1. #1
    Mr KLC
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    Granny Shot Free Throws Are Back In The NBA



    Making his National Basketball Association debut, Chinanu Onuaku of the Houston Rockets drew a shooting foul and stepped to the free throw line, typically the blandest portion of a game. Except Onuaku held the ball at his waist with both hands and hoisted the ball at the hoop in an underhand motion, his arms spreading apart.

    Teammates cheered and pointed on the bench, stars made rapt during a walkover. What remained of the Toyota Center crowd erupted. They had witnessed the return of the "Granny-style" free throw, a relic unseen at the sport's highest level in decades.

    Onuaku, a 6-foot-9 20-year-old from Upper Marlboro, outside Washington, D.C., had broken a stigma, or at least shown he would not be victim of one.

    Despite evidence it can improve free throw shooting, especially for big men, the form has remained foreign from the NBA since Hall of Famer Rick Barry retired in 1980.

    Players uniformly resisted it, afraid of looking foolish, standing out as childish or unmanly. Or at least they had until Onuaku made his debut Monday night and made both free throws he attempted, shooting them underhand.

    As a freshman at Louisville, Onuaku made 46.7 percent of his free throws. After the season, Louisville Coach Rick Pitino showed him video of Barry shooting underhand and suggested he copy Barry's technique. Onuaku debuted the form in Greece, while playing in an international under-19 tournament for Team USA, to snickering, bewildered teammates. When he returned to Louisville a sophomore, his percentage rose to 58.9 percent.

    "I don't really care what people think," Onuaku told Sports Illustrated last year. "I know they're going to make fun of me. I just brush it off. It's all about getting better."


    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/basketball...ectid=11773995

  2. #2
    opie1988
    I have a MAJOR fukkin clue..
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    That's awesomeness.

    "I don't really care what people think." - my favorite quote in the story. Kid seems to have his shit together. Who gives a fukk if someone else doesn't like it?

    Love it.

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  3. #3
    triplecrown333
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    calculating in my head how many more games shaq and ben wallace would have won if they went to this ...

  4. #4
    Auto Donk
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  5. #5
    funnyb25
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    This is fantastic

  6. #6
    vividjohn45
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    Granny shots from 3 point range next?

  7. #7
    Auto Donk
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    meadowlark lemon hit em from half court......

  8. #8
    Jimmy Proffett
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    I don't understand how a person could be more accurate shooting granny shots from the stripe than shooting regular. If you get your regular jump/set shot down from the perimeter, how does it benefit a person to completely change their approach from 15 ft away with no one defending?

  9. #9
    Richkas
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    Cool beans

  10. #10
    triplecrown333
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    if you think about it, underhand is a much more natural motion, do not really need to work on mechanics of bending elbows and shit

  11. #11
    Mac4Lyfe
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy Proffett View Post
    I don't understand how a person could be more accurate shooting granny shots from the stripe than shooting regular. If you get your regular jump/set shot down from the perimeter, how does it benefit a person to completely change their approach from 15 ft away with no one defending?
    Think about arm and body length. When you bring the ball up to shoot, most guys lean back. Now take a 7+ footer, when they lean back that adds an extra 2 - 3 feet of body and arm. Very few of them lean forward which puts them at an advantage. Using the underhand shot you now make up an extra 2 - 3 feet closer to the basket with long arms going forward and not back. You can also use a better spin on the ball with 2 hands than 1.

    Ironically, Rick Barry's son Canyon is playing for the UF Gators, where he shoots underhanded as well. He's a 90% free throw shooter, the best on the team and probably in the SEC. UF was one of the worst FT shooting teams last year. This year you can see a huge improvement from the stripe. I don't understand why poor shooters don't at least try. Stupid egos. Shaq was especially arrogant. He refused coaching and didn't think it was ever a problem until he retired and realized he could have been the top scorer in NBA history if he only hit his FT's.

  12. #12
    Auto Donk
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mac4Lyfe View Post
    Think about arm and body length. When you bring the ball up to shoot, most guys lean back. Now take a 7+ footer, when they lean back that adds an extra 2 - 3 feet of body and arm. Very few of them lean forward which puts them at an advantage. Using the underhand shot you now make up an extra 2 - 3 feet closer to the basket with long arms going forward and not back. You can also use a better spin on the ball with 2 hands than 1.

    Ironically, Rick Barry's son Canyon is playing for the UF Gators, where he shoots underhanded as well. He's a 90% free throw shooter, the best on the team and probably in the SEC. UF was one of the worst FT shooting teams last year. This year you can see a huge improvement from the stripe. I don't understand why poor shooters don't at least try. Stupid egos. Shaq was especially arrogant. He refused coaching and didn't think it was ever a problem until he retired and realized he could have been the top scorer in NBA history if he only hit his FT's.
    yep, shaq blew it on the all time score bid, but at least he'll always have a lock on the title of "NBA'S BEST RAPPER"!


  13. #13
    Mac4Lyfe
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  14. #14
    Mac4Lyfe
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    Quote Originally Posted by Auto Donk View Post
    yep, shaq blew it on the all time score bid, but at least he'll always have a lock on the title of "NBA'S BEST RAPPER"!
    Tell me how my ass taste...

  15. #15
    Cuse0323
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy Proffett View Post
    I don't understand how a person could be more accurate shooting granny shots from the stripe than shooting regular. If you get your regular jump/set shot down from the perimeter, how does it benefit a person to completely change their approach from 15 ft away with no one defending?
    It's really simple. Most players should go this route. Natural motion. Like softball compared to baseball, in a way. The trajectory will give you the bounce much easier. Just throw it up and hit the front rim, at least. Way easier than the mechanics of a 'normal' shot.

  16. #16
    rizespor
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    More big men should try to bank in free throws if they don't want to do underhanded

  17. #17
    Cuse0323
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    Quote Originally Posted by rizespor View Post
    More big men should try to bank in free throws if they don't want to do underhanded
    They have no touch as it is. It would just bank off too hard. Underhand allows the rim to slow down the ball so that it may bounce in. I'm a decent shooter, but would probably go underhand if I had made it.

  18. #18
    Ra77er
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    This is weird. I saw Onuaku last night shooting those for the Vipers. Rockets have a good D league team. Thanks KLC.

  19. #19
    rizespor
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cuse0323 View Post
    They have no touch as it is. It would just bank off too hard. Underhand allows the rim to slow down the ball so that it may bounce in. I'm a decent shooter, but would probably go underhand if I had made it.
    I disagree. Big men generally lack the soft touch. Banking it gives you a wider margin of error in the speed you shoot the ball. I don't know though if the height is in some way a deterrence. I notice they do this in kbl a lot (Korea) but most of those guys are short

  20. #20
    Ra77er
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    Back on topic though, I don't really like it but I understand it. We practiced free throws when I was a kid, granny shots strictly only for games of horse. They already get high percentage shots near the rim should be understood they are going to get fouled and need to develop an actual free throw shot but whatever.

  21. #21
    rizespor
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    One of the best free throw shooters ever was this guy Fred Newman. Played at caltech, wasn't really any good then but for some reason dedicated the rest of his life to shooting them. He got so good he could make 1000 in a row or 100 in a row blindfolded. That's literally all he did until he died. I couldn't find a video of him doing fts but he makes 209 straight 3 pointers in this one

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  22. #22
    Ra77er
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    Guy is literally the superman of gravity.

  23. #23
    sportsbook_12
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    This is just so fun to watch. Makes me remember Sakuragi

  24. #24
    Dirty Sanchez
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    Guys like Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan should seriously look at this because they both would add 10 points to their totals nightly

  25. #25
    Da Manster!
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    good post, KLC!...

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