Of course it's not easy to master, but the reward for Jabbar was holding the #1 spot in all time scoring + extending the length of dominance in his career. There's some things worth the effort I don't doubt that if a player like Mobley were to develop a hook shot with decent accuracy that it would be used often. I get it, the game is played different today and it's not easy to master. But, to develop a shot that is the hardest shot to block is worth the effort. Does that mean ignore the rest of your game? No.
Well, the midrange game was said to have died. But this NBA finals features CP3 and Booker, two of the best midrange shooters in the league. If the Suns win a championship, maybe the midrange will be in fashion again. I have always felt that a great offensive player will develop as many weapons as he physically can. A smart coach will use whatever it takes to win. That's why the mantra "3 or layup" used to the extreme is not wise. Even though the 3 and the layup are the most efficient shots, it is always good to have more dimensions for the opponent's defense to deal with. Maybe the low post players will return if one begins to dominate. In the past, all effective low post scorers have some kind of hook shot. Kareem's skyhook was unique. But Hakeem, Duncan, Shaq, and Yao all had a jump hook to go together with some other counter moves.
some things are worth the effort, this isn't one of them. Yeah it means you ignore it when the game doesn't really have room for it with the way it's played now.
The midrange game didn't die. A lot of stars are still taking them, but the average player sucks at it. Only a few players are money from midrange like cp3. and he's been using it for his entire career. Middleton is also money from midrange and hes been using it. There's just far more 3's taken now than ever that most people don't notice midrange shots are still being taken by a number of players. mostly all stars and higher tier because that's what they can actually do. KD has also been wreaking havoc from midrange. So has Kawhi The 3 or layup mantra was also meant for non stars. That's how you maximize lesser players efficiency. Folks have always confused this with that applying to an entire team. It doesn't. It applies much more to your role players who have significantly less of a bag offensively. If you're not smart enough to understand your limitations as a player, that really means your bball IQ is just that bad and generally translates to your team being bad and that player being just as bad Embiid is as dominate of a scoring bigman as we've seen in a long time. Along with probably Jokic. Jokic gets exposed on the defensive end a ton. Embiid is a plus defensively but we've seen how fatigue can take a toll on him.
It will die the same death as the low post game if kids believe that it is not used in the highest level, according to your argument. Abandoning the midrange may have more compelling reasons than abandoning the low post for offensive efficiency. The biggest problem is not the low post game on offense but immobile bigs on defense. Big men who cannot defend the PnR becomes unplayable against today's perimeter game. Teams are forced to play some kind of small ball unless they have a mobile big man who is fast enough on defense and skilled enough on offense. I am pretty sure a player like Hakeem would still be an elite player in today's game and his dreamshake would still be very effective down low. Players like Shaq and Yao would not survive.
I don't think so. Kids are also shooting from midrange. You see a lot of that in AAU and the college game. It's part of the shooting emphasis and training a lot of these kids are working on. Dribble pullups and pindowns, and even stepbacks in the midrange is in a lot of these workouts. At a younger age, they're starting from farther out and as they get older they add the in between jumpshots to fill out what they can. What you don't see at all in these games, is slow games where players are dumping the ball down low for low posts shots. Hakeem was versatile and skilled. He had a jumpshot. All things prioritized in today's game. That's why he'd be a damn good player in today's game.
Mobley has a hook shot. *either hand. it's one of the few lost post moves he has right now. He may master it better.
The sky hook is a hard shot to master.... it is easy to disrupt by a bump to the body. Also a lot of these skilled big men started out as guards and had a major growth spurt, so it was never part of their package. The hook shot also takes some time to get off, and that has hurt its popularity. I am sure someone is going to bring it back and make it a big part of their arsenal. I am surprised Jokic doesn't do it more often.
There aint enough time, thats why. Big men get drafted at age 18, and most of them only started taking it seriously when they grew tall so like 3 yrs ago. They have bigger priority than the sky hook and if they have time to learn a shot from scratch they'd rather work on 3 than sky hooks.
The hook shot usually involves a push off or hooking the the opponent with the off hand in real time speed. Unless you're super tall like the most famous utilizer, it's very difficult to pull off in game situations and even then.
