never understood what was so hard for him about free throws. Its the same shot. Time after time after time. Dude, just get to the gym and start shooting until you don't ever miss.

SilentStrider: never understood what was so hard for him about free throws. Its the same shot. Time after time after time. Dude, just get to the gym and start shooting until you don't ever miss.

the best argument for him that i heard went something like this: his hands were huge. if a normal person had a rolled up piece of paper and wanted to throw it at the trash can, they would throw it like a baseball, not shot it like a basketball. or something like that.

now that i feel bad defending O'Neal, you are right in that he should have practiced...whatever kind of shot. he was an end game liability. thank Goodness he had Kobe.

though i believe it, the last line was in jest to have fun. was going to add Wade, but i like it as is.

Didn't the Magic formula for making free throws involve letting Shaq go to the Lakers as a free agent?

R.P.M.: SilentStrider: never understood what was so hard for him about free throws. Its the same shot. Time after time after time. Dude, just get to the gym and start shooting until you don't ever miss.

the best argument for him that i heard went something like this: his hands were huge. if a normal person had a rolled up piece of paper and wanted to throw it at the trash can, they would throw it like a baseball, not shot it like a basketball. or something like that.

now that i feel bad defending O'Neal, you are right in that he should have practiced...whatever kind of shot. he was an end game liability. thank Goodness he had Kobe.

though i believe it, the last line was in jest to have fun. was going to add Wade, but i like it as is.

They tried for years to get Shaq to throw them underhanded which actually gives a better trajectory to the basket but he wouldnt do it. Apparently his pride was more important than winning a title.

DrySocket: R.P.M.: SilentStrider: never understood what was so hard for him about free throws. Its the same shot. Time after time after time. Dude, just get to the gym and start shooting until you don't ever miss.

the best argument for him that i heard went something like this: his hands were huge. if a normal person had a rolled up piece of paper and wanted to throw it at the trash can, they would throw it like a baseball, not shot it like a basketball. or something like that.

now that i feel bad defending O'Neal, you are right in that he should have practiced...whatever kind of shot. he was an end game liability. thank Goodness he had Kobe.

though i believe it, the last line was in jest to have fun. was going to add Wade, but i like it as is.

They tried for years to get Shaq to throw them underhanded which actually gives a better trajectory to the basket but he wouldnt do it. Apparently his pride was more important than winning a title.

ya, Rick Barry, i think, was trying campaigning for him to do that for a while. one of things that again showed O'Neal didn't give his all to winning. not that i wouldn't have wanted his career, but knocks him down spots on "greatest EVAR!"

they were still calling "must win" plays for Kareem at 40 (ish?). i would love to see what would happen if someone like Lebron or Durant started shooting underhand FT and killing it. what would the other players do?

DrySocket: They tried for years to get Shaq to throw them underhanded which actually gives a better trajectory to the basket but he wouldnt do it. Apparently his pride was more important than winning a title.

I'm pretty sure Jackie Moon was the only self respecting hoops player that would take a granny shot, plus he won more titles than most of his peers.

SilentStrider: never understood what was so hard for him about free throws. Its the same shot. Time after time after time. Dude, just get to the gym and start shooting until you don't ever miss.

Same with bowling.

Didn't they do a sport science with Sasha Vuljuich (spelling) shooting free ltheows on stilts with some sort if hand extensions blind folded and still hitting them.

SilentStrider: never understood what was so hard for him about free throws. Its the same shot. Time after time after time. Dude, just get to the gym and start shooting until you don't ever miss.

Exactly.

SilentStrider: never understood what was so hard for him about free throws. Its the same shot. Time after time after time. Dude, just get to the gym and start shooting until you don't ever miss.

Well, free throws at the gym are the same every time, free throws in a game involve having run around in circles at top speed for a couple hours while dodging people and chucking the ball around in what amounts to a game of catch on PCP.

Sort of a different set of environmental conditions, y'know?

DrySocket: They tried for years to get Shaq to throw them underhanded which actually gives a better trajectory to the basket but he wouldnt do it. Apparently his pride was more important than winning a title.

If you do it with the same upward impetus with an overhand shot, your trajectory is actually better. Just physicsin'.

Jim_Callahan: SilentStrider: never understood what was so hard for him about free throws. Its the same shot. Time after time after time. Dude, just get to the gym and start shooting until you don't ever miss.

Well, free throws at the gym are the same every time, free throws in a game involve having run around in circles at top speed for a couple hours while dodging people and chucking the ball around in what amounts to a game of catch on PCP.

Sort of a different set of environmental conditions, y'know?

Well, yes and no.

I played a fair bit of ball in my youf ... and, yeah, basketball is crazy intense and fast. But if you're any kind of athlete, the time it takes to set up for the shot is enough time for your heart rate to drop and your head to clear.

You get to the line, and it SHOULD be pure habit born out of doing the same shot literally thousands of times -- from grade school through college in more games, practises and playground matches of 21 than you can remember.

For me it was hunching down, doing three low dribbles with a backspin on the last one, straightening up ... shooting for the back of the hoop with plenty of follow through ... and more often than not, watching the ball go in.

25 years later, even though i don't play much ball, whenever i do a practise free throw at the park, the old method kicks in right away.

So ... even as a college-ball bench warmer, i never got why Shaq sucked so very much ass from the line.

What's with the pic of Lisa blowing Bart on the diagram.

DrySocket: They tried for years to get Shaq to throw them underhanded which actually gives a better trajectory to the basket but he wouldnt do it. Apparently his pride was more important than winning a title.

towatchoverme:
I played a fair bit of ball in my youf ... and, yeah, basketball is crazy intense and fast. But if you're any kind of athlete, the time it takes to set up for the shot is enough time for your heart rate to drop and your head to clear.

You get to the line, and it SHOULD be pure habit born out of doing the same shot literally thousands of times -- from grade school through college in more games, practises and playground matches of 21 than you can remember.

For me it was hunching down, doing three low dribbles with a backspin on the last one, straightening up ... shooting for the back of the hoop with plenty of follow through ... and more often than not, watching the ball go in.

25 years later, even though i don't play much ball, whenever i do a practise free throw at the park, the old method kicks in right away.

So ... even as a college-ball bench warmer, i never got why Shaq sucked so very much ass from the line.

Be thankful you were in college ball. I could make free throws and hit nba range three pointers but never made it to further than high school ball after having tommy john surgery on both my knees.

So the second easiest thing to do in basketball might get easier?

alonzo mourning was twice the player shaq was

Does it have to do with the Pythagorean Theorem? Because according to Shaq, there's no answer to that.

"one might expect that trainers had figured out every nuance of aerodynamics, mechanics and all things Newtonian to increase the rate at which the ball goes through the hoop."

You know how I know you're not a real American?

I think you guys are grossly under-estimating the difficulty of shooting free throws. 'Just practice until you always hit it' applies to a million sports. Why don't people always throw bull-eyes in darts? Why don't people just always knock down all the pins in bowling?

You sure about that?

"That is why one day I said my game will be like the Pythagorean Theorem - hard to figure out. A lot of people really don't know the Pythagorean Theory. They don't make them like me anymore. They don't want to make them like that anymore" -Shaq

kungfu jesus with a side of lime: alonzo mourning was twice the player shaq was

Not close

DrySocket: Apparently his pride was more important than winning a title.

Yeah, if only he'd won a title...

R.P.M.: the best argument for him that i heard went something like this: his hands were huge. if a normal person had a rolled up piece of paper and wanted to throw it at the trash can, they would throw it like a baseball, not shot it like a basketball. or something like that.

I don't buy it. Yao Ming was a very good FT shooter and he had huge hands.

I'm sure he took a million FTs in practice, but Shaq just wasn't a good shooter. If you're an athletic 6'3 but can't shoot well, you play in a men's league at the Y. If you're Shaq's size, it's a skill you can get by without.

Anyone seen that Buick commercial where they have Shaq trying to convince us how roomy it is, then they show him sitting in it and he's basically folded up like an omelette in the thing?

Yeah, looks super-comfortable...

/off topic, kinda
//Shaq is a funny guy
///who wouldn't be caught dead in a Buick

Jclark666: Didn't the Magic formula for making free throws involve letting Shaq go to the Lakers as a free agent?

Still no cure for Nick Anderson.

Fark_Guy_Rob: I think you guys are grossly under-estimating the difficulty of shooting free throws. 'Just practice until you always hit it' applies to a million sports. Why don't people always throw bull-eyes in darts? Why don't people just always knock down all the pins in bowling?

In bowling, they oil the lanes in different patterns on each lane specifically to increase the difficulty.

In darts, no clue. I would guess that their matches are very short.

roc6783: Fark_Guy_Rob: I think you guys are grossly under-estimating the difficulty of shooting free throws. 'Just practice until you always hit it' applies to a million sports. Why don't people always throw bull-eyes in darts? Why don't people just always knock down all the pins in bowling?

In bowling, they oil the lanes in different patterns on each lane specifically to increase the difficulty.

In darts, no clue. I would guess that their matches are very short.


In darts, of the matches I've seen on TSN (Hey! Darts! That'll be fun for.......6 minutes.), the top guys seem to able to make their shots about 80% of the time, but having darts already in the board (or an uncommon combo to finish) affects things..

Given that I estimate both throwing strikes and Bullseyes (not to mention Triple 20s!) to be more difficult than a free throw, it's shameful that any NBA player's FT% be bettered by bowlers' and dart throwers' %s.

Most tall guys suck at shooting FTs. BFD.

And if you had a guy of Shaq's size and power and didn't have him in the low-post all game, you'd be crazy. But a large part of his FT woes may have been mental, as he supposedly was a pretty solid FT shooter in practice. It's just different when you only have one or two periodically at varying stages of being worn out, especially when you're not an outside shooter (because you don't develop your stroke or get in rhythm).

It's always easy to accuse a big guy of being lazy because they seem to only be good because they're tall. It's not true, though. Shaq was fantastic around the basket, but he never had (or needed) range.

But can the engineer explain this?

SacriliciousBeerSwiller: ///who wouldn't be caught dead in a Buick



You don't know much about cars I see.

Fano: [www.weknowawesome.com image 465x700]

But can the engineer explain this?