Nelson Dials Up Old Friend

Discussion in 'Golden State Warriors' started by Shapecity, Oct 3, 2007.

  1. Shapecity

    Shapecity S2/JBB Teamster Staff Member Administrator

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p>

    Coach Don Nelson is calling on an old friend to fix one of his team's biggest weaknesses.</p>

    Sidney Moncrief, who made five All-Star appearances under Nelson's watch in Milwaukee, has been hired as an assistant coach and becomes the latest shooting guru to tackle the Warriors' free-throw woes.</p>

    "This is a team built of making shots, so we're just going to work on their foul shooting," Moncrief said. "They have a lot of capable players, and I just think that foul shooting is contagious. When one guy makes it, another guy makes it, and before you know it, you become a good foul shooting team."</p>

    He would know. Sid the Squid was one of the best shooting guards of his time, averaging nearly 20 points per game and winning two Defensive Player of the Year awards with Nelson as his coach. He finished his 11-year career in 1991 with averages of 15.6 points on 50.2 percent shooting from the field and 83.1 percent from the foul line.</p>

    Moncrief, 50, began his coaching career at Arkansas-Little Rock, spent three years as an assistant under Nelson in Dallas, and most recently coached the Fort Worth Flyers of the NBA Development League.</p>

    He replaces Hal Wissel, who lasted a year as the Warriors' designated shot doctor. Moncrief already has logged long hours breaking down video on his new charges, and he has seen enough to realize that his biggest challenge, center Andris Biedrins, will be an ongoing project.</p>

    "It's not an instant fix there," Moncrief said. "It's just getting his confidence up, getting his technique to where he feels comfortable, not where I feel comfortable. ... And I think at that point, over the course of three, four years, he'll show quite a bit of improvement."</p>

    The Warriors shot 72 percent as a team last season with Stephen Jackson the leader at 80 percent and Biedrins bringing up the rear at 52 percent.</div></p>

    Source: SF Gate</p>
     
  2. HiRez

    HiRez Overlord

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    This is curious to me because most of the major players &mdash; Biedrins, Baron, Monta, and even Pietrus &mdash; made significant progress in FT% from two years ago to last year. The only major player who didn't is JRich, and he's now gone along with most of the rest of that team (therefore I don't put that much stock in the team % stat). I would have kept Wissel on, it seems like whatever he was doing worked for the most part.</p>
    <table width="400" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" border="1" align="center">
    <tbody>
    <tr>
    <td align="center" style="background-color: rgb(153, 204, 255);">Player</td>
    <td align="center" style="background-color: rgb(153, 204, 255);">05-06 FT%</td>
    <td align="center" style="background-color: rgb(153, 204, 255);">06-07 FT%</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
    <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Biedrins</td>
    <td align="center" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">30.6</td>
    <td align="center" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">52.1</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
    <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Davis</td>
    <td align="center" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">67.5</td>
    <td align="center" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">74.5</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
    <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ellis</td>
    <td align="center" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">71.2</td>
    <td align="center" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">76.3</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
    <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Pietrus</td>
    <td align="center" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">60.8</td>
    <td align="center" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">64.8</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
    <td style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Richardson</td>
    <td align="center" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">67.3</td>
    <td align="center" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">65.7</td>
    </tr>
    </tbody>
    </table>
     
  3. Custodianrules2

    Custodianrules2 Cohan + Rowell = Suck

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    Maybe Dr. Wissel had another job opportunity for more guaranteed years or he's focussing on other projects. He did get results with the players. A lot of it is also getting the players to just practice more on their own and to relax their mind when taking those shots in a real game. Some guys freak out with all the pressure when it should be easy. It should be easy because they're in the nba and they should take enough of those free throw shots where they know the right amount of touch to put on the shot. It could also be shot technique, but I know most shooting coaches don't like to drastically alter somebody's form if it works for them or they can't get comfortable in any other way.</p>

    What I don't understand is why guys with nice shot mechanics can't knock down free throws. Guys like Dunleavy Jr. Marco Belinelli, Adam Morrison, and some others just can't hit better than 70 something % from the foul line. That should be a red flag IMO. A guy like JRich or Pietrus was never really an all-around shooter, so I can understand why they suck. Plus, Baron Davis just sort of flicks the ball up there a la Shawn Marion, only Marion's way actualy goes in for Marion at a good %.</p>


    Anyway, I'm probably rambling again. I just hope we can fix the free throw shooting because we can't close out close games with our guys missing so many (especially our small perimeter guys). We just added another bad free throw shooter in Brandan Wright and a mediocre one in Belinelli... 70 something % for a shooting guard is pretty bad. It should be in the higher 70's if it comes down to that. 80% should be his target. For power forwards and centers, I'm hoping at least 70% our 2 out of 3 every game.</p>
     
  4. Montaman

    Montaman JBB JustBBall Member

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    I'm hoping Biedrins has overhauled his free throw form this offseason, cause it's just not mechanically possible to be smooth the way he shoots them. It's like a rubber band snapping at his elbow. That said, he did improve it by almost twenty percent, right?</p>

    I always thought Richardson's free throw problems were more mental. I heard him admit a couple times in interviews that the crowd and the pressure got to him at times.</p>

    </p>

    </p>
     
  5. .cabangbang

    .cabangbang BBW Member

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    Part of the problem for Biedrins may be his hand size. When you have hands as big as his, the ball has to seem like an orange to you.</p>
     
  6. Custodianrules2

    Custodianrules2 Cohan + Rowell = Suck

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Montaman)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

    I'm hoping Biedrins has overhauled his free throw form this offseason, cause it's just not mechanically possible to be smooth the way he shoots them. It's like a rubber band snapping at his elbow. That said, he did improve it by almost twenty percent, right?</p>

    I always thought Richardson's free throw problems were more mental. I heard him admit a couple times in interviews that the crowd and the pressure got to him at times.</p>

    </div></p>

    The sad thing is that Biedrins probably would have made the free throw that Baron and Pietrus both missed to help win that one Jazz playoff game. Most of the Warriors that have range on their shot are all mental. There is no reason why any of those players should be missing that many. I think what some of those guys need to do is take a few steps back for a shot or try underhanding it or something. I bet some people would be good doing the Rick Barry underhand or the Nick Van Exel shot.</p>

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  7. jason bourne

    jason bourne JBB JustBBall Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (custodianrules2)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

    Maybe Dr. Wissel had another job opportunity for more guaranteed years or he's focussing on other projects. He did get results with the players. A lot of it is also getting the players to just practice more on their own and to relax their mind when taking those shots in a real game. Some guys freak out with all the pressure when it should be easy. It should be easy because they're in the nba and they should take enough of those free throw shots where they know the right amount of touch to put on the shot. It could also be shot technique, but I know most shooting coaches don't like to drastically alter somebody's form if it works for them or they can't get comfortable in any other way.</p>

    What I don't understand is why guys with nice shot mechanics can't knock down free throws. Guys like Dunleavy Jr. Marco Belinelli, Adam Morrison, and some others just can't hit better than 70 something % from the foul line. That should be a red flag IMO. A guy like JRich or Pietrus was never really an all-around shooter, so I can understand why they suck. Plus, Baron Davis just sort of flicks the ball up there a la Shawn Marion, only Marion's way actualy goes in for Marion at a good %.</p>

    Anyway, I'm probably rambling again. I just hope we can fix the free throw shooting because we can't close out close games with our guys missing so many (especially our small perimeter guys). We just added another bad free throw shooter in Brandan Wright and a mediocre one in Belinelli... 70 something % for a shooting guard is pretty bad. It should be in the higher 70's if it comes down to that. 80% should be his target. For power forwards and centers, I'm hoping at least 70% our 2 out of 3 every game.</p>

    </div></p>

    Yup, the Warriors need to improve their free throw shooting as a team to 75% and hope it will be better with Sid the Squid as coach. Am surprised that Belinelli, Morrison and Wright can't hit better than 70 something. Why do the Warriors get lousy FT shooters? Powell was good and we got rid of him. Dun had a tendency to shoot too hard and flatten the ball when the pressure was on. Same with his shooting from the floor. He practiced real hard, but it was mental with him. Most of the time I think it's in the mechanics.</p>

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  8. Custodianrules2

    Custodianrules2 Cohan + Rowell = Suck

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    Nah, these guys are in the nba, they should know the mechanics unless they have some physical problem or they're so accustomed to the shot that they can use it because their %'s are so good anyway.

    Biedrins definitely has to fix his mechanics, whereas Shawn Marion and Leandrinho Barbosa don't have to.</p>

    Other guys, I've seen like Morrison, Dunleavy, Bob Sura, Bellinelli who all have quick, text book releases can't do jack. It's really frustrating to watch because you know they're basketcases who choke under pressure. And to me guys who can score like Richardson and Pietrus and Baron Davis should have a good feel for the ball to make enough of those... but they don't. Frustrating.

    I wish we could have kept Claxton, Boykins, Diogu, and Fisher to teach these guys a thing about mental concentration and not choking while at the foul line. How many all-star perimeter players choke at the foul line? I can't name that many recent all-star guards and small forwards. True mark of an all-star is he'll go to the line shooting 4-5 free throw attempts a game and he'll make 4 or 5 free throws a game. Hopefully we're talking very high 70's or 80% or above. This is partly why I think the Warriors won't do well if the guards don't become good free throw shooters. If we don't have all-stars, but guys who are very good at shooting the ball and scoring, there should be no reason why these guys miss the wide open shots...</p>
     
  9. jason bourne

    jason bourne JBB JustBBall Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (custodianrules2)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

    Nah, these guys are in the nba, they should know the mechanics unless they have some physical problem or they're so accustomed to the shot that they can use it because their %'s are so good anyway.</p>

    </div></p>

    I still think shooting is mostly mechanics. That's what these guys work on when they are shooting. They want to use the same form each time and then make little adjustments if they miss. When you're in a game and shooting from the floor or shooting free throws and the pressure is on, then the mental aspect comes into play as one has to focus on drowning out the crowd, trying to relax, not have negative thoughts and concentrate on the task at hand, and so on. If you're a mediocre free throw shooter in practice, then you need to get your mechanics better. If you're a good free throw shooter in practice and miss in games, then you need to get the mental aspects of the game better.</p>

    </p>
     
  10. Custodianrules2

    Custodianrules2 Cohan + Rowell = Suck

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    These are all guys who can make free throws in practice. Last year, even Adonal Foyle was hitting in practice. Guess who ended up having to make the entire team run laps? Baron Davis. He missed his shots, so the entire team suffered. They got mental cases.</p>
     

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