<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>A shooting Wizard The latest shooting guru is Washington's Dave Hopla, a 50-year-old who played at Chadron State and spent eight seasons playing internationally. The Wizards are crediting Hopla for the improvement of Brendan Haywood, a Ben Wallace-type free-throw shooter who's now near 75 percent. Seven Wizards are shooting better at the line this season. Hopla often puts on shooting displays when he conducts basketball camps. He says he once made 1,234 free throws in a row and that his record for consecutive three-pointers is 78.</div> Link! Did anyone else read the bolded portion, and just think "this is the guy we need for Josh, Antoine, Marcus, and Boki"? Hell, might as well include the "big three"...everyone on our team needs this type of a shooting coach. EDIT: Just for reference, Haywood's previous high of FT% in a season is 63.3%. Last season, he shot 54.8% from the line. And he's averaging 10.2 ppg, a career high.
I went to a shooting camp with him. He talks while he shoots and he hits every shot he takes unless he misses on purpose as an example, it's pretty crazy. I was a very bad shooter before I went to the camp and after it I started knocking down everything over night pretty much. I always had pretty good technique and mechanics but he helped me tweak a couple things and it help a lot. Josh, Wright, Marcus and Boki could all use him. He told me he worked with VC before, maybe he needs to again.
He came to my camp at Rutgers when I was younger. He's incredible. He'll just stand at the free throw line and drain shot after shot after shot and give lectures. If I can remember correctly he was cut from the JV or Varsity team at his high school and in order to make it the following year he just kept shooting over and over obsessively.
One thing is for sure and that's Thate stinks. I can't believe how poorly this team shoots, jumpers and FTs. One lessen with Kike and Boone was doing better. Does Thate do anything?
He worked with the Raptors last season and did a great job too. The dude should be highly sought after, especially after this season.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chutney @ Feb 5 2008, 01:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>He worked with the Raptors last season and did a great job too. The dude should be highly sought after, especially after this season.</div> The lack of pure shooters in the league makes this a given.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Netted @ Feb 5 2008, 01:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>One thing is for sure and that's Thate stinks. I can't believe how poorly this team shoots, jumpers and FTs. One lessen with Kike and Boone was doing better. Does Thate do anything?</div> Thate was credited by Kidd in the past for helping him better his 3pt. shooting. I don't see anything wrong mechanically with Boone, as far as his free throws. It was probably a mental thing if anything at all. And after stinking it up all year with Ft's, the law of averages turned in his favor and i think more free throw practices has helped him improve recently.
