It’s the second half of the Memphis Tigers’ warm-up game with Lane College. With 16 minutes to go in the game, they have finally hit their first three of the day. And it only took eleven – yes 11, that’s two ones side by side. But I have a theory – they shoot like they are real Tigers – off their paws.
Of course, the real reason seems to be simple. Even from the cheap seats, I can see two big errors. First, they tend to shoot flat, like they are aiming for a straight shot at the rim – any rim. Second, they tend to have poor follow-through with the shots. For the most part, it looks like an across-the-front-of-the-body arc that takes the ball a little right to left for a right-handed shooter. Not that much off while it’s leaving the hands, but over that 20-foot, 9-inch span, the ball loses its goal, literally.
Since I began writing this, the Tigers have taken two more treys, converting one. The first one – the one through the net – had the right air under it after being launched square off the shooter’s shoulder. It was beautiful. Then came the second one – a miss for a new but common reason – too much air and too much compensating in distance. And then another miss.
So here we are, currently 2 of 13 from deep. Fortunately, Lane is only slightly better at 4 of 15. More fortunate, against Lane we have owned the paint. [The Tigers ended the game on a 2 of 7 “high note” to go 4 for 20 overall.]
However, this inability to hit the three will probably cost us a few Ws as we go forward. So for anyone who will listen, please get your friendly neighborhood Tiger a physics book. When you shoot flat, the ball sees nothing but a flat oval. When you get it up in the 30-40 degree range, the ball gets a better bead on where it wants to go. So give the ball a fighting chance. It needs some air. And with a clean. STRAIGHT release. your ball will smile at you as it is rotating through space. It is going to feel the comfortable, gentle swish of the net, not the brutal clang of the rim.
Go Tigers Go!!!