Hello dear Clutchfans people. I wonder, does anyone have some video footage of Tmac shooting it a couple of seasons ago that we can compare to this seasons' shooting? He seems more flat.... also like he isn't getting up as high maybe. Any thoughts?
My thought is Tracy's jumpshot has always seemed flat. I haven't noticed it being much flatter this year but it must be since so many people mention it. Elevation could be the real issue.
i agree..you could always hang your laundry on his shot, but its the elevation, maybe he still hasnt gotten his legs under him. Give him until ten games and then worry if he keeps struggling.
This was someting I was thinking about. Comparing videos of him from Orlando, then 04-05 in Houston, and finally this season so far. Would be really useful and informative for the time being. I don't have the time/skill to do this so if someone could compile something like that it would be great.
bullard said he told him that he was jumping and shooting in 2 seperate actions when he was shooting badly. he said that in the bucks game, he began jumping and shooting in 1 motion. that seemed to jive with the way he shot in the knicks game.
This is what is happening. A flat shot is like shooting at a coin slot. When you jump, then shoot, you are not taking advantage of upward momentum to create arch for your shot. I will admit though if you can jump really, really high, then the coin slot is a little bigger. Lambardi would also advise practice doesn't make perfect. Practicing the right things makes perfect. You'll see some wierd mechianics out in the streets...college & pro ball... I believe sound mechanics will help overcome variables such as loss of athleticism, new ball, long layoffs from playing...we can all learn how to shoot behind our back and after a 1000 hours of practice we would be pretty good...but streaky and unsound.
His shot has always been flat, his elevation and 'hang time' is what's not there, and his overall rhythem is just off. He occasionally gets good elevation on his jumper now, and he doesn't 'lean' back as much as he used to do. I think if he continues to struggle on his jumper this season, he will literally have to reinvent his shot, may be learn to shoot like Matt Bullard or something with his feet set.
Yes, like what many of you have said, he's just not getting the elevation now. Not only that, his rhythm is off. You can clearly see him hanging in the air, and then releasing the ball, as opposed to one smooth motion. I don't have the video footage of him in Orlando, but from what I've seen, his shot was definitely much smoother in Orlando than it is now. Even in '04-'05, and stretches last season. But IMO, the problem can be attributed to his long layoff perhaps. We'll see if he gets his legs and rhythm back under him.
Greg Anthony (Legler?) said that T-Mac was releasing his jumper on his way down, rather than on at the top of the jump. Certainly that would explain why the shots are short off the front of the rim.
- Fading away - Shooting too much with his arms, rather than legs - Shooting a split second after the top of his jump (which causes him to shoot with his arms as I said) That's why he's missing. No doubt in my mind.
It's well known that he hasn't played in 5+ months. I don't know if any of you guys play basketball, but when you take breaks that long, it always takes between a month and a half and sometimes 3 months to get the consistency in your shot back. If his shot is off because of missed time it should be steadily improving over the next few weeks, we'll see.
one thing i noticed was how riggid his stroke is. his elbow sticks out too much and he seems to push the ball more than shoot it. his shot has allways been flat and he's allways had sort of a weirt release/follor through...but the above mentioned seems different to me.
Send in Dr. Thibedeau to break down his shot. The ESPN guys were saying it was mechanical, that he is shooting on his way down and not at the apex of his jump which would definitely cause his shot to be off. The other thing the Rox might want to do is have him see a sports psychologist, he definitely has lost confidence. The ESPN guys kept mentioning that he was saying he wasn't feeling it. Nothing worse than shooter that has doubts about putting the ball in the hole, the basket has to be really small when you have those negative thoughts.
Here is some footage/clip to see TMac's jumpshot from a couple of years ago... Skip to 7:20 or so mark of the highlights for some nice action photos of TMac at the APEX... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEWrc0_PNoE&NR
The announcers (and some of you guys here) pretty much nailed it. He's shooting on the way down, not at the peak, and if you do that it throws your shot off, and usually short. He's not shooting it weak, he's shooting how he thinks he should but he's waiting a split second to long and it's falling short. It doesn't look as smooth. Now i'm sure the Rockets organization has broken it down enough times already, T-Mac is probably just trying to fix it. That's just what it looks like. He seems kinda slow. If he's a little heavy in the legs for now, it's perfectly natural and he'll get it back. It just takes some time. I'm just grateful he can create plays. His vision and passing is so good he's still getting it done and he's still giving the team a reason to put the ball in his hands. Also, he is still Tracy McGrady, the defense still honors him and he still draws a croud whenever he moves with the ball. I think that even if it takes him a month to get it back, the Rockets will be fine. Yao Ming is just too good now, it's not fair for the other teams.
After reviewing some footage, I've come to a couple of conclusions. First of all, it's hard to find footage on my computer of Tracy missing shots because all I have is highlights for the most part. So unfortunately I have to compare made shots from this season to made shots from a couple of years ago. Anyway... It seems that Tracy releases his shot just a nanosecond too late, but that seems to be consistent throughout the years, so maybe that's not the problem... What I did see that was different is that Tracy is letting his upper body lean back too far. He almost always scissor kicks his leg forward which causes him to fade slightly, but a couple of years ago he was keeping his upper body more or less straight up and down. I think the leaning back is causing his shot to be slightly short. One sign of this is that Tracy seems to shoot better when he gets to walk up into his shot and get some extra oomph on it, much like in the 3rd quarter against New York when he hit a fast break 3 following a Chuck Hayes block on the other end, if you recall that play. So in short... He needs to straighten his upper body and lean in to his shots more. At least that's what I think.
naaaah. imho, t-mac looks as quick, if not quicker, than he has always looked. It's just that even when he avg. 32 points back in Orlando, his scoring depended a lot on his jumpshot. The Bucks game looked just like a game from his Orlando days. What tracy has to do is get himself easier looks at the basket. He's been playing so long in the "find my ownself a shot" mode that he doesn't even really know how to work off Yao to get easier buckets. It wouldn't hurt if JVG added a few wrinkles in the playbook that got him some backdoor screens for quick under the basket shots. It could get him in a little groove early. His jumpshot: I really don't know. I think he still gets huge elevation on his shot. I just think he's loss his consistent rhythm on his form...
yep, if you watch that spurs footage, he is definitely releasing it later now. His elevation if fine, it's just later release. I think the fact that he needs some time is right on. He recognizes that if he still draws double teams he can create more. However, watching him tower over D.Wade, 15 feet from the basket, with single coverage and not seeing Tmac let it fly instantaeously was very sad to watch. Let's hope he gets it back.
