Udoka Free Throw Solutions - Photo Added
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@HighEliteMajor How can you, who lives God only knows where, understand these things and the coaches that are with him every single day can’t figure it out?
He looks like a goose with a broken wing - there is No way a shot would ever go in - unless it bounces off somebody’s head.
His free throw shooting is abominable. The fact that somebody hasn’t fixed it by now is worse. He has figured out how to dunk and hook - that’s all he needs to know there. Spend 8 hours a day shooting GD free throws.
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Watched the ESPN highlights of the game just now. not a single mention of Doke’s free throw woes. Let’s just pretend it never happened and there is no problem we need to fix.
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@approxinfinity That’s all they’re talking about now.
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@nuleafjhawk I just need an explanation. I need to hear coach Self say, “Look, it’s an Africa thing. When he left, he promised his townfolk that he would never change his free throw shooting to honor all of them, each time he plays.” Other than that, I’m lost.
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Mitch was having a real good game, only Newman and Svi had a better PER, only 2 players Mitch and Garret had a positive +/-. De Sousa, on the other hand had a miserable outing, 1 minute, 3 turnovers and 1 foul.
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Awesome! Btw, Kruger was reading your posts obviously. How prescient.
HighEliteMajor said:
@nuleafjhawk I just need an explanation. I need to hear coach Self say, “Look, it’s an Africa thing. When he left, he promised his townfolk that he would never change his free throw shooting to honor all of them, each time he plays.” Other than that, I’m lost.
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@approxinfinity they (ESPN) too caught up in Trae worship. They missed the story of the game in Self’s flub at the end from about 2-3 min left.
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@JayHawkFanToo DeSousa’s +/- has got to be horrid. I’d guess (without actually checking) -8 KSU +2 WVU, -4 Baylor, -2 OU. I hope I’m wrong, but that seems about right. He goes in the lead disappears, but it’s not all his fault. This team scores in spurts then sputters.
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@HighEliteMajor Any chance his wrist injury has affected his ability to hold his arm, wrist and hand vertically? I injured my wrist ligaments literally 42 years ago, and even though I got 99% recovered, that 1% limits a few motions. The free throw motion happens to be one, but oddly, holding my elbow out makes it easier. Not as far as Dok, to do mine without pain is more of a 45 degree angle.
If so, Self would not want to reveal it to preserve Dok’s pro prospects, or maybe Dok has never revealed it to the staff. And, perish the thought, other teams might foul on purpose knowing he could not make FTs.
Just speculating. It is just very weird to have pain from an injury that occurred after my freshman year. And his was a lot more recent.
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@mayjay thats entirely possible. If that were the case, I would like to think Self would be smart enough to not put Dok in those kinds of situations. He must have a hidden agenda for doing what he did because even people who dont know much or care at all about basketball knew what the proper move was.
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@HawkChamp Self gave his explanation…He believed you should leave your best players in. Also, he believed that Doke could hit half of those FTs…if so, it might have been a different game. He admitted that it turned out to be a bad decision. I don’t think there was a hidden Agenda.
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@HighEliteMajor hit this topic 100% correct. That Udoka photo of his retarded FT form, is just horrific. Literally, I’ve never seen such bad form on any level of bball, even down to jr high level. Its just moronic that a storied program’s alumni & fans, and its $52mil HOF coach have to waste time cussing & discussing Udoka FT form.
Every future KU opponent just took note of how & when Lon Kruger did what he did…
Scout on KU 2017-18: Defend the 3, no sagging…and Hack-a-Doke.
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Hawk8086 said:
@HawkChamp Self gave his explanation…He believed you should leave your best players in. Also, he believed that Doke could hit half of those FTs…if so, it might have been a different game. He admitted that it turned out to be a bad decision. I don’t think there was a hidden Agenda.
The thing that leaves me questioning a hidden agenda is it just wasnt one time, but OU kept fouling. This happened from the four minute mark onward, yet no adjustment from Self. I mean, the four times Dok went to the line were a turnover because we didn’t even get a shot off. Not acceptable.
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@mayjay @HawkChamp His wrist injury was to his left wrist. A point I made last night was that given all of his time off last season with the injury, that functional right wrist would have been quite able to practice and perfect free throw shooting technique.
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I’m not sure you can fix Doka’s shooting mechanics. Remember this kid didn’t start playing organized basketball until later in his life. He so far behind the learning curve on how to actually shoot, I’m just not sure there is enough time to catch up?
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DoubleDD said:
I’m not sure you can fix Doka’s shooting mechanics. Remember this kid didn’t start playing organized basketball until later in his life. He so far behind the learning curve on how to actually shoot, I’m just not sure there is enough time to catch up?
there may not be enough time, but of course it can be fixed. I don’t believe that he is physically incapable of moving his right elbow inward toward his rib cage, nor do I believe he is incapable of releasing the ball on his right side instead of his left. Until definitively proven otherwise, I believe it can be fixed.
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Two of the great basketball bigs of all time, Wilt and Shaq, could not hit FTs and they booth have career averages of just over 0.500 with Wilt having one with 0.380; Bill Russell, another great big has a career average of 0.561. I personal;y think they developed mental blocks they were not able to overcome; obviously they excelled in other parts of the game.
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Well I’m holding out for hope. Yet you have to admit Coach is starting with scratch. I’m afraid Doka’s shooting woes have officially become a serious problem.
I was so hoping he could sneak by and even get lucky enough to shoot say 50%. This is no longer the issue. Doka has now become useless in close games coming down to the wire. Sadly he has become a liability late in games. They’re already calling it the Pok a Dok.
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@HighEliteMajor Well, shoot. Another great theory shot to hell! Thx for the correction (in Embarrassment font).
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I have read that big men have trouble finding the optimal release point and shot arc for FTs because of their longer standing reach and overall long limbs. The ideal shooting motion is a more compact movement, but big guys tend to have lots of moving parts in their shooting stroke.
That can be corrected obviously - Dirk Nowitzki immediately comes to mind as a great FT shooter, but I think it takes more time for a big man to develop a good shooting stroke, particularly a big man that developed as a big guy playing in the post. Guys like Nowitzki developed as perimeter oriented players. Anthony Davis was a guard for most of his life. But some of the bigger guys tend to never have developed much in the way of shooting touch outside the paint anyway.
As a result, their release is inconsistent and their shooting suffers.
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The Big Dub was a very good FT shooter at 0.784, Withey 0.726, TRob went from 0.395 as a freshman, 0.510 as a sophomore to 0.682 in his Junior year.
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@HawkChamp I agree that Self’s strategy, or lack thereof was not acceptable.
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Y’all see this? http://www2.kusports.com/news/2018/jan/24/police-called-suspicious-person-offering-free-thro/
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Kareem was 72% I believe for his career so it can be done.
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kjayhawks said:
Y’all see this? http://www2.kusports.com/news/2018/jan/24/police-called-suspicious-person-offering-free-thro/
I hope we don’t know this person.
️
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@dylans All I wanted to do was deliver @HighEliteMajor step-by-step guide to better free throw shooting. Geesh, I thought it would come in handy. afterall, @nuleafjhawk dared me.
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I knew at least one of us would take credit for it!!
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dylans said:
kjayhawks said:
Y’all see this? http://www2.kusports.com/news/2018/jan/24/police-called-suspicious-person-offering-free-thro/
I hope we don’t know this person.
️Haha well it wasn’t me or you I’m assuming lol
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@Blown I don’t think I’d give Doke too much lip if he didn’t want me around. Lol
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@kjayhawks @dylans @Blown — I have an alibi. Really I do.
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@HighEliteMajor Admittedly you were the first person I thought of. Although it could’ve been half the people in the state (the half with good taste).
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I saw the story on Facebook earlier and my first thought was…oh, oh, someone in the forum finally blew a gasket.
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It wasnt me. I promise.
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@Blown That was the first thing I thought when i saw the article - Crap, what’s my alibi?
Although - they should thank the guy. At least SOMEONE is trying to fix the problem.
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After the game, Kansas coach Bill Self said it was a “bad decision” on his part to leave Azubuike in the game, though added he didn’t want to hurt the sophomore’s confidence, either.
On Wednesday night, Self said on his weekly radio show that he checked on Azubuike earlier that morning.
“I said, 'Doke, [did the] sun come up today? You OK? … I kind of put you out there, didn’t I?” Self said of the exchange.
“He said, ‘No, no, you didn’t at all.’ I said, ‘I put you out there. I apologize for that. But I think you and I should get together and we’ve got to correct this, don’t we?’”
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Glen Miller might have the cure
http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-mens-basketball/hc-uconn-free-throws-0405-20140404-story.html
UConn shooting 75% as a team this season, their top 4 scorers are 199 of 243 from the line on the year (81%).
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Doesn’t Self’s statement imply that they haven’t gotten together to work on it?
Regardless, it’s good news.
All that matters is from today forward. Let’s see what he does from now, to the end of the season.
He’s just so bad fundamentally, that there are so many areas that have room to improve. That’s good too.
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@HighEliteMajor I interpreted that statement to mean that he and Doke need to get together and smooth out the fact that Self embarrassed him on National TV. Self has made it abundantly clear that he isn’t going to try to ‘fix’ his shot. Maybe motivate him to practice more, but not fix anything.
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A survey was conducted of the most admired trait in others. I would have guessed: money, fame, power. But, the leading answer was “the ability to overcome adversity”. Go Doke Go!
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It seems to me that Dok cannot see well out of his left eye. This would explain the position of the ball in front of left eye, and because of being right handed the right elbow goes out instead of down.
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I thought #1 was the ability to make FTs in late-game situations.
Looks like I need to get out more…
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@welladjustedhawk Interesting thought
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We haven’t focused on FT’s this much since that year in the 2000’s that I don’t like to name out load
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Is there an Ophthalmologist among us who would be willing to visit the dorm and offer an eye test (wink wink)?
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@welladjustedhawk No optometry degree here, but if his bad eye is left eye, he would not want to align the ball over that eye. When aiming, you want one eye to dominate a bit. Doesn’t mean that it’s like shooting a rifle where you close one eye – because depth perception is an issue. Depth perception in shooting free throw is much less of an issue because the length of the shot is less important (than a regular shot) because it becomes muscle memory (alignment can too, of course). Aligning over his left eye would make sense if he couldn’t see well out of right eye perhaps, but you certainly wouldn’t move your right foot forward when shooting as he does if you were aligning with your left eye. That has me puzzled.
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Maybe that is how it works in free throw mechanics. I just thought maybe he can’t see the hoop as well if he covers up the right eye.
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@HighEliteMajor It seems this would have been even better considering his large hands. Small handed players (youngins) often need the second hand to stabilize the ball. There’s no way he needs that second hand anywhere near the ball to hold it steady. It does look like he used that time practicing the baby hook and conditioning though, so I don’t think he was wasting time. It’s so strange because he looks like when he is stepping up to the line he is trying to get his form right (he straightens his right arm and motions a smooth stroke with just his right hand) but when he gets the ball it all falls apart.
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HighEliteMajor said:
@welladjustedhawk … When aiming, you want one eye to dominate a bit…
When my daughter started learning archery, the teacher found she had a dominant left eye even though she was right-handed. She aimed much better shooting left-handed.
It would be interesting for Doke to test which is his dominant eye. The test is extremely simple and takes seconds: form a circle with both hands, stretch arms out and put the circle around an object about 15 feet away. Now close each eye in turn: the eye that is open when you see the object is the dominant eye.
If Doke has a dominant left eye, that would explain a lot.
