Things that shouldn’t be true, but are.

[Kblaze8855]

Bill Cartwright:


https://i.ibb.co/TwQfK2L/IMG-7711.gif


Was a better free-throw shooter than Luka.



he shouldn’t be. But he is. Free throws are probably the biggest head scratcher in sports to me. It’s obviously mental because even people you think can’t shoot are wet outside the confines of an NBA game at the line. The Lakers full year tracking practice showed Dwight Howard shooting in the 80s outside of games a few years ago. Wilts Issues were so bad the Lakers paid for a sports psychologist because he could shoot 90% ****ing around but 40% in a game. I think Bruce Bowen shot better from three than the free-throw line in one year.

So we associate it with a mental problem. The pressure. But does anyone feel like Luka is just a natural choker? I don’t. But he damn sure shot like 55% for a whole playoff series.

There is really no explaining it, but I think it fits the theme. It shouldn’t be true. But it is.

[SouBeachTalents]

Nick Anderson is another fascinating one. Never a great FT shooter or one that got to the line very often, but 6 years into his career he was a 70% shooter averaging 4 trips a game. Interestingly enough, the season after the Finals disaster, his % only dropped to 69%. But by '97, his FT% dropped to 40%, and he was only attempting 1.5 FT's a game.

The last 6 years of his career his FT% plummeted from 70% to 57%, and his rate dropped in half as well. And this was a guy, even though it was the girls 3 point line, that was hitting 40% on 5.6 3's per game in '95 & '96, so he could shoot the ball.

[Full Court]

Tyrese Haliburton is the modern Cartwright - someone who's shooting form is utterly atrocious and ugly....and yet, he's a pretty good shooter.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP. OMb7hzXH5OgJloqFNLVkUAHaEK%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=bdc3ba2fbeb8e60acae9586de7b10c0fe35f8da77401fd 19c9a382ed4b7c1107&ipo=images



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v5IIKlXEWg



And speaking of Luka, if my memory serves me correctly, there was a post-season where his 3-pt percentage was higher than his free throw percentage. Makes no logical sense.

[Kblaze8855]

Tyrese Haliburton is the modern Cartwright - someone who's shooting form is utterly atrocious and ugly....and yet, he's a pretty good shooter.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP. OMb7hzXH5OgJloqFNLVkUAHaEK%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=bdc3ba2fbeb8e60acae9586de7b10c0fe35f8da77401fd 19c9a382ed4b7c1107&ipo=images



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v5IIKlXEWg



And speaking of Luka, if my memory serves me correctly, there was a post-season where his 3-pt percentage was higher than his free throw percentage. Makes no logical sense.




MKG



https://www.hostpic.org/images/2412080259060339.jpeg



shot better from the FT line for his career than Lebron shot in 7 seasons.

Its just…the way it is.

it feels like Kobe should be a better free-throw shooter than Magic Johnson. But magic shot better from the Line than either Kobe or Jordan who have the reputation as both mid range snipers and mentally unbreakable.

[Real Men Wear Green]

Sam Hauser is #1 in NBA career winning percentage at 74.4%.

[Xiao Yao You]

The bum played 31 minutes a game despite shooting 29 % from 3 on 5 3s a game with 3 to a game and being a turnstile on d. Even more unbelievable is s9meone just put hardy in the top 10 coaches in the league despite obviously being in way over his head

[RRR3]

MKG



https://www.hostpic.org/images/2412080259060339.jpeg



shot better from the FT line for his career than Lebron shot in 7 seasons.

Its just…the way it is.

it feels like Kobe should be a better free-throw shooter than Magic Johnson. But magic shot better from the Line than either Kobe or Jordan who have the reputation as both mid range snipers and mentally unbreakable.
Not like LeBron is some deadly shooter to be fair.

[Kblaze8855]

No he isn’t. But he has years where he shoots fts at the same rate I did in high school. And I was an absolute bum of a shooter. Just…feels like he should be better. Like most of them should. And skills wise they are. It just doesn’t translate directly.

[RRR3]

No he isn’t. But he has years where he shlt fts at the same rate I did in high school. And I was an absolute bum of a shooter. Just…feels like he should be better. Like most of them should. And skills wise they are. It just doesn’t translate directly.
Dale Ellis is considered one of the better shooters in NBA history but was only 78.4% from the line for his career. Which is solid but for a guy who was considered a god tier shooter it’s low. CJ McCollum is another weird one. A great pure jump shooter and he actually lead the NBA in ft% one year but he also had a year recently where he shot 68.2% from the line and is currently at 63.3% this year.

[Xiao Yao You]

Rr3 said he was quitting me but cant. Sad but true

[tontoz]

Westbrook has 8 seasons shooting at least 80% and 5 seasons shooting under 70%.

[Carbine]

I think Bruce Bowen shit better from 3 than he did FT line a year or few.

[SouBeachTalents]

Westbrook has 8 seasons shooting at least 80% and 5 seasons shooting under 70%.
Unsurprisingly, after his game started to tail off after his MVP season, so did his FT shooting. 82% through 2017, 69% since.

[Shaquille O'Neal]

I've got one.

If Kobe Bryant (23-15 finals games record) came back to life and played in 18 straight finals games, and lost all 18, he'd still have a better finals record than Lebron (22-33).
That shouldn't be true, but it is.

[RRR3]

Unsurprisingly, after his game started to tail off after his MVP season, so did his FT shooting. 82% through 2017, 69% since.
His game tailed off in large part because he forgot how to shoot FTs. Him being a good FT shooter kept him relatively efficient because he got to the line constantly in his prime. Without it, yeesh.

[Full Court]

Unsurprisingly, after his game started to tail off after his MVP season, so did his FT shooting. 82% through 2017, 69% since.

He has bad eyesight. A couple seasons ago he said he was going to start wearing glasses - but he still hasn't. I don't know why. I'm guessing that's a big part of the reason, if not the sole reason, why he sucks at shooting these days.

[3ba11]

Unfolding events are continuing the historical trend of great ball movement allowing the capacity for great teams or dynasties... Specifically, there are no real teams in the West, so Tatum is headed for his 2nd title as an expert jumpshooting skillset that produces great ball movement, chemistry/teammate performance, and therefore great teams (either dominant title runs or "dynasties").... History shows that highly-assisted skillsets like expert jumpshooters and bigs produced all the "dynasties" that mostly won for a material stretch of 5+ years (Russell, Kareem, Jordan, Duncan, Curry, Kobe/Shaq), while high-volume, low-assisted skillsets like Lebron, Luka, Harden, Westbrook, and SGA produced all the perennial losers that mostly lost regardless of cast.. Since the low-assisted skillsets produced far weaker chemistry and teams, the best low-assisted players/ball-dominators are behind the best high-assisted players (jumpshooters and bigs) in the all-time rankings (Jordan, Kobe, Curry, Bird, Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Duncan, Shaq, Jokic, Magic, Lebron, Oscar).

[Nowoco]

Shawn Bradley has more NBA points than Bill Walton.

[Ghost1]

Kobe being dead

[Axe]

Scottie pippen won 55 games with the bulls during the absence of their perennial first option.

[Nowoco]

Scottie pippen won 55 games with the bulls during the absence of their perennial first option.

I love that people always just gloss over how different the 1994 Bulls roster was compared to the 1993 one.

The Bulls picked up Steve Kerr, Toni Kukoc and Bill Wennington along with Luc Longley mid-season. It wasn't like they just lost Jordan and got nothing in.

That roster should have been winning 55 games.

[Carbine]

Unfolding events are continuing the historical trend of great ball movement allowing the capacity for great teams or dynasties... Specifically, there are no real teams in the West, so Tatum is headed for his 2nd title as an expert jumpshooting skillset that produces great ball movement, chemistry/teammate performance, and therefore great teams (either dominant title runs or "dynasties").... History shows that highly-assisted skillsets like expert jumpshooters and bigs produced all the "dynasties" that mostly won for a material stretch of 5+ years (Russell, Kareem, Jordan, Duncan, Curry, Kobe/Shaq), while high-volume, low-assisted skillsets like Lebron, Luka, Harden, Westbrook, and SGA produced all the perennial losers that mostly lost regardless of cast.. Since the low-assisted skillsets produced far weaker chemistry and teams, the best low-assisted players/ball-dominators are behind the best high-assisted players (jumpshooters and bigs) in the all-time rankings (Jordan, Kobe, Curry, Bird, Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Duncan, Shaq, Jokic, Magic, Lebron, Oscar).

Can you please explain how Tatum is an expert jumpshooter yet his playoff percentages from 3 pt for the last two post seasons combined is 30 percent and his shot chart outside the paint for 2pters is 40 percent.....

I want an explanation as to why this is classified as an expert jump shooter?

[Kblaze8855]

I love that people always just gloss over how different the 1994 Bulls roster was compared to the 1993 one.

The Bulls picked up Steve Kerr, Toni Kukoc and Bill Wennington along with Luc Longley mid-season. It wasn't like they just lost Jordan and got nothing in.

That roster should have been winning 55 games.


it’s always funny to me how many more people see that team as talented 30 years later. Somewhere in my grandma‘s old house I still have a magazine from back then that had Mike Tyson on the cover and an NBA preview that had the bulls winning I think 27 or 30 games. Not sure which but it was one of those.

[3ba11]

Can you please explain how Tatum is an expert jumpshooter yet his playoff percentages from 3 pt for the last two post seasons combined is 30 percent and his shot chart outside the paint for 2pters is 40 percent.....

I want an explanation as to why this is classified as an expert jump shooter?


It's because despite Tatum's playoff aberrations, his history of good jumpshooting volume & efficiency allowed the development of great chemistry/teammate performance and therefore a dominant title run... Now he's headed for a 2nd one.... Highly-assisted skillsets like those of jumpshooters allow the development of great ball movement, chemistry and teams, since all the "dynasties" in history were produced by these highly-assisted skillsets of jumpshooters or bigs.. Tatum is adding to this history as he closes in on his 2nd dominant title run or potential dynasty status in 2026.

[Carbine]

He has shot 36 percent from three and 38 percent from "mid range" 15-19 feet over the last four years combined for the regular season. Those are league average numbers. Expert and average are not synonymous with each other.

[tontoz]

He has shot 36 percent from three and 38 percent from "mid range" 15-19 feet over the last four years combined for the regular season. Those are league average numbers. Expert and average are not synonymous with each other.

3ball doesn't watch games.

[3ba11]

He has shot 36 percent from three and 38 percent from "mid range" 15-19 feet over the last four years combined for the regular season. Those are league average numbers. Expert and average are not synonymous with each other.


He's a highly-assisted player, as required to lead a dynasty (Russell, Kareem, Jordan, Duncan, Curry, Kobe)..

And he's a "jumpshooter" by virtue of his jumpshooting volume, which allows his higher assisted rate and therefore better capacity for team assists.

[Hey Yo]

The move of the night..


https://youtu.be/pCTfxOrX4k8?si=H_lgLTrHlJ6bAzPQ

[Axe]

I love that people always just gloss over how different the 1994 Bulls roster was compared to the 1993 one.

The Bulls picked up Steve Kerr, Toni Kukoc and Bill Wennington along with Luc Longley mid-season. It wasn't like they just lost Jordan and got nothing in.

That roster should have been winning 55 games.
Yes. And aside from that, horace grant became an all-star once in his career too.

I just want to direct that comment earlier towards those who stubbornly think that the bulls used to be a one-man team during the 90s because it has never been the case at all.

[Nowoco]

it’s always funny to me how many more people see that team as talented 30 years later. Somewhere in my grandma‘s old house I still have a magazine from back then that had Mike Tyson on the cover and an NBA preview that had the bulls winning I think 27 or 30 games. Not sure which but it was one of those.

A roster with prime Scottie Pippen, prime Horace Grant, BJ Armstrong having an all-star year, loads of good role players with Phil Jackson coaching.

Whatever magazine thought that team was only winning 30 games says more about the idiot who wrote it than anything else.

[Axe]

A roster with prime Scottie Pippen, prime Horace Grant, BJ Armstrong having an all-star year, loads of good role players with Phil Jackson coaching.

Whatever magazine thought that team was only winning 30 games says more about the idiot who wrote it than anything else.
@3ball

[Hey Yo]

I love that people always just gloss over how different the 1994 Bulls roster was compared to the 1993 one.

The Bulls picked up Steve Kerr, Toni Kukoc and Bill Wennington along with Luc Longley mid-season. It wasn't like they just lost Jordan and got nothing in.

That roster should have been winning 55 games.

Jordan's replacement in the starting lineup was a 6th round pick journeyman who had been out of the league for practically 3yrs. That's what Pippen had to overcome and lead his team to an unthinkable 55 wins.

Plus the Wennington you mentioned is the same that everyone shits on cause 'that's all the Spurs got' for master rebounder and defender Rodman.

[BarberSchool]

Isaiah Thomas has held almost every possible job a player/coach/exec can hold in the NBA, despite doing so much damage almost everywhere he was hired.

Destroyed the Pacers, Raptors, Knicks, CBA, etc

Unbelievable track record of monumental failure.
But must have interviewed well with sucker owners.

[Nowoco]

Plus the Wennington you mentioned is the same that everyone shits on cause 'that's all the Spurs got' for master rebounder and defender Rodman.

You mean Will Perdue.

[Nowoco]

Isaiah Thomas has held almost every possible job a player/coach/exec can hold in the NBA, despite doing so much damage almost everywhere he was hired.

Destroyed the Pacers, Raptors, Knicks, CBA, etc

Unbelievable track record of monumental failure.
But must have interviewed well with sucker owners.

Isiah Thomas is one of the biggest assholes in the history of the NBA. He seems to get away with it because he's small and has a nice smile.

Even ignoring all those failures mentioned, no-one, except maybe his old teammates, has a good word to say about him.

[ILLsmak]

Guys who play heavy minutes in general, but also who take hits, I think are more prone to FT mishaps. Harden is a tru choker and he is superwet.

And people can talk about his trash calls, but we know he can stretch it on like 20 attempts. AI has proved he can hit fts on volume, too, but his fluctuates. Why? It’s not mental imo. I think it’s just pushing oneself, getting smashed, and having to slow down and shoot.

I think it was plow talkin about ft pecentage and how his girl could shoot better than Shaq. It’s like have her run up and down the court 2x and get elbowed in the face.

I think there is a mental component, there is a a raw ‘talent’ like how natural the motion is for you, there is a pressure component, and an underrated just stop and go wear and tear per game component. Some guys could block it out, but we’re talking the kinda dudes who break their off arm and still shoot the fts, making them.

Conclusion, luka isn’t a choker, he’s just mildly SOFT.

-Smak

[And1AllDay]

Scottie pippen won 55 games with the bulls during the absence of their perennial first option.

lil miley got pip, imagine if pip got another pip too

chips for days

94 roster big 3
pip
grant
pip

that wins a chip easily. didnt even need mikey just another pip

[Kblaze8855]

Guys who play heavy minutes in general, but also who take hits, I think are more prone to FT mishaps. Harden is a tru choker and he is superwet.

And people can talk about his trash calls, but we know he can stretch it on like 20 attempts. AI has proved he can hit fts on volume, too, but his fluctuates. Why? It’s not mental imo. I think it’s just pushing oneself, getting smashed, and having to slow down and shoot.

I think it was plow talkin about ft pecentage and how his girl could shoot better than Shaq. It’s like have her run up and down the court 2x and get elbowed in the face.

I think there is a mental component, there is a a raw ‘talent’ like how natural the motion is for you, there is a pressure component, and an underrated just stop and go wear and tear per game component. Some guys could block it out, but we’re talking the kinda dudes who break their off arm and still shoot the fts, making them.

Conclusion, luka isn’t a choker, he’s just mildly SOFT.

-Smak


The physical part I’m not sure about. Your Shaq example for one… sure he’s running around and playing physical. It’s fair to assume it will his ability to do physical things that require precision. But so Moses Malone. And Moses got his free-throw shooting into the 80s. Better career percentage than Luka who definitely doesn’t play anywhere close to that physical. And at the same time, plenty of physically weak players who still played a more physical game than the NBA will allow now were knock down free-throw shooters.

someone like Karl Malone has a well earned reputation for not coming through, but he went from a 48% free shooter to just shy of 80.

I think it has to be mental at this point there’s just no consistency to why. Good shooters. Bad shooters. Physical players. Soft players. Some people just can’t shoot free throws.

[ILLsmak]

The physical part I’m not sure about. You’re Shaw example for one… sure he’s running around and playing physical. It’s fair to assume it will his ability to do physical things that require precision. But so Moses Malone. And Moses got his free-throw shooting into the 80s. Better career percentage than Luka who definitely doesn’t play anywhere close to that physical. And at the same time, plenty of physically weak players who still played a more physical game than the NBA will allow now were knock down free-throw shooters.

someone like Karl Malone has a well earned reputation for not coming through, but he went from a 48% free shooter to just shy of 80.

I think it has to be mental at this point there’s just no consistency to why. Good shooters. Bad shooters. Physical players. Soft players. Some people just can’t shoot free throws.

yea like I said there is a level of baseline competence in regards to FT shooting. Moses didn't have a bad looking FT. Shaq got bigger and probably got more contact as he got older, and his FT% dropped. He definitely could have been better, so there is a mental aspect, but like 65% or 70% would be max, I think.

Luka should be shooting like 90%.

Look at how depleted he is in this vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LImm9dkYyVI

He's dead on his feet. Maybe some guys conserve energy better than others?

-Smak

[Xiao Yao You]

yea like I said there is a level of baseline competence in regards to FT shooting. Moses didn't have a bad looking FT. Shaq got bigger and probably got more contact as he got older, and his FT% dropped. He definitely could have been better, so there is a mental aspect, but like 65% or 70% would be max, I think.

Luka should be shooting like 90%.

Look at how depleted he is in this vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LImm9dkYyVI

He's dead on his feet. Maybe some guys conserve energy better than others?

-Smak

Maybe some guys are in shape

[ILLsmak]

Maybe some guys are in shape

twu, but I mean look at his arms it's like they are almost shaking. haha. His form is off. I dunno what Luka's deal is.

I know he balls, but I'm not a fan. I don't dislike him like say Harden, but I'm not a fan...

-Smak

[Xiao Yao You]

twu, but I mean look at his arms it's like they are almost shaking. haha. His form is off. I dunno what Luka's deal is.

I know he balls, but I'm not a fan. I don't dislike him like say Harden, but I'm not a fan...

-Smak
Hard to watch with the flopping whining and fat ass

[tontoz]

Hard to watch with the flopping whining and fat ass

How did it feel to have his fat ass punk the Wolves in the playoffs?

[ralph_i_el]

No he isn’t. But he has years where he shoots fts at the same rate I did in high school. And I was an absolute bum of a shooter. Just…feels like he should be better. Like most of them should. And skills wise they are. It just doesn’t translate directly.

I work with kids, and we had an 8th grade girl go 80% on free throws for a season (10 games) shooting 3.5 attempts a game. Crazy. She's playing D2 college ball rn. She's shooting 72% in college. Pressure is real.

[And1AllDay]

lil miley got pip, imagine if pip got another pip too

chips for days

94 roster big 3
pip
grant
pip

that wins a chip easily. didnt even need mikey just another pip

anyone?

93 bulls
mikey
pip
grant

94 bulls
pip
pip
grant still wins a chip

[iamgine]

it’s always funny to me how many more people see that team as talented 30 years later. Somewhere in my grandma‘s old house I still have a magazine from back then that had Mike Tyson on the cover and an NBA preview that had the bulls winning I think 27 or 30 games. Not sure which but it was one of those.

People just didn't expect Pippen and Grant to go berserk like they did. Pippen went from a top 15 player the year before to MVP candidate. Grant went from a top 55 to top 25 player. That's the main reason they won 55 games.

[Chick Stern]

People just didn't expect Pippen and Grant to go berserk like they did. Pippen went from a top 15 player the year before to MVP candidate. Grant went from a top 55 to top 25 player. That's the main reason they won 55 games.

*during the weakest NBA era