Yup. Banking it is the best way for Howard. Less chance of airball and he will definitely hit the rim when he misses.
The basket isn't going anywhere. It's always centered and 15 feet away. 10 feet up. Yes, you need to look at the rim before shooting, but there's no need to stare it down. His problem is he moves his body in broken segments and not as a whole. Like Ray allen once said, the motion has to feel like it's rolling up you're body from your feet up to your arms and then transfers to the ball. The difference is stability. With stability you can have consistency. If you watch his summer league video on you tube, you can see he did it correctly as a rookie. Also, his off hand ends up in an unusual direction, pointing to the rim. Not sure what that's about. That may mean he is using it to direct the ball as well.
Yea Dwight is actually a good FT shooter in practice. If you read any of the report during practice he shoots around 70-80%. I can't remember where I read this but he is amazing during PRACTICE. He just can't get it done during the games. Not sure if he needs 10-20 shots first to get into rhythm but he has the ability to do it if his mind is straight.
He's had 9 or 10 seasons to work on it. Maybe the OP has a point. LOL. Could you imagine the league-wide ridicule though?
I saw one practice where they were keeping track of his percentage but the thing is he was only making 50% of his first 20, after that he got in a rhythm. Tell me it ain't so. That's no way to improve your FTs. He should take on Lin's shooting coach and shoot 1000+ everyday after his workout.
He make make 70% in practice but he still has the mechanics of the shot wrong. When you have the mechanics of the shot wrong you are going to break down under pressure. He never fully releases his shooting arm so every shot he shoots is by feel.
lolz easy fix for Dwight then. During pregame warm up make him shoot FTs and hope it doesn't cool down before the end of the 4th!
I think it's actually mental and mechanical. It is clear he is nervous and thinks about it big time each shot. He's admitted as much by admitting that he has to sing songs to himself to calm his mind. However, it's mechanical because his current mechanics are not fluid and not easily repeatable. He doesn't use his legs right and pushes the ball without using his wrists appropriately. If he had better mechanics it would be harder for the nerves to sabotage him in a real game. He needs to be broken down and rebuilt at the line. The Raptors would have won that game if Casey had gone Hack-a-Dwight in the 4th Q. To respond to the thread, Rick Barry said on 790 with an interview with Charlie that he would be more than happy to work with Dwight if the Rockets and Dwight wanted him to. He claimed he could get Dwight to 80% if he was given enough time.
Here is the video i mentioned...Dwight shoots a free throw @ 45 seconds <object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/zMK4UXr3XrU?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/zMK4UXr3XrU?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object> Umm...Free throws aren't defended in games. 3 pointers are..
Its bad mechanics + mental. The freethrow warmups he shoots during halftime are ugly but mostly fluid, and they go in. The ones he shoots 5 minutes later in-game have a nasty hitch at the point of release, and he ends up catapulting it. He refuses to take advice on it. Either his inner circle is telling him not to change, or maybe he had bad FT coaches in AAU/Orlando. There's no rational reason not to listen to Nash or another big man like Pau who claim they offered to help him.
It took you a whole 6 weeks to make 200 free throws. I'm sure it only takes Howard about two weeks to make 200 free throws.
guys guys... stop overanalyzing things.. all dwight needs to do is PUT THE BALL IN THE HOLE!!!!!!!!! THAT'S ALL! no one is guarding you, no one has a hand in your face, just get the ball in. that's your home ball, go home! don't you want to go in your home?!?!
how dare you... he's the best 3 pt. shooter in the league... even if it isn't the same, it translates...
