Josh Smith being a bad free throw shooter makes no sense...

Same thing happened with Otis Thorpe.

He was at 75% - I mean that's borderline "hey he can shoot T's" level - when he first arrived in Houston. But he began to get progressively worse each year.

During the season he was traded for Clyde, 94-95, he was clocking in at just 52%.

Then the next year he was over 70 again in Detroit.

 

I have been wondering the same thing

 

It is all mental and practice. Truth is, no NBA player should be a poor FT shooter if they practice hard enough unless there is something mental going on. Dwight supposedly shoots in the 80% territory when it is not game time. You basically have to practice until your body remembers the shooting motion without you thinking about it.

 

Its mental.

Like those weird stories of catchers who can't throw it back to the pitcher but they can throw out runners

 

Sometimes I think big strong guys like Dwight should shoot free throws like normal people shoot pop-a-shot. Shortened stroke.

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I personally disagree. Again, it's all mental. Nick Anderson is a perfect example of this. Thinking about your shot as you shoot only hurts you in the vast majority of cases. It interrupts what should otherwise be an unconscious smooth movement based on muscle memory. When you are "adjusting" you aren't actually making minute adjustments, rather it is your mind and your body figuring out what works and what doesn't as it practices over and over. When you shoot with the same motion, rotation, angle, ect, you are expected to get the same results every time barring external interference, which does not exist when shooting FT's (that's why they are called free throws). It is simple physics. Unfortunately, humans are not robots and we do think, even when we don't want to or shouldn't and every shot will not be the same. In those situations, you simply hope to shoot as close to your personal ideal form as possible, which is what you were referring to later in your post. Remember, the FT line doesn't change, the height of the basket doesn't change, gravity doesn't change. If you shoot each FT with the exact same force, angle, ect and it goes on and you shoot the next FT the exact same way, that will also go in as well.

 

You also have people with great depth perception. Those people are usually great shooters, because they can honestly grasp mentally how much angle and what force is needed to put the ball at a specific point.

 

Maybe his hands got bigger?

 

Not working hard enough. He would be better if he keep working like Yao Ming. You do not often see a big man from Europe or Asia can not make a free throw because he or she works it very day.

 

Not only is he easily flustered (mentally not focused) his shot has no arc , its almost like a line drive, doesn't bend the knees and just shoots it line drive

 

It looks like he goes out into a mental fog at the FT line. He over thinks and misses the simplest shot.

 

check out iguodala's career FT %... just as bizarre

 

Nick Wright brought up an interesting theory, said Josh and Dwight are typical AAU kids who never went to college and never got formal coaching. They're tremendously talented but never had to endure long practices under a college coaching staff that taught fundamentals and shooting.

In the NBA, practice time is limited and they're not spending time going over basics that the other players picked up in college. That's why they're good at game action aspects of the NBA, but are bad at skill specific aspects, like free throw shooting.

 

josh smith jacking up 3's makes no sense

 

incredibly solid post! Makes a ton of sense.

 

I dont think its bizarre. He shoots the ball all arms and no legs. He catapults it at the basket. If he had a softer touch he would improve. Same applies to TJones.