That is how basketball is. That is what makes it such a great sport. I’ve seen physically and mentally disabled kids with zero coordination than get hot and drain several threes in a row. confidence is such a big deal in basketball. A guy like coach Smith can really inspire confidence in his players.
These guys are all way better than your average high school player. I was your average high school player. In practice (shootaround/drills) I could go around the three point line hitting threes from 6-8 different spots, not missing until I’d gone back and forth “around the world” 3 times or more. Never dared take a three in game. I had horrible self esteem and very little confidence on the court largely because I knew my coaches did not like me. Coaching makes a huge difference in a player’s performance in basketball. If a coach can inspire confidence in his guys, crazy things can happen. If you lose confidence, even if you are a D1 level player, you just aren’t going to shoot well. These guys are all better than me at shooting (most of them anyway) in practice, but they have to have to believe it’s going in when they shoot it in a real game.
Free throws is another story. There is NO EXCUSE for being a sub 70% free throw shooter at the college level. Absolutely blows my mind how some guys just can’t figure it out. It has to be lack of repitition, it just has to be… either that or a severe lack of confidence. Make a thousand free throws a day for one summer, and I don’t care what form you have, as long as it’s consistent, you will be making nearly all of your free throws by the end of the summer. When I was in high school I could make 70/100 blindfolded, with one hand, and I only shot one or two hundred a day 4-5 days a week. These guys are dedicating their lives to basketball, to not know how to shoot properly is just unconscionable to me.
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