NBA Myth: "Shooting is NOT about Mechanics"

[Dice]

Here is something interesting. What do you guys think?

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[AlexBrady]

Re: NBA Myth: &quot;Shooting is NOT about Mechanics&quot;

The biggest thing is consistency with the hand-mechanics and body balance. A quick and high release is ideal. Concentration is important too.

For sure, there are more three-point shooters these days but how many of these guys can pull up a high speed dribble and shoot mid-range springers?

And Larry Bird's perimeter shooting was erratic was for the first 40 minutes of a ballgame. It was only in the waning eight minutes or so that he became a dead-eye shooter.

[Dice]

Re: NBA Myth: &quot;Shooting is NOT about Mechanics&quot;

For sure, there are more three-point shooters these days but how many of these guys can pull up a high speed dribble and shoot mid-range springers?

Jimmer Fredette is one guy I know who is excellent at doing this. That's only because I don't think he's that great of a finisher to the basket. He probably knows that as well.

[AlexBrady]

Re: NBA Myth: &quot;Shooting is NOT about Mechanics&quot;

Jimmer Fredette is one guy I know who is excellent at doing this. That's only because I don't think he's that great of a finisher to the basket. He probably knows that as well.

A good call there and you could probably name a dozen more. But in the old days, the biggest names in the game mastered the mid-range pull up. I'm talking about guys like Bill Sharman, Lou Hudson, Sam Jones, Jerry West, and Hal Greer.

[KG]

Re: NBA Myth: &quot;Shooting is NOT about Mechanics&quot;

The biggest thing is consistency with the hand-mechanics and body balance. A quick and high release is ideal. Concentration is important too.

For sure, there are more three-point shooters these days but how many of these guys can pull up a high speed dribble and shoot mid-range springers?

And Larry Bird's perimeter shooting was erratic was for the first 40 minutes of a ballgame. It was only in the waning eight minutes or so that he became a dead-eye shooter.

Agree with you on the consistency & body balance but no idea how you measure concentration. Today's players might not be as "adept" at shooting the midrange because, well it's a horrible shot % percentage-wise. Most of the elite players today are more than capable of this, probably none-more-so than Westbrook.

[Dice]

Re: NBA Myth: &quot;Shooting is NOT about Mechanics&quot;

A good call there and you could probably name a dozen more. But in the old days, the biggest names in the game mastered the mid-range pull up. I'm talking about guys like Bill Sharman, Lou Hudson, Sam Jones, Jerry West, and Hal Greer.

The big name guards today don't do this because mostly all of them are excellent finishers at the rim. Point guards in particular are much more athletic and more explosive attacking the basket than in the past. I've never seen this many PG's in the league at one time who is liable to take it into the lane and stuff it like they were in the dunk contest.

[JODYE]

Re: NBA Myth: &quot;Shooting is NOT about Mechanics&quot;

Just really don't think players put in the work at the mid-range anymore. Sort of a lost art. Another reason basketball has shifted to such a perimeter oriented game.

Probably stating the obvious here, but I personally believe that shooting has very little do with mechanics (although good mechanics can certainly accelerate your success rate), and moreso to do with repetition and developing that consistency. These examples in the video are poor because there really wasn't a emphasis on the three point shot at that time.

[The 24th Letter]

NBA Myth: &quot;Shooting is NOT about Mechanics&quot;

It's funny, a lot of the guys that prefer the style if play of the older NBA always talk about how too many 3's are being jacked up everywhere, but I personally think that transition pull up was a bit overused it self and led to a lot of empty possessions...just plain ugly to me at times whenever I watch an older game...

Anyway, I enjoyed the video. I personally think that as far as form goes, as long as it ends with the ball coming off of your wrist properly, your in good shape....if you snapshot the very end of players shots, a lot of them look the same...like Kevin Martin here:

Of course bending your knees and all that is a factor as well, but I don't think the motion before hand is as important...


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[SteelersFreak]

Re: NBA Myth: &quot;Shooting is NOT about Mechanics&quot;

Shooting is absolutely about mechanics. Look throughout NBA history at who the best shooters have been and almost all of them shoot in a pretty consistent, standard way. Sure there are variations, some guys use a bit more leg than others, some guys might turn their body a little bit but most of them are all the same basic shot. You have some weird shots like Reggie Miller's but that kind of thing is an outlier, not the norm.

EDIT: And on the mid-range topic, the mid-range game is disappearing because its quite simply a bad shot. Defenders are getting bigger than ever and more athletic than ever and spacing the floor is extremely important. Shooting a mid-range jumper inevitably means you're sacrificing some of that spacing. It's not really an easy shot and teams would rather have their guards, who are also getting bigger, drive to the basket and dish or try to draw contact and finish at the rim.

For guys that still use the mid-range pull-up, Jason Terry made a living doing it with the Mavericks. Most nerve wrecking shot in the NBA, the Jason Terry transition mid-range pull up.

[AlexBrady]

Re: NBA Myth: &quot;Shooting is NOT about Mechanics&quot;

Agree with you on the consistency & body balance but no idea how you measure concentration. Today's players might not be as "adept" at shooting the midrange because, well it's a horrible shot % percentage-wise. Most of the elite players today are more than capable of this, probably none-more-so than Westbrook.

The old guys shot about 50% on mid-range jumpers which is just fine. The analytics guys point to the percentages but that is mostly bogus. Westbrook? A rhythm type shooter, not a true dead-eye.

The big name guards today don't do this because mostly all of them are excellent finishers at the rim. Point guards in particular are much more athletic and more explosive attacking the basket than in the past. I've never seen this many PG's in the league at one time who is liable to take it into the lane and stuff it like they were in the dunk contest.

Guards get to the basket so easily today because you can't handcheck and because zones and double teams are allowed. More explosive guards today? On average, yes. But the NBA has always had explosive guards.
I see Wall and Westbrook types as very unsound point men though.

[Sportsbuck]

Re: NBA Myth: &quot;Shooting is NOT about Mechanics&quot;

I think the decline of the mid-range game can also be attributed to the advanced statistics in today's game. A long 2 is harder to make than a short 2 obviously and comes without the extra point that a 3 has.

From an efficiency standpoint, the mid-range jumper is one of the most inefficient shots on the court.

[Dice]

Re: NBA Myth: &quot;Shooting is NOT about Mechanics&quot;

In regards to the death of the mid-range shot, how much does coaching has to do with it? A lot of the offensive sets that most teams run today don't necessarily emphasize spacing.

[The 24th Letter]

Re: NBA Myth: &quot;Shooting is NOT about Mechanics&quot;

In regards to the death of the mid-range shot, how much does coaching has to do with it? A lot of the offensive sets that most teams run today don't necessarily emphasize spacing.

You think so?

What makes you say that?

[jeebs9]

Re: NBA Myth: &quot;Shooting is NOT about Mechanics&quot;

Didn't Reggie Miller have a very ugly form?

[ehh]

Re: NBA Myth: &quot;Shooting is NOT about Mechanics&quot;

Personally I think the video is way off base.

If you take a snap shot of almost every good shooter just as they release the ball from their finger tips it's nearly identical. The height of their hand varies a little bit (some have their arm basically straight up towards the ceiling, some are pointed more at 10 or 2 o'clock if you're looking a profile of them). Besides that it's all the same. All the stuff before that is irrelevant as long as you get to that proper release point.

Doesn't matter if hand placement, elbow alignment, shot pocket, etc looks like Kevin Martin, Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin or Ray Allen. It's just like a batting stance in baseball, all the funky stuff early on varies from player to player but just before they start their swing pretty much every player gets into the same position.

It's hilarious that the narrator says Bird had poor form when the first clip they show of Bird in that video is about as picture-perfect form as you'll find.

People say Reggie's form was awkward but look at the final product - it's absolutely perfect.





Kevin Martin's is a right arm is a tad lower but it's still hard to find a flaw in the final product.



Bird looks the same...



Ray Ray's too...