Dr Bird Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 I think Willie is using way too much leg bend when shooting free throws. Too many axes of motion means too many sources of error. Great free throwers (Steve Nash) use a simple flip that is highly repeatable. Willie's deep knee bend is reminiscent of Chris Heinrich. Some coach years ago probably harped on Willie to "use your legs" and he's still doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Willie's problem is in his head - his technique while not perfect is not bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BACKHANDtheRICAN Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 I think Willie is using way too much leg bend when shooting free throws. Too many axes of motion means too many sources of error. Great free throwers (Steve Nash) use a simple flip that is highly repeatable. Willie's deep knee bend is reminiscent of Chris Heinrich. Some coach years ago probably harped on Willie to "use your legs" and he's still doing it. I'll have to tell Willie to create a billikens message board name, log-in, and come to this thread so that he can read and get pointers from Dr. Bird on how he can improve his free throw shooting. Willie will be excited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Willie's problem is in his head - his technique while not perfect is not bad. Which is exactly the reason why it is difficult to make MAJOR improvements in this area. It is usually a head not a mechanics issue. How many poor free throw shooters have we seen become really good at the line? Not many. Yes, you can improve with loads of practice but usually not make a night to day improvement. There is something about stepping up to the line by yourself with everyone watching that just gets to many players. Right now WR is a head case at the line. He is pressing. What do you think he is thinking as he is handed the ball by the ref? Is he thinking, "I'm the man-I'm going to nail these" or is he thinking, "Oh $h!^, here we go again." Until he can get his mindset changed he can only hope for gradual and minimal improvement, if he spends tons of time practicing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 I'll have to tell Willie to create a billikens message board name, log-in, and come to this thread so that he can read and get pointers from Dr. Bird on how he can improve his free throw shooting. Willie will be excited.I would hope free throw shooting would be a point of emphasis for the entire team in the off season. I'm sure RM, Porter and the rest of the staff realize something needs to be done. Imo Dr. Bird is right about Willie, he has far too much movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bk18 Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Players who get a lot of power from their legs in their free throw shot typically shoot well in practice and bad at the end of games because their legs are fatigued. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmbilliken Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 willie can hit his jump from the free throw line, maybe he should try that. it would be entertaining and no less accurate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonka Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 willie can hit his jump from the free throw line, maybe he should try that. it would be entertaining and no less accurate.I don't think the crowd should get quiet when he shoots either. I know that is the norm, but if it's in his head near complete silence I think just adds more pressure. I am not advocating crowd noise like when the opposing team shoots, but complete silence followed by 10k people going Ohhhhhhh! when he misses can't help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Here are our percentages per player KM - .703 adequate CE - .647 not good enough WR - .481 horrendous CS - .759 good BC - .581 poor JJ - .667 not good enough FJ - .813 team leader JS - .438 horrendous CR - .222 seriously we have one player who doesn't need f/t work. 70% for KM, or .76% for CS isn't bad, but I'd say our guards should be 75% as a minnimum and closer to 80% to be considered very good. FJ who has taken very few shots. Even with our youth, there isn't any reason we should be shooting this poorly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Here are our percentages per player KM - .703 adequate CE - .647 not good enough WR - .481 horrendous CS - .759 good BC - .581 poor JJ - .667 not good enough FJ - .813 team leader JS - .438 horrendous CR - .222 seriously we have one player who doesn't need f/t work. 70% for KM, or .76% for CS isn't bad, but I'd say our guards should be 75% as a minnimum and closer to 80% to be considered very good. FJ who has taken very few shots. Even with our youth, there isn't any reason we should be shooting this poorly. And KC is only shooting .636. Not good enough, especially if and when he starts getting to the bucket more and presumably gets more FT attempts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Here are our percentages per player KM - .703 adequate CE - .647 not good enough WR - .481 horrendous CS - .759 good BC - .581 poor JJ - .667 not good enough FJ - .813 team leader JS - .438 horrendous CR - .222 seriously we have one player who doesn't need f/t work. 70% for KM, or .76% for CS isn't bad, but I'd say our guards should be 75% as a minnimum and closer to 80% to be considered very good. FJ who has taken very few shots. Even with our youth, there isn't any reason we should be shooting this poorly. Cody shot the T's on Wednsday. I'm pretty sure Mitchell and maybe CS were on the floor. It's not all in the numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b.hayes Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Unfortunately from what I've been told this team was a great free throw shooting team this summe...may just be a case of some young players who have made great strides in a lot of areas this year, but are still growing and that's one of the struggling areas. If you remember the begining of the season, Willie was actually shooting pretty well from the line the first few games. There isn't anyone on the team whose form makes me shudder a la Joakim Noah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbofive Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 I don't think the crowd should get quiet when he shoots either. I know that is the norm, but if it's in his head near complete silence I think just adds more pressure. I am not advocating crowd noise like when the opposing team shoots, but complete silence followed by 10k people going Ohhhhhhh! when he misses can't help.i thought the same thing wed night. i noticed early that we were getting way too quiet during his FTs. i know it shouldn't matter, but for a guy playing head games like willie, it can make a difference. i was screaming his name (from the opposite end of the arena) to try and make him feel like it was no big deal, but he continued to put up bricks. the one time that i yelled at the whole section to "ACK REGALLAH", he hit his second and final FT. he's not a baby, don't treat him like one. willie thrives off intensity in ten cities. go apeshit and he'll go apeshit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NH Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 My take on the free throws- Its all mental with the team, they are too nervous when they get to the line. The more they miss, the worse it gets. Once the leaders (especially WR) start making them, so will everyone else. KM- He's going to be good. His form is alright, and he is clutch. KC- Has been making them a lot more lately. Only concern is that when he misses, he misses badly. CS- Has been slipping a little bit lately, needs to make sure he uses his legs, he is all arms right now. CE- Terrible start, but he has it down now. I bet he ends up near 80% WR- Form is not terrible, but not good. He needs to simplify the stroke, it has too many hitches now. The simpler the free throw the better. And he puts way too much arch on his shot. That and his poor rotation are why he never gets the role. CR-He has shown the ability to hit the mid-range jumper so he needs to hit these. JJ-He has been hitting them lately, I think hes ok. BC- His shooting needs a lot of work, but he has ok touch. JS-Some of the form is there, but he obviously not comfortable with it, hopefully over the summer it will get there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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