He also notes Barry’s disdain for what he calls “the social part of the game, players paying attention to each other’s feelings as opposed to their own performance,” such as when players slap hands with their teammates after missed free throws. If he doesn’t care what people think, Gladwell argues, then he won’t care that people think he looks silly as long as his technique is effective. Gladwell connects Barry’s lackadaisical attitude regarding his public perception to his willingness to use an unpopular free throw technique. Barry developed a reputation for being insufferable during his career and never successfully worked his way back into basketball after his retirement, in large part due to that reputation. On his podcast “Revisionist History,” in an episode titled “ The Big Man Can’t Shoot,” author Malcolm Gladwell sat down with Barry to talk about free throws and realized that Barry genuinely does not care what people think about him. There is a “coolness” and an individuality embedded in basketball culture that limits pragmatism, especially when it manifests itself in something as ridiculous-looking as shooting free throws like your grandmother would which is why O’Neal and Chamberlin and Drummond feel they way they feel and ultimately shoot the way they shoot. In basketball, however, that pragmatic mindset is not always inherent. Barry has said that his father told him not to worry about what people thought, telling him, “Son, if you’re making them, they can’t make fun of you.” If it works, coaches and players tend to do it. Route-one soccer apologists insist that-although it’s not pretty-long direct passing provides more opportunities for scoring. Fosbury’s awkward flop changed track and field forever. In the NFL, straight-on toe-first kickers gave way to the European-imported soccer style. Sport is oftentimes pragmatic, perhaps inherently so.
There are only a few examples of players who have employed this technique, but every one of them has seen results. There is historical precedent for Strauss’ suggestion. Why not? Underhanded Free Throw Shooting Works He suggested to the Detroit Pistons’ big man that he might prolong his career by shooting his free throws underhanded.ĭrummond responded the next day by tweeting, “Let me make this clear…. Since Drummond became a starter in 2013-14, the Pistons have lost ten games by one point or in overtime in which Drummond missed at least one free throw.Įthan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN wrote Drummond an open letter in 2013. That doesn’t even include the points lost because Drummond is made to sit on the bench at the end of games due to his inability to score free points. If Drummond had shot at even that rate, the league standard, he would have made 1,384 free throws, 701 more than he actually has, an increase of roughly 1.82 points per game. During the 2016-17 season, free throws are converted 77.2% of the time, the highest rate in league history. He leaves as many as 2.88 points on the floor every night because of missed free throws. So, why don’t poor free throw shooters employ them?Īndre Drummond has shot 1,793 free throws in his NBA career. Underhanded free throws have proven effective at the highest levels of basketball. By Colton Wesley 5 years ago Follow Tweet
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