Krypto-Dwight

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The Lakers are now two games under .500. This is not how most Lakers' fans, including our resident Laker fan, dmc, expected this season to start out. Dwight Howard, who has taken to calling himself Superman, can't hit a free throw to save his life, and thus is being fouled repeatedly by everyone, every time he attempts to shoot. Free throws are Dwight's kyyptonite. Big men have struggled with free throws before, no doubt, but Howard's struggles are especially egregious. He is hitting fewer than 50% of his free throws.

I saw a stat on ESPN last night that was stunning. Already this year, Howard has missed 42 free throws in the 4th quarter of games. The guy in second place on that inglorious list has 10.

I can never understand why some people have such problems with free throws. (And I do understand that the bigger your hands are, the more spin you impart on the ball, and thus any shot that hits the rim has a greater chance of bouncing off than going in.) But it would certainly appear to be a skill that anyone can practice and improve upon. I have never player organized basketball, and I'm certainly no athlete at my present age, but I imagine if you put me in a gym for a half hour a day, and had me practice free throws for a month, that I would be able to hit more than 50% of my attempts.

 

I'm sure there is a mental aspect to it - as there is with all players over the years that have free throw issues. It just seems like it's also something that you should be able to improve upon. Dwight has become a must-foul on every high percentage shot, because if you don't foul him you're giving up two, but if you do foul him, you likely not giving up more than 1.

 

Dwight's free-throw shooting seems emblematic in some ways of the very human inability to sometimes stop what one is doing, even if everyone can tell it's not working, and to instead try something new.

The one thing I'll say in his defense is that his free-throw form is generally consistent (can't say that for Shaq's free-throw shooting, however). When one watches Howard shoot, one would THINK he would shoot with a higher percentage than he does.

Has he talked to a psychologist or brought in a free-throw coach (yes, there are guys, amongst the ranks of those dudes who lurk in the Guinness Book of World Records who have made 854 free-throws in a row or whatever, who make money doing this)? Has he tried to shoot them from the left, or from the right, or from 2 feet, or 4 feet back from where he normally shoots them? (There is no rule that says you have shoot them with your toes on the middle of the line 15 feet from the basket. You just have to be inside the half-circle at the key. He could stand at the very top of that half-circle and shoot hook shots if he wanted--or jump shots). What about "granny-style"? Rick Barry shot incredily well shooting underhand. I suspect Howard hasn't really tried any of these things.

On a different note, I'm not sure I ever bought the "big hands" explanation. Sure, some of the worst free-throw shooters in NBA history have also been big centers who assumedly have large hands (Shaq, Howard, Wilt Chamberlin, Ben Wallace, Andris Biedrins, Chris Dudley [who once missed 5 free-throws on one possession in one game, and 13 straight in a different game]) but there have also been big men who were good free-throw shooters (Nowitzki, Marc Gasol [currently #6 in the league, I think], Chris Bosh, Yao Ming, Peja Stojakovic [everyone forgets he is 6'10"]). Even Bill Cartwright had the most ridiculous-looking form ever but still shot something like 77% for his career. Dr J was renowned for having the biggest hands in the ABA and he had a decent free-throw percentage.

When I played in high-school I shot around 80% without really working on it and shot about the same with a volley-ball, girl's basketball, or even a little mini-ball. The size of the basketball in my hands had almost no effect compared to the effect that my breathing, knee extension, elbow extension, shoulder stability, and follow-through had on the quality of the shot. Of course, that is anecdotal, but...