice even the wrong thing a 1000 times, you can get good at it. Tbh, i think the real problem is that in the nba, people expect centers that can't shoot from anywhere on the court, to master one shot, from one part of the court. How many good free throw shooters can you name that the only in game shot that they could take from outside 10 feet was the free-throw line shot? None, i'm guessing. Good free throw shooters usually mean they're good shooters period. It might seem like a crazy idea, but the only way dwight will get better is if he starts shooting from everywhere during practice (within 15-20 ft of the basket). He may not ever use these skills during a game, but just the feel of understanding the judgement to put the ball in the basket without thinking, will give him confidence. He does need to change his form, but the entire problem is not just his form. It's half mental, half physical.
Rockets now 8-1 when Hack-a-Howard has been deployed. His makes are falling in beautifully now. A crisp SWISH.
Its possible, but it's all about wanting to change your form. I think there was a thread earlier on how nash offered to help howard, but he said he would deal with it himself. I think Howard knows he has mental lapses but he is under the impression that it's all mental. He doesn't see any problem with his form and until he thinks he needs to change it he's not going to try to. All these guys do is play basketball, they have hours every day to work on changing there form, it may be a time-consuming process, but they have whole summers off to get better. He just doesn't think his form is an issue, that's the real problem
Changing your form is relatively easy. Mastering a new form where you feel comfortable enough that it is almost natural on the other hand is where things get dicey. It is a lot easier to change and destroy your form honestly, which is why when athletes attempt to change their routine typically go into slumps for a while.
nba video box score is amazing if you would like to check out the whole box score which can be dissected with video content such as dwights free throws made then the link is http://stats.nba.com/gameDetail.html?GameID=0021300729&tabView=boxscore
I don't believe that he changed anything ... when he is playing against OKC,LAC,LAL ( games with great intensity) his free throws are bad ... He is so stressed and when he starts losing the first FTs he cannot recover.It's all about confidence.
You can tell he changed where he sets the ball. He used to set with the ball up near his chin. Now he sets with the ball down near his waist. When he sets the ball down by his waist (like he should have been doing), he gets more range of motion into his shot and so he doesn't have to flick his wrist and force the ball to generate enough power to just get the ball to the rim. And the shot looks more "smooth" because he isn't throwing darts anymore.
That's not a good state as it seems. A hack a Howard usually occur when Houston has a significant lead at the end of the game.
