<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>MIAMI ? The one-armed man was back at it at Heat practice Thursday, shooting free throws with the ball balanced on the palm of his right hand, with his left arm removed from the process.Center Shaquille O'Neal continued to downplay the change to his motion that led to a pair of swishes in his only attempts in Tuesday's exhibition loss to the Pistons, but it's obvious this is nothing close to the form that led to career-worst .461 and .469 inaccuracy in his two seasons with the team. "I'm just practicing something different," he said.The altered style not only has removed the hitch from his delivery, but also lofts the ball on a higher, more forgiving arc. Neither O'Neal nor coach Pat Riley would divulge how the change came about."It ain't nothing that I really thought about," O'Neal said."It looks a little nicer," Riley said.Riley often had to remove O'Neal during tight situations in last season's run to the title, including the dramatic Game 5 overtime victory against Dallas in the NBA Finals. He said it is a strategy he would prefer to avoid."I hope that he gets it up there a little bit this year," Riley said. "We'll work with him and talk with him, if we have to, and show him film on it."While O'Neal swished several consecutive shots after Thursday's practice at AmericanAirlines Arena, there also were several wayward attempts that bounded harshly off the rim."I think the more you talk about it, the worse it gets," Riley said.</div>http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/basketb...fla-sports-heatI wonder if it is working out for him. I remember reading somewhere that Rick Barry tried to get Shaq to shoot underhand free throws like he did, but Shaq refused because that would have been too embarrasing for him. In Phil Jackson's book, he writes that in one part of the season, he hired a professional to help Shaq with his free throw shooting. It actually worked well too, as he improved, but the Lakers had to let him go after he requested to be part of the full time staff. Maybe Pat Riley should consider doing that. If they could get Shaq up above 60%, than maybe he could have a better year than last season.
You could give Shaq weekly clinics with Steve Nash, Ray Allen, and Reggie Miller, and Shaq would still never improve his free throws. Give it up, he's not going to improve. He can shoot them 1 handed, 2 handed, backwards, eyes closed, etc. He will still suck at the line. He is what 33 or 34 years old? He is not going to improve, especially at this point in time.
His free-throw percentage has gotten worse every year since he has left Orlando in 1996 I think. It's never too late for him to improve on it though. He still has a good 5 years left in the tank. I hope shooting one-handed will help him because if he was at least a 70% foul shooter, Miami would have beaten Detroit 2 years ago in the Eastern Conference Finals. But Riley said it looks a little nicer. He might only improve by like 5% maybe at most. Who knows...were just gonna have to wait and see if he will improve his FT%.
Oh god, this is gonna look ridiculous. But if he can make'em it's gonna be good for his team. Most of the games that they probaly loss, was probaly buy 5 points or less, which would bring in to Shaq's free throw missings.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (IceBlaze1523 @ Oct 14 2006, 04:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Oh god, this is gonna look ridiculous. But if he can make'em it's gonna be good for his team. Most of the games that they probaly loss, was probaly buy 5 points or less, which would bring in to Shaq's free throw missings.</div>Not only him, but our whole team was horrible at the line and last in the league, although a good part of that was due to him. Anyways, I don't care if he has a new shooting style, it's not like he can get any worse.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticBalla32 @ Oct 14 2006, 04:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>You could give Shaq weekly clinics with Steve Nash, Ray Allen, and Reggie Miller, and Shaq would still never improve his free throws. Give it up, he's not going to improve. He can shoot them 1 handed, 2 handed, backwards, eyes closed, etc. He will still suck at the line. He is what 33 or 34 years old? He is not going to improve, especially at this point in time.</div>Thats not true. Like I said, when the lakers hird someone to help him with his free throws, he did improve quite a bit. So, if he can just find a good way of shooting them, he can improve his free throw shooting.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (wolverine30 @ Oct 14 2006, 04:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>His free-throw percentage has gotten worse every year since he has left Orlando in 1996 I think. It's never too late for him to improve on it though. He still has a good 5 years left in the tank. I hope shooting one-handed will help him because if he was at least a 70% foul shooter, Miami would have beaten Detroit 2 years ago in the Eastern Conference Finals. But Riley said it looks a little nicer. He might only improve by like 5% maybe at most. Who knows...were just gonna have to wait and see if he will improve his FT%.</div>You were a bit off there..http://www.nba.com/playerfile/shaquille_oneal/
Shaq would have to shoot underhanded to make a decent percentage. Unfortunately he is afraid of how stupid it looks. If they go in that's all that matters.
Ummm, Shaq has been shooting one handed free throws for years. Look at his hands, his left hand never actually touches the ball.
Uh, yes he does..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF0NSbLavQgI think this is what Shaq is practicing..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6vSvg15zEQ
Shaq will never he a good free throw shooter because he had a wrist injury in his shooting hand I believe. You should see some other videos of him, once I saw him shooting 3's like they were free throws and sinking them all.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lakaboy42 @ Oct 14 2006, 04:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Ummm, Shaq has been shooting one handed free throws for years. Look at his hands, his left hand never actually touches the ball.</div>I was just going to say this.
What the hell is the matter with Shaq, 'trying something new?'....The season starts in a few days... :no1:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ Oct 15 2006, 06:59 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Look at the videos I posted..</div>I've been watching Shaq since 1999. I don't know how he does it in Miami, but in LA, his left hand would always be about a half a centimeter away from the ball when he would shoot it. He can palm the ball so easily he doesn't need it.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ Oct 15 2006, 03:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>He can always go back to his old form..</div>Once he does it will be rusty as hell and will take him half the season for him to get above 40%. :HAHAHA:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Lakaboy42 @ Oct 15 2006, 05:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I've been watching Shaq since 1999. I don't know how he does it in Miami, but in LA, his left hand would always be about a half a centimeter away from the ball when he would shoot it. He can palm the ball so easily he doesn't need it.</div>Would you watch the video? :ranting:<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mavsfan1000 @ Oct 15 2006, 05:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Once he does it will be rusty as hell and will take him half the season for him to get above 40%. :HAHAHA:</div>He's been practicing this form for about 3 days now...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ Oct 15 2006, 01:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Would you watch the video? :ranting:</div>Well the quality is so bad you can't tell, and I think a know a little bit more than a Raptors fan about how Shaq shoots his free throws.
What do you mean? You dont see his left hand touching the ball? And you dont see the difference in the two videos of his form?Just stop talking..
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ Oct 15 2006, 01:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>What do you mean? You dont see his left hand touching the ball? And you dont see the difference in the two videos of his form?Just stop talking..</div>He puts his left hand there as a guide if the ball moves a little bit. It doesn't actually touch the ball. Think about it, pick up a mini ball that you can palm easily. Is it easier to put both hands on the ball or is it easier to just shoot with one hand on the ball and the other hand up in the motion?Seriously dude I've seen thousands of free throws put up by Shaq. I know what his form is like.
