How do we get around Hack-A-Dwight?

Maybe Person is getting through to him on the technique?

If so, it could be huge.

^Agreed. Here's a baseball analogy. Why is it that most pitchers can't hit if their life depended on it?

Yao Ming hit over 80% FT.

lakerswiz wrote:There is no excuse for being in the NBA and not being able to shoot 75-80% from the line.

No excuse at all.

If he's at 55-65% at the end of the season I'm going to be pissed.

did you hold that standard for Bynum? cause he didn't shoot 75-80%

how did they get around the hack a shaq? last time i checked, shaq was a horrendous FT shooter yet the lakers were pretty successful around that time

i really dont think there is any way to drastically improve dwight's FT shooting at this point

Once we start winning, you guys won't look so much at stats. Dwight will be fine, i'm not worried at all about this hack a Dwight thing.
@432J, that is what i'm saying. People will keep complain about stats, until we start winning. Your post tell's everything. Shaq was but we still get that W

Dwight making his FTs would make the wins come much easier, which will lead to less playing time for our starters. I'd be happy if he hit just 60% of his FTs.

Dwight just has to hit the free throws. Even 65 to 70% shooting would probably get them to lay off of the strategy.

Speeding up the tempo wouldn't hurt either though.

lakerswiz wrote:Nonetheless...

There is no excuse for being in the NBA and not being able to shoot 75-80% from the line.

then expected to be PISSED

lakerswiz wrote:

therealdeal wrote:You're expectations are still too high wiz.

There's probably not 5 low post big men in the game right now shooting 75-80%.

That in no way means my expectations are too high.

The numbers go up with correct form and practice. I expect that from professional NBA players.

lakerswiz is right.

revgen wrote:

Lakers808 wrote:i heard reggie miller say that the reason why big men usually shoot bad at the ft line is because they have big hands but bynum must have big hands also and his shooting touch at ft line is pretty sweet so no excuses. Come on dwight!

Ever seen Bynum shoot a jump shot? His jumper is almost always too flat. That's because the ball comes out of his big palms and doesn't roll all the way off his huge fingers. At the FT line, he rests the ball on his fingers instead of the palm of his hand. That way when he releases the ball it rolls off his fingers better.

Dwight's problem isn't his hands, they're average size for a big IMO. He's not releasing it high enough and he's flicking his wrist too quickly without letting the ball roll off his fingers. The too fast flicking wrist also affects his jump hooks, which look flat as hell even though they manage to go in.

Kareem shot over 70% all the time with hands bigger than either of them.... also the Sky Hook was predicated on the finger tip release.... Dr. J had huge hands and he was just fine from the line as well....

It's excuse making IMO..... Short guys compensate..... slow guys compensation..... guys who can't jump well compensation..... why would having large hands be the only thing you can't work around?....

In watching Howard's first two games from the line..... he had consistent form and release in the first game and missed a ton of free throws..... most of them badly. His form and release point was not only different in the second game it was inconsistent from free throw to free throw.... and most of them went in....

Form and release point kind of go out the window as well when you get to guys like Marion who shoots a "jump-chest" shot for a free throw.....

It's more mental than physical IMO.... Howard was dialed in on the offensive end last night.... for what ever reason in the opener he wasn't....

How do we control it..... we don't really. We couldn't with Shaq and we won't be able to with Howard for most of the game. The one exception would be down the stretch in close games by limiting his touches and centering the offense on Kobe and Nash. Even then if he gets a defensive rebound he will be fouled immediately..... It's part of having Howard on the team..... It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone

lakerswiz wrote:

khmrP wrote:

lakerswiz wrote:Nonetheless...

There is no excuse for being in the NBA and not being able to shoot 75-80% from the line.

then expected to be PISSED

We aren't already?

you might be, I consider what he does the norm......there's no player out there that doesn't have a weakness this is Howards weakness.

We need to hire a good shooting coach for Dwight Howard. I don't know who is showing him how to shoot, but he is short arming all of the shots. The elbow needs to be completely extended at the completion of the shot when you shoot consistently. You start with the L shape with the elbow, then when you finish your shot...the elbow is fully extended each time...along with the snap of the wrist. When you see Dwight shoot, when he finishes his shot...his elbow is still not fully extended. You will not be consistent in shooting like that. He is basically flicking his shot only with his wrist with no full extension of the elbow. That is wrong. Until that is corrected, he won't shoot a high percentage.

Well FTs should become a priority when you are terrible at it ...Lakerswiz is right here

lakerswiz wrote:Excuses. Everything you just listed is an excuse.

There are no excuses.

Why are you so edgy and heavy on usage of the word "excuses" lately?

There is a very large sample size of big men not shooting a high percentage. I pretty sure not all of them were lazy and didn't work out
on their games. I am also pretty sure they were surrounded and coached by some relatively knowledgeable people. Yet somehow, despite
you making it sound so easy - almost none of them managed to go over that absolutely arbitrary mark of yours.

There are two possibilities here as I see them:

1. All of them didn't understand proper preparation and game expanding like you do or didn't care about it
2. Something else, like coaches deciding that in a limited amount of practice time the effort is better spend elsewhere, for example?

WDYT? I tend to go with the latter.