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

if you are upset about hack a dwight now, wait until the playoffs

 

Not surprised. If he can do 80% in practice, then his FT problem is clearly mental, not mechanical.

 

#yousuckatfts #doyoueven #BeWell

 

That doesn't mean there isn't a better way for him to shoot. If he had a smoother shot, perhaps his mental state wouldn't affect it so much. The way he shoots now, there isn't much room for error. A softer shot would roll in more than out.

 

I heard beta-blockers help with things like this. Are they a banned substance?

 

Phil Jackson doesn't lie to players and the media. He just writes a book whenever his teams lose explaining why it wasn't his fault.

 

This. His mechanics are terrible. Great free throw shooters don't get affected as much because they step up to the line and it's all muscle memory from there.

 

He needs a psychologist, (Not in a bad way). I don't know why people are so scared to get one these days. They can help a person lacking mental toughness so much.

 

His mechanics are affected by his mind. It's the only reason he can shoot 90% in practice in 50% in games. He doesn't need a free throw coach, he needs a sports psychologist to learn to perform the free throw under the stress he experiences at the line in games.

 

I seriously doubt he will ever fix that part of his game. He's too self-conscious up there.

In this case, repetition does not seem to help. They can try to mix it up as they have but he still gets up there thinking too much about it.

Ideally, you would think it would be mechanical at this point and he would have a routine down. But, for him, there's nothing routine about it...at least mentally.

 

he needs.....
to make the damn FTs.

 

My 5th grade teacher took the class to our stairwell for a demonstration one day, saying that sometimes we think too hard about simple things and then we mess it up. After going down one flight of stairs, our teacher said that we don't think about how we go down stairs, we just know how and if we focus on it, we'll have trouble. And sure enough we went down those next flight of stairs like a pack of drunken children.

 

It isn't about mechanics or better form. It's about the form that works for you. Howard clearly can make free throws when there is no pressure. Look at Shawn Marion, he has the weirdest wrist flip foul shot but it goes in 90%.

 

If it's mental, it's more worrisome. If he's going to be a foundation on this team, he can't shrink in the 4th quarter because he's got FTs on his mind.

 

George Johnson, formerly of GS, is an example of a big man who could not shoot free throws with any consistency, until he took a queue from teammate Rick Barry... and can you guess what came of that?

All I'm saying is... Granny was right!

 

Tell that to Pau Gasol.

 

He needs to talk to another player who was letting the pressure get into his head, but who fixed it. He needs to talk to Lin.

 

He looks like Urkel there.

Or maybe more Stefan Urquelle.

 

Why the hell would you admit that?

 

Making 43 out of 50 is not that great of a percentage in practice. If that is just during one stretch, I wonder what he is like on average in practice. In the 70% range maybe?

In game percentages are always going to be lower than practice. Heck, during one stretch I have made 50/50 in practice (63 in a row). I remember Shane Battier making like 117 in a row one time, and he was only like an 80% free throw shooter in a game. Dwight needs to keep shooting free throws till he can get in the 90% range in practice. Then he will be comfortable enough with them to be able to make them in a game.