Why do bigs suck at free throws?

[NZStreetBaller]

I mean seriously....
I understand that most of what they do in practice is paint protection and offense around the rim. but surely SURELY they know that they will be the most fouled player on the team. So why dont they drill free throw shooting into themselves

Kevin durant is a tall azz motherfaka and could be a centre for some teams but hes an awesome free throw shooter. larry bird is tall as well. so i dont think it has anything to do with physics.

If shaq was a 85%+ free throw shooter he'd be unstoppable and even the wack a shaq wouldn't work. maybe the same could be said for dwight howard.

[J Shuttlesworth]

It's because big men mostly work on their post game/paint protection. They don't spend much time on the perimeter unless you're Kevin Love/Dirk type of big man.

Whereas perimeter players are actively working on their jump shot since they are out on the perimeter shooting 3's, and mid range jumpers.

[masonanddixon]

Imagine if you were 7 feet tall. The basketball would feel like a ping pong ball in your hands

[NZStreetBaller]

yeah but its free throws which is basically the same old routine over and over. regardless of how big your hands are you do something enough times you'll get it......

They are 100x better then me at basketball but i could whoop most of the centres asses at free throws and im sure i havent had as much practice as them.

[iamgine]

It's a wonder indeed. There are shooting coaches and they do work extensively with bigs. Dwight Howard shoot a lot of FTs at practice so we know he's working on it.

Why do they still suck? Who knows. They shouldn't. There is no excuse. Yao Ming at that height was an excellent FT shooter. Roy Hibbert and Marc Gasol are pretty good too. If they can do it, everybody else should be too.

[Cocaine80s]

maybe because post players dont practice shooting as much as guards? :facepalm :biggums:

[Sportal]

Yeah...

It's one thing I have never fully understood. Like, you're being paid millions of dollars, you have played the sport for years and you still can't get above 75% of a shot standing still, from the same distance every time...

[Marchesk]

McAdoo averaged 75.4% for his career, and 80.5% the year he averaged 34.5 a game.

[bdreason]

Big hands. Less arch on the ball. Worse shooters.

[oarabbus]

It's a wonder indeed. There are shooting coaches and they do work extensively with bigs. Dwight Howard shoot a lot of FTs at practice so we know he's working on it.

Why do they still suck? Who knows. They shouldn't. There is no excuse. Yao Ming at that height was an excellent FT shooter. Roy Hibbert and Marc Gasol are pretty good too. If they can do it, everybody else should be too.


Not to mention the "ball feels small" argument is bogus too. Jordan's hands were about the same size as Shaq's.

[NZStreetBaller]

Let me tell you why.. and this is the honest truth: Smaller players need to work a lot harder on their skills than bigger players. Big guys will still be able to make it to the big leagues based on their size and athleticism alone.. why? Because size to basketball is like speed in track and field or nimble and short in gymnastics.. you cannot teach height.

yeah but its just free throw shooting im talking about not shooting from the field. Its meant to be the same shot every time. and bigs have every reason to develop this shot. the way people foul bigs to stop their inside game. you would think that free throws would be the most important shot and useful weapon in a centres belt.

centres of today could POSSIBLY score as much as the centres of the old days if they had an 85+% free throw.

[NZStreetBaller]

Big hands. Less arch on the ball. Worse shooters.

Big hands do not cause less archs....

[no pun intended]

Big hands. Less arch on the ball. Worse shooters.
Kawhi Leonard aka The Claw shoots above 80%

[zass]

I think it's the matter of attitude and practice.
Most big guys' mental be like, they spent most of their energy on posting, fighting for rebounds, and defense. So they should be cut slack if not making FT. Plus there's always more high percentage shots to do make up after they miss the FTs.

Yao Ming is known for good attitude, he had FT% of 85%
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mingya01.html

[Cocaine80s]

Let me put to you this way.. if you were 7ft+ and didnt have some patutariy gland defect chances of you making the league is pretty good.

Here's the thing.. there aren't as many big guys as there are smalls.. less competition = less talent pool and skill level to pick out. How many do you think are over 6ft tall? I doubt theres over 300 million (population of the US) in the world that's over 6ft.

Now imagine 7footers.. how many are there under 30 without some patutariy disease? Less than 5000???.
there are plenty of 7 footers or near 7 feet who play d1 ball but will never make the nba :facepalm

[TheMilkyBarKid]

Did op really say kd could play centre??

[west]

Didn't Yao used to averages 85%+?

[kennethgriffin]

cause amurca thats why





bigs around the world shoot free throws pure as ****

only americas youth thinks dunking is the only thing a big man needs to learn

[bdreason]

Big hands do not cause less archs....



I meant height effects arch.

[JoshCoward]

Didn't Dwight make 82% of free throw in Practice?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1554442-dwight-howard-makes-82-of-free-throws-during-meaningless-moments-of-practice

More to do with mental and tiredness if anything.

[no pun intended]

Didn't Dwight make 82% of free throw in Practice?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1554442-dwight-howard-makes-82-of-free-throws-during-meaningless-moments-of-practice

More to do with mental and tiredness if anything.
Still. Mentality affects everyone. Dwight is still relatively lowest.

[NZStreetBaller]

Did op really say kd could play centre??

i meant hes tall enough to be a centre yet his size does not affect his shooting.....

[NZStreetBaller]

Let me put to you this way.. if you were 7ft+ and didnt have some patutariy gland defect chances of you making the league is pretty good.

Here's the thing.. there aren't as many big guys as there are smalls.. less competition = less talent pool and skill level to pick out. How many do you think are over 6ft tall? I doubt theres over 300 million (population of the US) in the world that's over 6ft.

Now imagine 7footers.. how many are there under 30 without some patutariy disease? Less than 5000???.

So less bigs equals less talent equals no reason to be good at free throws??

[NZStreetBaller]

seriously imagine if Dwight could shoot 85%+ he'd be a hell of an offensive weapon guys would either play him soft and he'd smoke him in the post and score or hard foul and almost hand him points. If harden just kept feeding him the ball he could very well be the leagues lead scorer.

[NZStreetBaller]

the formula for stopping dominant bigs inside the post (Kareem Wilt shaq) has been figured out. and thats due to poor free throw shooting. simple foul him.

Now days bigs are just on the floor for defense and rebounding and a small portion of offense. so they do all the hard work and watch the little guys get all the scoring glory.

However if they strengthened their one weakness (free throw shooting) i dont see anyways of stopping them as long as they can get that ball in the post. so why in the world cant any of them shoot em?? surely they must be aware of this kink in their armour

[iamgine]

All in all, other than certain isolated circumstances (heard Shaq had an abnormality with his arm?), there really is no excuse. Just like there is no excuse when a small guy is bad at FT (Rondo, Iguodala).

[hahaitme]

I honestly doubt hand size is the problem. Have any of you ever shot a 28.5" or even a smaller kids-sized ball? If anything it would be easier with that control on the ball.

I think the minor factor here is height - as someone mentioned - causing bigs to feel less need for arc, they have more of a direct view of the rim. Minor factor though.

Major factor is undoubtedly practice. If you grow up always being the biggest kid on the court, the coach is going to have you under the rim and finishing close. :confusedshrug:

[Rolando]

As your size and strength increase in relation to the fixed dimensions of a basketball, your shot becomes increasingly dependent on fine motor control of your movements. Big massive guys are not the best at fine work.

[uber]

It's ridiculous. Guys getting paid millions and can't even make the easiest shot.

[NZStreetBaller]

It's ridiculous. Guys getting paid millions and can't even make the easiest shot.

lol yeah silly huh.

[2swift4u]

I honestly doubt hand size is the problem. Have any of you ever shot a 28.5" or even a smaller kids-sized ball? If anything it would be easier with that control on the ball.

I think the minor factor here is height - as someone mentioned - causing bigs to feel less need for arc, they have more of a direct view of the rim. Minor factor though.



I agree, hand size shouldn't be a huge factor. I'm not sure about the arc thing though... I mean it feels easier to me to shoot FT on a lower rim so I don't get why bigs should have problem with that. I think it's mainly a lack of hand-eye coordination and talent for motion. I guess the bigs that are bad at shooting are also bad at stuff like ladder drills etc.

[SpanishACB]

Kawhi Leonard aka The Claw shoots above 80%

and Nate Robinson can dunk it crazy

big hands do play a role

[inclinerator]

someone said it before, they get hit more often and might be more fatigue and bruised up lowering their percentage by alot

[PHILA]

Wilt: Just Like Any Other 7-Foot Black Millionaire who Lives Next Door - Wilt Chamberlain (1973)

[I]In high school, I'd been an 85 percent foul shooter. In college, with the opposition preventing us from playing the run-and-gun basketball I was accustomed to, I didn't have the same opportunities to shoot from the outside that I had had at Overbrook, and my outside shooting proficiency suffered; so did my free-throw shooting. I shot my free throws with one hand back then, taking a deep-knee bend kind of motion, and it was something of a strain on my knees; like many men who grow too quickly in their youth, I had arthritic knees from childhood on, and at Kansas, that problem was exacerbated by an exercise Coach Harp had us do

[T_L_P]

It really is about practice. A free throw is basically a midrange shot.

Traditional big men before Dirk came around were taught to stay near the rim -- on offense and defense.

Now the cycle is reversing. Bigs are getting better at free throws/long range shots but are abysmal in the post. :oldlol:

[QuebecBaller]

Sasha "The Machine" Vujacic on Sport Science

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFhS5F7ubJs

[JohnFreeman]

They just do, stop questioning everything

[Rake2204]

Huh?
D1 ball is more than respectable. Those who don't make it to the NBA can still fimd another career in basketball and other sports.

Didn't say it was a lock.. said his odds would be pretty good. I read somewhere that there's like a 17% chance one was/is in the NBA (in the states) if they're 7ft+.Great memory on that 17% number. Here's the full quote:


An actual accounting of 7-footers, domestic or global, does not exist in any reliable form. National surveys by the Center for Disease Control list no head count or percentile at that height. (Only 5% of adult American males are 6'3" or taller.) "In terms of the growth spectrum, 7 feet is simply extreme," explains endocrinologist Shlomo Melmed, dean of the medical faculty at L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The term 7-footer is itself a kind of outer limit, a far-off threshold beyond which precise measurement seems superfluous. A 6'4" guard isn't a 6-footer, after all. The curve shaped by the CDC's available statistics, however, does allow one to estimate the number of American men between the ages of 20 and 40 who are 7 feet or taller: fewer than 70 in all. Which indicates, by further extrapolation, that while the probability of, say, an American between 6'6" and 6'8" being an NBA player today stands at a mere 0.07%, it's a staggering 17% for someone 7 feet or taller.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...7806/index.htm

I also am in the camp who believes that the skills necessary for a big man to make the NBA often differ greatly from what's needed out of a "normal-sized" player. Even at the high school level, I've played with, against, and coached some big fellers who clearly were not even close to being as talented, skilled or coordinated as a handful of their teammates. Yet, due to being larger than 95% of their opponents, they often dominated (rebound, make close bankshot layups, stand tall on defense and affect shots).

A lot of the other skills that are integral for any player who wishes to play at a higher level just are not as emphasized. Or, if they were emphasized, the player may have just been bad at them, which would have left them well short of the NBA, except they happened to grow to be a seven footer and thus nullified many of their shortcomings.

[rule1223]

It really is about practice. A free throw is basically a midrange shot.

Traditional big men before Dirk came around were taught to stay near the rim -- on offense and defense.

Now the cycle is reversing. Bigs are getting better at free throws/long range shots but are abysmal in the post. :oldlol:
this is a good explanation, look at leonard and antetokounmpo, who have hands bigger than alot of big men but shoot a respectable to good ft%

[IGOTGAME]

Great memory on that 17% number. Here's the full quote:



http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...7806/index.htm

I also am in the camp who believes that the skills necessary for a big man to make the NBA often differ greatly from what's needed out of a "normal-sized" player. Even at the high school level, I've played with, against, and coached some big fellers who clearly were not even close to being as talented, skilled or coordinated as a handful of their teammates. Yet, due to being larger than 95% of their opponents, they often dominated (rebound, make close bankshot layups, stand tall on defense and affect shots).

A lot of the other skills that are integral for any player who wishes to play at a higher level just are not as emphasized. Or, if they were emphasized, the player may have just been bad at them, which would have left them well short of the NBA, except they happened to grow to be a seven footer and thus nullified many of their shortcomings.

Wait so being quick and jump in high is talent but being tall and coordinated isnt? This just sounds like short people whining.

[Rake2204]

Wait so being quick and jump in high is talent but being tall and coordinated isnt? This just sounds like short people whining.I do not understand your response but I suppose I shall give it a shot.

I'd say, many "normal-sized" players have their success hinge upon skills they're able to acquire, perfect, and master. A lot of times, players know what perfecting a skill may look like, yet they struggle to pull it off first hand. Others find they can take to a skill (or skills) and work to master these abilities through hard work, understanding, and repetition.

I believe super big men sometimes have wider room for error in this regard. A normal-sized player without certain skills is bound to become lost in the sea of thousands of other players of similar size. But if a player is significantly taller than their opponents, they have certain inherent advantages in the game of basketball. That does not give tall players a free pass, but I do feel it means it might take less skill development for them to succeed at a high level than their shorter counterparts.

Of course, that doesn't mean big men can't or don't develop similar skills as "normal-sized" folk. Kevin Durant developed and mastered many deadly skills and now, at a size already advantageous, Durant is a next-level ballplayer.

On the other side of the coin, a player like Shaquille O'Neal did not have to count on developing "normal-sized" skills in order to succeed (such as three-point shooting ability). Instead, O'Neal and his coaches seemed to recognize that a different set of skills would most benefit his already advantageous height, weight and build: footwork, strength, an effective array of inside shots within a few feet of the hoop, and many other important abilities that a 7'1'' 300+ lbs. man would most benefit from on a basketball court.

So O'Neal couldn't develop a jump shot. His form was awful and he didn't seem to get how to shoot with standard form. Join the club. There's been millions of basketball players across the country with the same issue. They know what a great jump shot looks like and they put in hours of work, but their J's still broke. Only, all those other folks are not 7'1'' 300+ with skills successfully developed in so many other aspects of the game. Even with similar skills or assets, the 6'2'' bruiser with a jump-shot like Shaq's and a tendency to rely upon overpowering his opponents will only go as far as his 6'0'' Class D opponents may let him.

One last question (apologize for stupid length of this response): where would Anthony Davis be right now if he never really hit that insane growth spurt in mid-high school that shot him up from 6'3''. Would Davis' skills been ample enough to put him in a similar position that he is now?

[Nets fan 93]

It has to do with coordination. That and the fact most big men practice in the paint. You aren't shooting jumpers in the paint. Gaurds are better because they work on their jumpshot on the reg.

[3peated]

big hands, cant grip the ball properly

[no pun intended]

big hands, cant grip the ball properly
Again, Kawhi Leonard, known for his massively large hands, shoots above 80% free throws.

[Eat Like A Bosh]

Because they're big.

[scm5]

Most of the bigs that are labeled "skilled" or "hard working" were able to shoot FT's at a high percentage.

Yao shot 85%+
Dirk shoots 85%+

Timmy, Pau, KG, Kareem, etc... all shoot 70% or higher.

The ones that don't shoot above 50% usually aren't very good or aren't very hard working.

Shaq had all the talent in the world and an incredibly athletic (for his size) body, but he was never a hard worker.

DJ and Dwight? They probably spend more time working on their strength and body than they do free throw shooting.

Dwight might also just shrink under pressure because of his track record and the stories about how he's a really good (80%+) FT shooter in practice but just can't make them during the game.