I love our coach. I disagree with her philosophy of leaving it to the players to work on foul shots on their own. And the results of lack of empasis and instruction are evident. There is a technique to FTs. The coaches must be present to assist. Accountability for 100 shots a day must be in place. We won a National Championship because a player on ND missed a foul shot. Eventually everything depends on the FT. We would be undefeated is we made our FTs. Puzzles me why no emphasis and accountability here.

fredbear said:

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I love our coach. I disagree with her philosophy of leaving it to the players to work on foul shots on their own. And the results of lack of empasis and instruction are evident. There is a technique to FTs. The coaches must be present to assist. Accountability for 100 shots a day must be in place. We won a National Championship because a player on ND missed a foul shot. Eventually everything depends on the FT. We would be undefeated is we made our FTs. Puzzles me why no emphasis and accountability here.

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Would describe the item as the lack of a pure shooting coach who works almost exclusively with players on shooting form. FTs, jumpshots, finishing at the rim.

Buggs is a fourth year senior and her shooting stroke is as bad as when she arrived. Zero improvement.
She may do other items well, but her shooting is poor. Not sorta poor, poor.

JVGs jump shot is terrible in game conditions. Fontleroy keeps allowing her jumper to be rushed and the form becomes terrible.

Shooting stroke in game conditions is an acquired skill. FTs also.

At UConn (yes, a very high comp) it is easy to see rotation players improve year over year in shooting.
Every other WBB program, not so much.

And the Kim Mulkey "once they get to college it is too late" nonsense is laughable…..every NBA team has a full time shooting coach…..

Adriacus Peratuun said:

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fredbear said:

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I love our coach. I disagree with her philosophy of leaving it to the players to work on foul shots on their own. And the results of lack of empasis and instruction are evident. There is a technique to FTs. The coaches must be present to assist. Accountability for 100 shots a day must be in place. We won a National Championship because a player on ND missed a foul shot. Eventually everything depends on the FT. We would be undefeated is we made our FTs. Puzzles me why no emphasis and accountability here.

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Would describe the item as the lack of a pure shooting coach who works almost exclusively with players on shooting form. FTs, jumpshots, finishing at the rim.

Buggs is a fourth year senior and her shooting stroke is as bad as when she arrived. Zero improvement.
She may do other items well, but her shooting is poor. Not sorta poor, poor.

JVGs jump shot is terrible in game conditions. Fontleroy keeps allowing her jumper to be rushed and the form becomes terrible.

Shooting stroke in game conditions is an acquired skill. FTs also.

At UConn (yes, a very high comp) it is easy to see rotation players improve year over year in shooting.
Every other WBB program, not so much.

And the Kim Mulkey "once they get to college it is too late" nonsense is laughable…..every NBA team has a full time shooting coach…..

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I agree with both Fred and AP.

While players will need to practice free throws on their own at some point, they need to receive the proper guidance before doing so.

Not giving them that guidance would be the equivalent of a high schooler showing up to class and the teacher telling them to 'figure it out on their own.'

Some might be able to, but most won't and will probably struggle.

Kids need to understand why they might be struggling at the charity stripe, and then be provided with options for improvement.

As Fred mentioned - Championships can absolutely be won or lost at the free throw line.

If that 2019 game goes to OT, we probably aren't holding up the trophy, as we would have been incredibly short-handed for that extra 5 minutes (NaLyssa had fouled out, Lauren was on crutches, Didi was banged up, and it looked like we were holding on for dear life).

Thankfully, Arike clanked her first one off the rim, and the rest is history.

You can also ask John Calipari and Memphis if free throws matter, as Kansas won the 2008 title after Derrick Rose missed one that would have clinched the title. To be fair, his teammate missed 3 in a row before him.

I would give CNC the benefit of the doubt on this one if she were mentioning a player who normally shoots well at the stripe and can fix things on their own. But it's obvious that Kyla has struggled at the stripe throughout her career and needs help on that front.

And I 100% agree with AP (ref. that Kim Mulkey nonsense). In the case of Nina Davis, it very well could have cost her a shot at having a solid WNBA career.

Perhaps it's too late to fix a freshman's shooting motion prior to the start of their 1st season. But there's no excuse for a coach to not aggressively work with that player in the off-season.

Had Mulkey done so with Nina, not only would she have been a more dangerous player - but it would have allowed us to spread the floor even more during her final 3 years - and we probably make the Final 4 in each of those seasons (and possibly win it all in 2017).

So a coach can easily do a disservice to the player and the team by not working closely with that struggling player to help them improve their shooting motion/technique and free throw %.

As I've said on numerous occasions - As a coach, you should always do your best to put your team in the best position to win. And working with a struggling player who will likely be at the foul line constantly this upcoming season would probably help towards achieving that goal.

LTBear19 said:

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Adriacus Peratuun said:

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fredbear said:

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I love our coach. I disagree with her philosophy of leaving it to the players to work on foul shots on their own. And the results of lack of empasis and instruction are evident. There is a technique to FTs. The coaches must be present to assist. Accountability for 100 shots a day must be in place. We won a National Championship because a player on ND missed a foul shot. Eventually everything depends on the FT. We would be undefeated is we made our FTs. Puzzles me why no emphasis and accountability here.

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Would describe the item as the lack of a pure shooting coach who works almost exclusively with players on shooting form. FTs, jumpshots, finishing at the rim.

Buggs is a fourth year senior and her shooting stroke is as bad as when she arrived. Zero improvement.
She may do other items well, but her shooting is poor. Not sorta poor, poor.

JVGs jump shot is terrible in game conditions. Fontleroy keeps allowing her jumper to be rushed and the form becomes terrible.

Shooting stroke in game conditions is an acquired skill. FTs also.

At UConn (yes, a very high comp) it is easy to see rotation players improve year over year in shooting.
Every other WBB program, not so much.

And the Kim Mulkey "once they get to college it is too late" nonsense is laughable…..every NBA team has a full time shooting coach…..

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I agree with both Fred and AP.

While players will need to practice free throws on their own at some point, they need to receive the proper guidance before doing so.

Not giving them that guidance would be the equivalent of a high schooler showing up to class and the teacher telling them to 'figure it out on their own.'

Some might be able to, but most won't and will probably struggle.

Kids need to understand why they might be struggling at the charity stripe, and then be provided with options for improvement.

As Fred mentioned - Championships can absolutely be won or lost at the free throw line.

If that 2019 game goes to OT, we probably aren't holding up the trophy, as we would have been incredibly short-handed for that extra 5 minutes (NaLyssa had fouled out, Lauren was on crutches, Didi was banged up, and it looked like we were holding on for dear life).

Thankfully, Arike clanked her first one off the rim, and the rest is history.

You can also ask John Calipari and Memphis if free throws matter, as Kansas won the 2008 title after Derrick Rose missed one that would have clinched the title. To be fair, his teammate missed 3 in a row before him.

I would give CNC the benefit of the doubt on this one if she were mentioning a player who normally shoots well at the stripe and can fix things on their own. But it's obvious that Kyla has struggled at the stripe throughout her career and needs help on that front.

And I 100% agree with AP (ref. that Kim Mulkey nonsense). In the case of Nina Davis, it very well could have cost her a shot at having a solid WNBA career.

Perhaps it's too late to fix a freshman's shooting motion prior to the start of their 1st season. But there's no excuse for a coach to not aggressively work with that player in the off-season.

Had Mulkey done so with Nina, not only would she have been a more dangerous player - but it would have allowed us to spread the floor even more during her final 3 years - and we probably make the Final 4 in each of those seasons (and possibly win it all in 2017).

So a coach can easily do a disservice to the player and the team by not working closely with that struggling player to help them improve their shooting motion/technique and free throw %.

As I've said on numerous occasions - As a coach, you should always do your best to put your team in the best position to win. And working with a struggling player who will likely be at the foul line constantly this upcoming season would probably help towards achieving that goal.

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Charity stripe? have we magically returned to 1952? Is that you Norman Dale?

player development is huge….not only from a need standpoint, but also from a problem avoidance standpoint.
Lauren Cox was left to fix her shooting stroke problems and she simply doubled the number of problems.

In all fairness, Nina Davis wasn't a repair. It was total demolition and rebuild.

in 60 days good coaches can fix one minor shooting problem (not a major like a rise issue, but something minor like thumb placement).
FTs can be hugely impacted in 120 days. Adding 25-40% to makes is achievable.

Blackie, all good thoughts. I brought up the topic because it is a problem every year, and CNC has said twice now that the players are on their own in regard to practicing FTs. Even my daughter's jr high coach ended every practice with 100 FTs as she walked around and instructed. Saying FTs are a secondary issue in bball is like saying a field goal kicker matters little in football. Both will cost you a game and a championship unless you get them fixed.

bawitdaball said:

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I'm not sure CNC is concerned with winning a National Championship.

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What? That's why she took the job, because BU is one of the top 10 WBB programs with a solid chance of winning National Championships. Ask her.

Of course she wants to win Natty. So she better get serious about Free Throws