Kori Ellis
12-25-2004, 02:01 AM
Free points go wanting for Spurs
Web Posted: 12/25/2004 12:00 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
Tony Parker sat in front of his locker late Thursday, glancing at the stat sheet from that evening's victory over Minnesota. Someone told him to look at the free-throw column.
The Spurs — surprise, surprise — made 16 of 19 foul shots.
"After 13 for 26 (against Orlando on Wednesday), we had to do something," Parker said. "That was terrible."
"Terrible" has been frequently used to describe the Spurs' foul shooting. This season, they have shot 71.4 percent from the line, an improvement from last season's franchise-record low 68.1 percent but still poor enough to rank them 27th among the NBA's 30 teams.
"It frustrates me on a daily basis because we do work at it," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We work at it almost every day in a variety of different ways.
"It puts a lot more pressure on our offensive and defensive execution down the stretch."
The Spurs' free-throw troubles are nothing new. Not since 1992-93 have they made at least 75percent of their attempts, last season's league average.
The franchise has employed a sports psychologist, used video technology to track each player's shot and consulted coaches to try to solve its problem. Popovich has put the team through countless drills, sometimes randomly choosing a player to shoot in front of his teammates at the end of practice.
If the player makes both free throws, the team goes home. If he misses one, it runs sprints. In one memorable session, Tim Duncan nearly sent his teammates to the emergency room after failing to convert both attempts three consecutive times.
Fans and self-proclaimed shot doctors have flooded the team with unsolicited advice, from the simple ("Tell Pop his players are thinking too much") to the obvious ("Tim isn't getting enough lift on his shot") to the miraculous ("I am a 16-year-old high-school junior who has a guaranteed way to improve free-throw shooting").
"If there's a guy or gal out there who can guarantee they can make somebody who is shooting poorly shoot well, I'd like to know who it is," Popovich said. "Those who profess that they do that, their credentials should be checked pretty closely. One might find those claims get watered down pretty quickly."
Considering his recent improvement at the foul line, Bruce Bowen might want to consider applying for guru status. His free-throw shooting has improved from 40.4 percent in 2002-03 to 57.9 percent last season to 66.7 percent this season.
"With me," Bowen said, "it was a matter of not letting so much enter my head."
After failing to hit the rim on one attempt early this season, Bowen laughed, reset his feet and swished his next shot.
"I think Bruce has gotten over, 'What are the consequences if I miss this?'" Popovich said. "It's, 'I'm going to put in more work. I'm going to get my motion down even more so it's habitual and I don't think about it.'"
Rasho Nesterovic has been the biggest offender, making just 38.9 percent of his attempts — poor for even his standards. Popovich has worked with Nesterovic on using a one-handed form, but he has gone to the line only 18 times, too infrequent for him to perfect it.
Malik Rose, meanwhile, has shown the most curious decline. He began his career as a poor free-throw shooter but dramatically reconstructed his shot with the help of his personal coach in Philadelphia, improving to a career-best 81.3percent last season. Through the first two months this season, however, he has fallen to 68.9 percent.
In the past 11 games, Rose has missed 13 of 28 attempts. Popovich said Rose might have begun to press after misfiring on a few attempts earlier this month.
"He'll work his way out of it," Popovich said. "He's too good for this to go on forever."
The Spurs used to say the same about Duncan, who has struggled since shooting 79.9percent in 2001-02. In truth, Duncan is probably not good enough to consistently shoot that well. Nor, however, is he as bad as the 59.9 percent he shot last season might indicate.
Duncan, whose stubbornness can work against him, received too much advice when he began to struggle. Popovich continues to offer the occasional pointer but tries to keep from overloading him with information.
"With Timmy less is more no matter what aspect of the game you're talking about because he understands and he likes to figure things out on his own," Popovich said. "We respect that."
Duncan has shown improvement, shooting 65.4 percent this season. At this time a year ago, he was hovering around 50percent.
The Spurs' poor foul shooting also hasn't hurt them as much as it might appear because they make, on average, about five more trips to the line than their opponent each game. In 1999, they shot 69.8percent and finished the season just fine, winning the NBA title. Two seasons ago, they shot 72.5 percent and won it again.
"It's not like we used to shoot 85 percent," Manu Ginobili said. "We won a championship being like this."
Web Posted: 12/25/2004 12:00 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
Tony Parker sat in front of his locker late Thursday, glancing at the stat sheet from that evening's victory over Minnesota. Someone told him to look at the free-throw column.
The Spurs — surprise, surprise — made 16 of 19 foul shots.
"After 13 for 26 (against Orlando on Wednesday), we had to do something," Parker said. "That was terrible."
"Terrible" has been frequently used to describe the Spurs' foul shooting. This season, they have shot 71.4 percent from the line, an improvement from last season's franchise-record low 68.1 percent but still poor enough to rank them 27th among the NBA's 30 teams.
"It frustrates me on a daily basis because we do work at it," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We work at it almost every day in a variety of different ways.
"It puts a lot more pressure on our offensive and defensive execution down the stretch."
The Spurs' free-throw troubles are nothing new. Not since 1992-93 have they made at least 75percent of their attempts, last season's league average.
The franchise has employed a sports psychologist, used video technology to track each player's shot and consulted coaches to try to solve its problem. Popovich has put the team through countless drills, sometimes randomly choosing a player to shoot in front of his teammates at the end of practice.
If the player makes both free throws, the team goes home. If he misses one, it runs sprints. In one memorable session, Tim Duncan nearly sent his teammates to the emergency room after failing to convert both attempts three consecutive times.
Fans and self-proclaimed shot doctors have flooded the team with unsolicited advice, from the simple ("Tell Pop his players are thinking too much") to the obvious ("Tim isn't getting enough lift on his shot") to the miraculous ("I am a 16-year-old high-school junior who has a guaranteed way to improve free-throw shooting").
"If there's a guy or gal out there who can guarantee they can make somebody who is shooting poorly shoot well, I'd like to know who it is," Popovich said. "Those who profess that they do that, their credentials should be checked pretty closely. One might find those claims get watered down pretty quickly."
Considering his recent improvement at the foul line, Bruce Bowen might want to consider applying for guru status. His free-throw shooting has improved from 40.4 percent in 2002-03 to 57.9 percent last season to 66.7 percent this season.
"With me," Bowen said, "it was a matter of not letting so much enter my head."
After failing to hit the rim on one attempt early this season, Bowen laughed, reset his feet and swished his next shot.
"I think Bruce has gotten over, 'What are the consequences if I miss this?'" Popovich said. "It's, 'I'm going to put in more work. I'm going to get my motion down even more so it's habitual and I don't think about it.'"
Rasho Nesterovic has been the biggest offender, making just 38.9 percent of his attempts — poor for even his standards. Popovich has worked with Nesterovic on using a one-handed form, but he has gone to the line only 18 times, too infrequent for him to perfect it.
Malik Rose, meanwhile, has shown the most curious decline. He began his career as a poor free-throw shooter but dramatically reconstructed his shot with the help of his personal coach in Philadelphia, improving to a career-best 81.3percent last season. Through the first two months this season, however, he has fallen to 68.9 percent.
In the past 11 games, Rose has missed 13 of 28 attempts. Popovich said Rose might have begun to press after misfiring on a few attempts earlier this month.
"He'll work his way out of it," Popovich said. "He's too good for this to go on forever."
The Spurs used to say the same about Duncan, who has struggled since shooting 79.9percent in 2001-02. In truth, Duncan is probably not good enough to consistently shoot that well. Nor, however, is he as bad as the 59.9 percent he shot last season might indicate.
Duncan, whose stubbornness can work against him, received too much advice when he began to struggle. Popovich continues to offer the occasional pointer but tries to keep from overloading him with information.
"With Timmy less is more no matter what aspect of the game you're talking about because he understands and he likes to figure things out on his own," Popovich said. "We respect that."
Duncan has shown improvement, shooting 65.4 percent this season. At this time a year ago, he was hovering around 50percent.
The Spurs' poor foul shooting also hasn't hurt them as much as it might appear because they make, on average, about five more trips to the line than their opponent each game. In 1999, they shot 69.8percent and finished the season just fine, winning the NBA title. Two seasons ago, they shot 72.5 percent and won it again.
"It's not like we used to shoot 85 percent," Manu Ginobili said. "We won a championship being like this."