CBS: Howard admits "Hack-A-Dwight" has mentally scarred him

His mechanics ARE bad. Sampson is lying to him.

 

They need to simulate the mental aspects of game pressure during practice, too. The whole point of practice is to do it in away that transfers to games.

Thus, when Dwight practices free throws, the Rockets should have him do it at the actual Toyota Center court with all the players, coaches, front office guys, ticketing staff, janitors, Les Alexander himself and as many of Dwight's friends, families and baby mamas gather in the stands to stare intently at him and sigh heavily whenever he misses.

Where is the Anxiety Trooper when you need him?

 

NBA players are people too. Dwight seems like to the type to overthink and care too much about what other people think. This article really humanizes him. Hope he does well tonight but the pressure isn't getting lesser under the bright lights.

 

Physical giant and a mental midget.

 

to simulate the stress of game time they should have people standing on the side throwing paper balls at him and jeering at him as he's trying to shoot

 

Exactly....his free throw form is a bad. Sampson may be lying to him because he's so mentally fragile. A lot of big men lack touch and Howard's mechanics don't help either. Between his lack of touch and free throw form, its a small miracle every time a free throw goes in. And Howard continuing to admit his head isn't right when he's missing a lot of the free throws in games is him admitting that he is mentally weak. Again, I'm glad Howard is here and he is still good enough to ultimately catapult this team into contention but he needs to ultimately toughen up or teams will continue to hack him especially if he keeps admitting its messing with him mentally.

 

He keeps talking about slowing down and concentrating.... I think he takes TOO LONG. He sits there and stares at the rim. Imagine how many thoughts are going through his head in all that time. Just step up, dribble once to get the feel of the ball and a little rhythm and shoot. No thinking, just let muscle memory kick in and not think his way into a miss.

 

What causes you more anxiety, Randy Bulllock kicking FGs in crunch time, or Dwight shooting free throws in crunch time?

 

Coward

 

His mental outlook probably also explains why after close to a decade, his post game is still so raw. No wonder why Kobe clashes with him - polar opposites.

The guy has been dominating on sheer athleticism. Imagine the possibilities if he can get his head right.

 

lol, the Anxiety Trooper would surely help. He should see a sports therapist if he hasn't already.

But just have Less sitting behind the goal post staring at him would be good simulation.

 

Sounds like Dwight needs a sports psychologist or something.

 

Sampson was saying his mechanics aren't bad in practice. But on the court he forgets his "triggers" and mentally messes up his mechanics.

Sampson said. "He knows everybody's watching him, and instead of focusing on the process or his routine, he lets those things slip in."​

Can't we just take a coach on his word. Not everyone lies to players and the media like Phil Jackson. Don't be so dramatic.

 

shock treatment?

 

^^^ +99999

 

When I started shooting free throws as soon as the ref gives me the ball (treat it like a pass), my % went way up. The longer you wait and think, the harder it is. Should be instinctual like other shots.

Also, Dwight's timing is off. He bends his knees, but his lower body and upper and not in sync. He legs are completely straight before he shoots the ball, so he isn't even really using his legs although it looks like he is.

 

This type of "psychological block" is not uncommon in sports. This is probably not exactly the same thing but see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yips. In the case of Yips, some psychologists attribute an overthinking of the action. Motion needs to come naturally from a more subconscious part of the brain and when you consciously try to think out the exact motions that you need to do you are unable to actually perform the action. Anyway, it sounds like Dwight needs a psychologist more than he needs a coach. There are psychologists that specialize in this kind of thing...

 

First, I don't think his mechanics are as bad as some are saying. Also it is slightly smoother than last year. I don't think that Sampson is lying at all, if he wanted to be secretive he would refuse to comment or give a simple one or two word answer. Sampson has always been very frank in his comments, to the point that it has professionally hurt him.

Also, we can call Howard a mental midget all we want, but he is not the first or last player to let going to the line get in his head. Further, atleast he seems to care about playing well and is working on his issues.

I would rather have someone like MJ or Dream at the line as well, someone that views it as a challenge, but Howard's personality can be dealt with, it is just a lot of work. We saw how Stan Van Gundy handled Howard and he thrived. Howard is a guy that needs attention and reassurance.

 

Actually, there are some scientists that believe that autism is actually an inability to "generalize" information in this subconscious way. According to these scientists, for an autistic person, speaking is incredibly difficult because they actually need to think about all the complex motion involved. It doesn't come naturally like it does for the rest of us. At the same time, the ability to see the trees among the forest can grant savant-like abilities. Here is a super interesting article about it: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/22/magazine/22SAVANT.html?pagewanted=1.