Collins says DeAndre Jordan is a poor foul shooter because he is inconsistent with his release point

To help my summer basketball withdrawal symptoms since the NBA championship series ended in mid June I have turned to watching the USA Men’s and Women’s Olympic Basketball Games to get my basketball fix..

Basketball games at any level are many times won or lost at the foul line.

Watching and listening to the USA-France final  pool game play a very interesting comment was made by one of the announcers.

Former NBA player, NBA coach and current broadcaster/color analyst for the 2016 Olympic Team USA basketball games, Coach Collins, said Sunday in the game against France that the reason that the 6’11” Jordan who is a 42.1% foul shooter for his 8 year career in the NBA is because his release point on his foul shot is inconsistent and different every time he shoots a foul shot.

I agree completely, as he is absolutely correct. Jordan shot  just 43.7% from the line in his one year in D-1 basketball and in his 8 year career in the NBA he has shot 4 times in the 30’s percent, 3 times in the 40’s percent and just one time over 50%..which was 52.5% in the middle of his NBA career so far.

He has been consistently inconsistent from the line for his entire basketball career.

Collins stated that if Jordan could he get his release point the same every time he would be able to shoot 70 percent. There are 3 ways a shooter releases the foul shot from the shooting hand.  Either  a. before his legs are straight or b. after his legs are straight or c.when the players legs are straight.

When he releases the ball from his wrist with a snap release when his legs are straight then he will make his foul shots, but he only does that 42.1 percent of the time, the other 57.9 percent of the time he either releases the ball before or after his legs are straight. He gets enough leg depth into his shot, which is why if he released the ball when those legs are straight he would become a 70% foul shooter.

Most big men who are poor foul shooters are because they do not get enough leg depth into their shot, so Jordan is ahead of them with his leg depth.

Big men or any other player who do not get enough leg depth into their foul shot are going to get BASKETBALL BRICKS (Which have been mentioned before in some of my other shooting blogs this summer) when theIr shot hits the rim. This means that the ball is going to hit the rim and bounce away from the rim without a chance to go in.

The players who get enough leg depth into their shot and release the ball when their legs are straight are going to get BASKETBALL GARBAGE, (which I have mentioned before in some of my other shooting blogs this summer) WHICH IS WHEN THE BALL HITS THE RIM IT IS GOING TO STAY ON OR NEAR THE RIM WITH A CHANCE TO GO IN. This will help increase a players foul shooting percentage.

How far should a player bend their knees (LEGS)? Far enough so that if they looked down at their feet they would not be able to see their toes.

Also the knees should point outwards slightly towards the low blocks to give the shooter a sturdy base when they bend their legs down to get enough leg depth. This is so the shooter controls their body. If they do not do this then the body can control the body.

One of the best drills to do this is to stand in front of a full length mirror and practice shooting the ball from just the shooting hand and snap release the ball as soon as the legs are straight and then follow thru on the toes. Do this in sets of 25, until it becomes automatic to snap release the ball at the point of when the legs are completely straight from the leg bending or leg depth.

I am surprised that over his  high school career, his 1 year college career and his 8 year career in the NBA and his US Olympic career that one of his coaches have not corrected this secret reason of why he is such  a poor foul shooter.

So player, coach and broadcaster Collins is 100 percent correct when he states that DeAndre’s problem is his inconsistent release point on his foul shot.

SO TO CORRECT THAT, RELEASE THE BALL WITH THE SNAP RELEASE OF THE WRIST WHEN THE LEGS ARE STRAIGHT AFTER YOU HAVE BENT YOUR LEGS THE PROPER DISTANCE