Rasho With One Hand Tied Behind His Back

[timvp]

Spurs center Rasho Nesterovic, a notoriously bad free-throw shooter, for several days has worked on a new, one-handed technique in practice, and coach Gregg Popovich wants him to begin using it in games.

"It's obvious he does a better job that way in practice," Popovich said. "Will it carry over into the game? I think, over time, it has a very good chance to, if he can mentally stick with it.

"I think there are going to be people who yell things and make comments. But without a doubt he has more success shooting one-handed. Other people have, too."

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA112704.9C.BKNspurs.notebook.97d2575c.html


:rollin

[thispego]

What the hell is that all about LJ? lol, I didn't watch the game, did he use that technique against the nug's tonight? Please don't tell me he's gonna adopt the Shaq Free-Throw Technique!!!!


"It's obvious he does a better job that way in practice," Popovich said. "Will it carry over into the game? I think, over time, it has a very good chance to, if he can mentally stick with it.

That is just a cop-out for not being able to perform a text-book free throw. LEARN HOW TO SHOOT WITH TWO HANDS, THAT IS THE RIGHT WAY TO DO IT, IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO DO IT!!!!!!!!

[timvp]

He didn't go to the line against the Nuggets. I can't wait to see one-handed Rasho.

Too bad he isn't shooting underhanded.

:smokin

[thispego]

Too bad he isn't shooting underhanded.
:smokin


:lol lol, now that would be classic

[T Park]

who cares how he shoots it.

If it goes in, it goes in.

[thispego]

who cares how he shoots it.

If it goes in, it goes in.

:lol lol, t_Park, you Would say something like that....
The one handed toss simply is not fundamentally sound in the game of basketball.There is no point in even familiarizing yourself with that kind of shot.... In any situation.

[orhe]

hmm i do think the one handed toss would do him great. when shooting (at least this is what i feel) you use your dominant hand as your main launcher while your non-dominant as support. with rasho his hands are bigger than normal that he might not need any support (since its a free throw; no distractions etc) plus the shooting motion would still be the same.

[boutons]

One fault that one-hand shooting could help is Rahso/Tim's uselessly low arc, which requires the shooter to be extremely precise to hit the smaller window of successful entry.

Without the other hand cradling the ball, the shooting hand will probably be more under the ball, lifting the ball more upward with more effort from the entire arm rather than these idiotic wrist flicks, with a better arc, nearer the 45% ideal arc, giving a better chance to get into the bigger window.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

:lol lol, t_Park, you Would say something like that....
The one handed toss simply is not fundamentally sound in the game of basketball.There is no point in even familiarizing yourself with that kind of shot.... In any situation.

I agree with Park. If, for some reason, Rasho's FTs mean more at the time he's shooting them (say late in a game), wouldn't you want him to make them instead of missing them fundamentally?

Most Spurs fans would be bitching and trading Rasho if he missed crucial FTs. Let the man shoot them the way he makes them.

[Marcus Bryant]

Whatever works.

[E20]

Donnie Nelson used to do that when he was playing with the Celtics.

[Dario]

MAN wtf!! A basketball player who is earning millions per year should be in gym every day shooting ball over and over again, till he can put his percentage in decent value. This is plain stupid... :depressed

[boutons]

The Spurs PERENNIAL FT disaster is beyond logic and analysis. Pop made at clear last year that the staff is not making the FT disaster, Spurs bottom of the league, a top priority or pre-occupation, vs all the other aspects that need attention AND which are amenable to effort.

Apparently, the Spurs hit FTs in practice much better than in the games.

Spurs could have won 3 or 4 or more games more last season, win top playoff seed, with the FTs Duncan alone missed.

The Spurs FT disaster is a defining aspect of the the Spurs. They win, enough, without hitting 75% - 80% team FTs.

In the 03 championship year, excessive TOs were also a concern. Spurs won it all anyway.

[iminlakerland]

Why does it matter h ow he shoots the damn freethrows as long as he makes it. It may not be fundementaly sound as you guys are complaining but if he makes them he makes them.

But oh no its not fundementaly sound so lets allow him to clank freethrow after freethrow.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

I still think if Duncan banked in his free throws he'd never miss.

Figured I'd throw that in while we're talking FTs ;)

Rasho one handed would be funny, can't wait to see it.

[herbivore female]

"who cares how he shoots it.

If it goes in, it goes in."

carney is right.

[sickdsm]

Judging from just Rasho's FT % the year before he left for SA and since then, what the hell happaned? Do they just not work on it or do they try to reteach them to be worse? To me this isn't an aspect that matters who your teamates have or any of that. Its like a kicker in football, if your good, your good no matter if your on the dolphins or patriots.

[ShoogarBear]

It ain't just Rasho. If you looked a FT% of players before, during, and after they came to the Spurs, one might be forced to conclude that the Spurs somehow actively teach poor FT shooting:

Speedy Claxton:
01-02 PHI .838
02-03 SAS .684
03-04GSW .813
04-05 GSW .810

Robert Horry
01-02 LAL .783
02-03 LAL .769
03-04 SAS .645
04-05 SAS .647

Jason Hart
03-04 SAS .767
04-05 CHA .862

Hidayet Turkoglu
02-03 SAC .800
03-04 SAS .708
04-05 ORL .839

Only Steve Smith and (so far) Brent Barry in recent year have been able to avoid the Curse of Spurs' Charity. (Danny Ferry didn't shoot that badly, but still had his two worst season FT% of his career in his three seasons with the Spurs.)

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Yeah but whenever I bring it up, I'm told Pop has it under control.

It's clearly not the case, but I don't have any NBA titles under my belt, so I'm clearly wrong.

[ducks]

agh now larry brown has one he is never wrong either

[Manu20]

It ain't just Rasho. If you looked a FT% of players before, during, and after they came to the Spurs, one might be forced to conclude that the Spurs somehow actively teach poor FT shooting:

Speedy Claxton:
01-02 PHI .838
02-03 SAS .684
03-04GSW .813
04-05 GSW .810

Robert Horry
01-02 LAL .783
02-03 LAL .769
03-04 SAS .645
04-05 SAS .647

Jason Hart
03-04 SAS .767
04-05 CHA .862

Hidayet Turkoglu
02-03 SAC .800
03-04 SAS .708
04-05 ORL .839

Only Steve Smith and (so far) Brent Barry in recent year have been able to avoid the Curse of Spurs' Charity. (Danny Ferry didn't shoot that badly, but still had his two worst season FT% of his career in his three seasons with the Spurs.)

:wow whatever method Pop is using to help the players shoot free throws STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's safe to say that it is not working.

[SequSpur]

When you have to resort to human dog tricks to perform a simple game, wouldn't it be easier just to look in the mirror and say I suck and ask to be waived?

Rasho sucks man, I can't believe they are actually expirementing with this fool.

[timvp]

Nice stats, Shoogar. Who knows what the Spurs are doing wrong? Maybe it's the tacos or something.



P.S.


When you have to resort to human dog tricks to perform a simple game, wouldn't it be easier just to look in the mirror and say I suck and ask to be waived?

:rollin

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

whatever method Pop is using to help the players shoot free throws STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's safe to say that it is not working.

YOU'RE WRONG. POP HAS TWO RINGS, HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING[/tpark numb nuts]

We'll probably have to lose another playoff series due to poor FT shooting before the ruse loses its shine, and even then, anyone who writes about it in the media will be blackballed by Pop.

It's a lot easier to get a sportswriter canned than it is to go out and hire a FT shooting coach to fix the problem.[/Pop]

[timvp]

What is a free throw coaching going to do that the Spurs haven't already tried?



[/openingcanofworms]

[Manu20]

I don't blame Pop entirely because IMO free throw are all mental. When Duncan struggles from the line it puts more pressure on the other players to knock down their free throws.

Also, Parker needs to get better at the line right now he is only shooting 66% that is not good for a PG.

[SequSpur]

Man, if the Spurs could get their shit together, they would be #1 in the Kori rankings.

Rasho's fault.

[Supergirl]

on the other hand, Bowen's already got his percentage up quite a bit this year, and timmy's not doing too badly.

i always wondered why more people don't do the reggie miller thing and go for the chalk. i think the sweaty hands thing affects players more than they realize, and taking the time also slows them down for a few minutes, which addresses the over-adrenalized FT problem (this seems to be Parker's problem - he looks like he's got too much energy and so they're not under control enough.)

[ShoogarBear]

I think Tim Duncan is a free-throw cancer. The Spurs should trade him for Austin Croshere.

[E20]

Do the Jason Kidd thing.
http://sportsmed.starwave.com/i/magazine/new/jason_kidd_finals.jpg

[Manu20]

I think Tim Duncan is a free-throw cancer. The Spurs should trade him for Austin Croshere.

You are a funny person ShoogarBear:lol .

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Free throw coaches are more about the mental, but do tweak mechanics where necessary.

We need to do something, because the various "efforts" made by our coaches aren't working. You know, the things like...

* Pop saying he's going to ignore it and let Tim figure it out on his own.

* Pop saying we just suck at it and accept the fact we can't shoot them for crap.

* Asking "director of player development" Brett Brown to work on it last year (didn't see any improvement there either).


Why is it okay for other teams to go get a FT shooting coach, and subsequently significantly improve their shooting, but somehow is doomed to fail for one of the most professional organizations in the NBA?

[Kori Ellis]

Well someone obviously helped Bowen this summer -- a free throw coach or someone else. Last season he stood several inches to the left of center and had some other things wrong in his mechanics. This season he stands in the middle and has a much smoother stroke.

Whoever helped him should try to help the others. (But I think they are probably doing that already.)

[T Park]

Im sure Bowen hired a FT coach, cause heaven knows the Spurs organization cant coach shit. {aggiebitchesfan}

[Manu20]

Maybe Barry showed Bowen a few tips on how to shoot free throws.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Tpark, the only thing worse than the Spurs FT shooting is your nagging, non-factual, non-reality based posts.

As much as I bag on the guy, Malik went out and got his own FT shooting coach last summer, and he's probably the best guy on the team behind Manu and Barry, but I guess that doesn't indicate a damn thing. I mean the Spurs have coaches, and despite the shooting percentage of our players going down here in SA, it's obvious the coaching staff is addressing this issue properly.

Seriously Tpark, quit being such a dork. Contribute some facts and discuss the matter at hand. All this petty personal cheapshot shit makes you come off like Nbadan on the rag.

[TwoHandJam]

Free throw coaches are more about the mental, but do tweak mechanics where necessary.

We need to do something, because the various "efforts" made by our coaches aren't working. You know, the things like...

* Pop saying he's going to ignore it and let Tim figure it out on his own.

* Pop saying we just suck at it and accept the fact we can't shoot them for crap.

* Asking "director of player development" Brett Brown to work on it last year (didn't see any improvement there either).


Why is it okay for other teams to go get a FT shooting coach, and subsequently significantly improve their shooting, but somehow is doomed to fail for one of the most professional organizations in the NBA?You can't crystallize the problem much better than that. The fact that the Spurs are such a professionally run outfit yet they have this glaring FT anomaly that they refuse to address properly is as maddening as it is illogical.

[T Park]

All this petty personal cheapshot shit

yet your the first one to mention me in the post calling me numb nuts.

Pot kettle aggie.


BTW, that Malik getting the SHOOTING coach, was about, 4 years ago.

Bowen I dont think hired a FT coach and now hes a good FT shooter.

How do you explain that?

Devn Brown shot 80 some odd percent from the line last year, now hes not shooting AS good last year, was it something hte coaching staff told him to do?? I doubt it.

[boutons]

"Maybe Barry showed Bowen a few tips on how to shoot free throws."

Barry has an unorthodox, too-wrist-oriented, kinda flat shot, sorta like the weird shot of Shawn Marion. While Brent does well with his shot, I wouldn't want Brent teaching anybody on my team about shooting mechanics.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Tpark, who cares if it was last summer or the summer before that. Point is, Malik went out and got his own FT coach. That tells me he wanted to work on his game over the summer and felt he wasn't getting the coaching he needed from within the organization.

Just because you "don't think" Bowen got a FT coach doesn't mean he didn't. Maybe Kori can ask him about it next time she gets a chance, and put the matter to rest.

As for DBrown, his pattern of degression on FT in conjunction with the rest of the Spurs after getting here to SA tells me that the staff is not doing anything regarding improving the team's ability to shoot FTs.

Applying some deductive reasoning to the situation (in conjunction with Shoogar Bear's stats) tells me that either we're not shooting FTs at practice, or at best we're giving cursory attention to the matter.

Completely unacceptable IMO. I bet if you took a poll of the league's scouts that at the top of the list for the weaknesses of the Spurs would be our FT shooting. And again, our refusal to address the situation is dumbfounding.

We have a professional squad mentored by a staff that prides itself on being on the cusp of technology when it comes to scouting both potential acquisitions as well as upcoming opponents. It uses some of the newest software to scout opponents and highlight tendencies/weaknesses, and does it all in one of the most advanced training facilities in the league.

Why then is our FT shooting work in the dark ages? About the only attempt at solving the problem I ever heard of was last year where guys would have to stay after practice to shoot FTs based on how many they had missed in the prior games. That is a punitive, not constructive, solution to the problem, and one that memory serves was abandoned after a short time period of 2-3 weeks.

The refusal to address this situation by arguably one of the top staffs in pro hoops is confounding, if not downright negligent.

Oh and Tpark, go suck an egg pal. Every time we try and have a discussion about things like FT shooting, you show up and piss on the conversation, making petty comments about the posters involved and referring to the greatness that is Popovich, while not even addressing the problem at hand.

So don't give me this pot-kettle bullshit, you've been taking cheap shots for the last two years, your history of pathetic personal attacks when anyone criticizes your daddy Pop is about as infamous as our shitty free throw shooting.

Have a nice day.

[T Park]

The myth of me being a popsucker is quite overplayed and old.

Get a new shtick because yoru constant pissing is old.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Okay 'tard.

You're right, the myth is old, we've progressed to it being a cold, hard reality.

I just laid out a lengthy fact/observation based post on our problems with FT shooting, and all you can come back with is "I'm not a Pop lover, and I'm tired of your bitching."

Good to see you're contributing so much to the conversation. Thanks for playing.

[sickdsm]

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a dropoff between pre-spurs seasons and after joining the spurs for newcomers. Its obvious whatever the coaching staff does, there not doing it right/good enough. But maybe they spend less time on FT's and more on off ball defense, defending the inbound pass, etc....