Horns v. VCU

51% FG and 44% 3PT. Much much improved. Our defense was a little pedestrian but I’m ok with the overall performance tonight. 6 blocks is clutch. Abysmal free throw shooting and getting out rebounded on the offensive glass hurt us. Good true road win though.:hookem: VCU got up for the challenge.

P.S. I liked Davis’ 11 points off the bench. His 4 buckets and free throws came at pivotal moments in the game. Was glad to see that from him.
 
txlandagent said:
51% FG and 44% 3PT. Much much improved. Our defense was a little pedestrian but I’m ok with the overall performance tonight. 6 blocks is clutch. Abysmal free throw shooting and getting out rebounded on the offensive glass hurt us. Good true road win though.:hookem: VCU got up for the challenge.

P.S. I liked Davis’ 11 points off the bench. His 4 buckets and free throws came at pivotal moments in the game. Was glad to see that from him.
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This^^^ The statement it is a "good true road win" nails it. I think this win will help toughen the team for future nail biters.
 
Probably closer than it needed to be but at the same time, they're a good team with a great home court. They were going to make a run. The free throws were disappointing but that's the struggle with this team right now. Getting some three-point shooting back from Dylan, good defense, solid rebounding, and for the MOST part, pretty decent offensive sets. I'll definitely take that!
 
I'll never understand why guards can't hit FTs. I remember a time when if you were shooting around 70 percent as a "smaller" player, you pretty much sucked. Only Jacob Young (with all 4 of his FTs) is doing better than 70 percent. Roach has some kind of mental block about it. If they kept those percentages for the season, all of our guards would be in the bottom 10 percent of NBA FT percentages for guards.

The tide really turned when VCU clamped down on Jones. After that timeout from the transition slam with like 13 minutes left in the game, they started messing with him away from the ball. Khris Lane really showed the benefits of being a team player and a guy who sticks around to build continuity with his team... those shots he hit were huge and he did so much leg work away from the ball.
 
Horns11 said:
I'll never understand why guards can't hit FTs. I remember a time when if you were shooting around 70 percent as a "smaller" player, you pretty much sucked. Only Jacob Young (with all 4 of his FTs) is doing better than 70 percent. Roach has some kind of mental block about it. If they kept those percentages for the season, all of our guards would be in the bottom 10 percent of NBA FT percentages for guards.

The tide really turned when VCU clamped down on Jones. After that timeout from the transition slam with like 13 minutes left in the game, they started messing with him away from the ball. Khris Lane really showed the benefits of being a team player and a guy who sticks around to build continuity with his team... those shots he hit were huge and he did so much leg work away from the ball.
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I don't get it either. I remember they had free throw shooting contests (intramurals) back in the day at Trinity where I went and a few of those guys would nail 45-50 out of 50.
 
Horns11 said:
I'll never understand why guards can't hit FTs. I remember a time when if you were shooting around 70 percent as a "smaller" player, you pretty much sucked. Only Jacob Young (with all 4 of his FTs) is doing better than 70 percent.
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This is true.^^^ Our guards are unreliable at the line. Except for Young, it seems. Now that you mention Young's 100% rate at the line, why not give Young more time when we're ahead and the other team has to foul. Get the ball in Young's hands.

After watching the poor FT shooting the first 1/3 of the season, I would suggest that Shaka put in Jones, Davis, and/or Young when we know they are gonna foul, and feel pretty good about getting at least 60% plus to fall.

Ok Shaka, I'm sitting by the phone. You can call now. My two cents will be forthcoming! :smile1:
 
Horns11 said:
I remember a time when if you were shooting around 70 percent as a "smaller" player, you pretty much sucked.
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I think it's a mentality. You can't go to the free throw line and shoot like you would your normal shot because it's just not the same dynamics. I remember covering Sam Houston basketball when Mike Dillard set the NCAA record for percentage at something like 96%. He talked about how the key to shooting free throws was minimal movement. Head stays level, single motion to bring it up straight, knock it down, don't use your legs. I feel like most people who shoot free throws have so much extra movement in their shot that they have to compensate, and it just makes everything else harder to do.

I remember a couple of those free throws last night weren't even on line, hitting off the side of the rim. To me, that's just simply not paying attention to what you're doing. If I went out today and shot free throws, I might miss my share, but I'd at least be able to shoot it straight. You want to be relaxed at the line, but not so relaxed that you just toss it up there, and sometimes I think guys do that.
 
Hard to believe that, IMHO, Bamba saved the game by hitting those two free pressure throws after our guards, Roach and Jones, missed both free throws. I will give Jones a little pass since he had a shooting hand injury. Roach, I just don't know how we can keep him in the game when we have to make free throws.

So Bamba hit both free throws then Q.....ski, Dylan, hit that pressure trey to put us up two possessions. That shifted the pressure off us and put it on VCU.

I look at the box score and wonder why did we only squeak out a 4 point victory. Then I look again and wonder why did our defense, which has been excellent, allow VCU to shoot that well. Who was assign to Lane?
 
ProdigalHorn said:
I think it's a mentality. You can't go to the free throw line and shoot like you would your normal shot because it's just not the same dynamics. ...............
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It's hard to improve FTs by just practicing FTs. Shooting in the game, when you are both amped-up and tired at the same time is much different than practicing FTs. Players have to take it on themselves to shoot an ungodly number of FTs every day under different stresses to improve. There is not enough time in practice to shoot enough FTs. Hopefully the guards will take it upon themselves during the holidays to put in the extra practice.
 
4th_floor said:
Players have to take it on themselves to shoot an ungodly number of FTs every day under different stresses to improve.
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I think it makes sense to have surprise free throw breaks throughout practice, where you've got guys running up and down, running plays, and all of a sudden "that's a foul. You're shooting 2 now." That's the only way I can think to at least somewhat simulate the conditions.
 
Mark Price is 2nd all time in FT% at .9039. He said he practiced free throw shooting every single day of his professional career: 250-300 shots a day. I think there's merit to volume/duration of practice. Provided the fundamentals/mechanics are correct of course.
 
Has anyone heard an injury report on Andrew Jones. He was unable to finish the game due to injury to his right wrist. Will Jones play next week?
 
1) Dylan, not going to try to spell his last name, is the glue that holds the team together. That 3 with a minute left won the game. Totally different game if he missed.

2) How far above the rim was that ball on the Bamba dunk? Never seen a ball so high above the rim on any level
 
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