Gafford FT shooting

[Like it is]

Gafford should shoot 100 FT's a day in practice! After all, he's gonna spend half his time at the line , HE'S A POST PLAYER!

[Like it is]

It's obvious he had zero direction in high school !
I've been told his high school coach had zero discipline!
-FT shooting sucks
-Not playing smart defensively
-Fouls too much
-Has zero face up game
- only muscle weight he's gained is when he's been @ U of A !!!!
Reflection of his high school coach ! WHO WAS THAT CLOWN !

[lynbug]

yp
Gafford should shoot 100 FT's a day in practice! After all, he's gonna spend half his time at the line , HE'S A POST PLAYER!

Down through the years this has been the case with many post players.  However, he seems like the type who would be so focused on improving that we would see his FT% gradually improve.  Hasn't happened yet.

[userpick]

Hopefully it improves but you're right about one thing. His high school coach was awful. A shame they ran off the guy before him.

[Kevin]

Shooting 100 a day will not help. He has some mechanical flawsin his shot.

Kyle Macey was talking about them yesterday on the broadcast.

He needs a coach to change some stuff

[hogwood]

On the plus side... Gafford is looking more and more like he will be back next season.

[Wooderson]

You remember what its like to shoot a Nerf bball?  He can get there, but him and frankly the whole team needs to be shooting them for an hour a day.  Our free throw shooting cost us MSU game.

[lynbug]

On the plus side... Gafford is looking more and more like he will be back next season.

I like how you made lemonade.

[Iwastherein1969]

On the plus side... Gafford is looking more and more like he will be back next season.

yeah, he's not NBA ready

[Iwastherein1969]

You remember what its like to shoot a Nerf bball?  He can get there, but him and frankly the whole team needs to be shooting them for an hour a day.  Our free throw shooting cost us MSU game.

well yes and no...we really didn't shoot that many, but you are right, the one's you get on the road you absolutely have to knock them down

[ranman74]

He really needs help with the 4 position as well to take some pressure off him but I think that's pretty obvious

[HogMantheIntruder]

well yes and no...we really didn't shoot that many, but you are right, the one's you get on the road you absolutely have to knock them down

We made 5/12 against MSU. Had we hit our average from last season (76%), with everything else in the game being equal, then we win by a point.

[alohawg]

I don't get it. His technique, the ball position on his hand, follow thru motion etc... are all wrong. There is nothing fluid about the way he shoots so it will always produce similar results.
I'm no coach, but I have helped local kids here at our gym greatly improve pretty quick.
This is shooting basics 101.

[Iwastherein1969]

We made 5/12 against MSU. Had we hit our average from last season (76%), with everything else in the game being equal, then we win by a point.

the loss of Dusty Hannahs brings down the team FT shooting % from last season.

[Like it is]

Shooting 101 is right ! And it should've started in High School when that clown coach was worried too much about beating everyone by 30 !!!!!
Damn , Do your job !!!!!!
Now , the whole state is suffering!

[Like it is]

I bet MA goes in his meetings and says
"What on earth did they teach Daniel in high school?"

[popcornhog]

It's obvious he had zero direction in high school !
I've been told his high school coach had zero discipline!
-FT shooting sucks
-Not playing smart defensively
-Fouls too much
-Has zero face up game
- only muscle weight he's gained is when he's been @ U of A !!!!
Reflection of his high school coach ! WHO WAS THAT CLOWN !

And yet a potential lottery pick.

The kid is amazing and will continue to improve exponentially over the next 3-5 years.

[tennesseehogwild]

It's obvious he had zero direction in high school !
I've been told his high school coach had zero discipline!
-FT shooting sucks
-Not playing smart defensively
-Fouls too much
-Has zero face up game
- only muscle weight he's gained is when he's been @ U of A !!!!
Reflection of his high school coach ! WHO WAS THAT CLOWN !

You sound like you have knowledge personally that his HS coach wasn't very good.

[popcornhog]

yeah, he's not NBA ready

He's not, I agree. But he is an NBA talent and I think he'll be more than ready after his sophomore year.

[Like it is]

Well , do you not agree Tennessee Hog ?

[tennesseehogwild]

I honestly don't know. I played for El Dorado in the early 80's. Don't live there any more but people there seem to like Coach Simmons!

[BannerMountainMan]

I honestly don't know. I played for El Dorado in the early 80's. Don't live there any more but people there seem to like Coach Simmons!

winning in high school> developing a big man to make FTs in high school, the high school coach is there to win, he gets nothing from college

[rude1]

Now we are blaming the high school coach for DG poor free throw shooting? If that's how it works, Shaq never had a good coach throughout his whole career..................

[alohawg]

Now we are blaming the high school coach for DG poor free throw shooting? If that's how it works, Shaq never had a good coach throughout his whole career..................

Good point. Maybe it comes down to how coachable an individual is. Shooting is learned and practiced and some are just much better at it. I still think Gafford can improve dramatically given enough emphasis and practice and be better than Shaq ever was.
Send him to the Durant school of shooting for big men.

[gmarv54]

Part of Gaffords problem is that he is just so long that there is a lot that can go wrong in a shooting motion.He will get better at free throws just like he will in everything else he does on the court.But I could also be way off.

[rude1]

Part of Gaffords problem is that he is just so long that there is a lot that can go wrong in a shooting motion.He will get better at free throws just like he will in everything else he does on the court.But I could also be way off.

I don't think you are, remember Gafford started very bad from the line, then had a period where he was very good from there, now he is back to being bad. This tells me that he has the capability of being a consistently good free throw shooter, it is just going to take some time.

[TebowHater]

I don't think you are, remember Gafford started very bad from the line, then had a period where he was very good from there, now he is back to being bad. This tells me that he has the capability of being a consistently good free throw shooter, it is just going to take some time.

He had 3 good games. Could have been due to random chance. I hope he improves, but I don't know about such a small sample demonstrating he has the ability to be consistently good (though 5/5 then 7/10 is not too shabby). I would say 65% would be a dream if we could get that from him ever in his career. He shot a ton of FT's in HS and was 51-53% each of his three years.

Fri 11/10   
vsSAMFORD
2-5   .400   
Sun 11/12   
vsBUCKNELL
5-5   1.000
Fri 11/17   
vsFRESNO STATE
7-10   .700   
Thu 11/23   
vsOKLAHOMA
5-6   .833   
Fri 11/24   
vs#9 UNC
1-2   .500   
Sun 11/26   
vsUCONN
3-6   .500
Sat 12/2   
@HOUSTON
3-4   .750   
Tue 12/5   
vsCOLORADO STATE
4-7   .571   
Sat 12/9   
vs#14 MINNESOTA
0-3   .000   
Sat 12/16   
vsTROY
2-6   .333   
Tue 12/19   
vsORAL ROBERTS
2-3   .667
Wed 12/27   
vsCSU BAKERSFIELD
2-4   .500   
Sat 12/30   
vs#19 TENNESSEE
3-9   .333   
Tue 1/2   
@MISS ST
1-3   .333   
Sat 1/6   
@AUBURN
2-5   .400   

[rude1]

He had 3 good games. Could have been due to random chance. I hope he improves, but I don't know about such a small sample demonstrating he has the ability to be consistently good (though 5/5 then 7/10 is not too shabby). I would say 65% would be a dream if we could get that from him ever in his career. He shot a ton of FT's in HS and was 51-53% each of his three years.

Fri 11/10   
vsSAMFORD
2-5   .400   
Sun 11/12   
vsBUCKNELL
5-5   1.000
Fri 11/17   
vsFRESNO STATE
7-10   .700   
Thu 11/23   
vsOKLAHOMA
5-6   .833   
Fri 11/24   
vs#9 UNC
1-2   .500   
Sun 11/26   
vsUCONN
3-6   .500
Sat 12/2   
@HOUSTON
3-4   .750   
Tue 12/5   
vsCOLORADO STATE
4-7   .571   
Sat 12/9   
vs#14 MINNESOTA
0-3   .000   
Sat 12/16   
vsTROY
2-6   .333   
Tue 12/19   
vsORAL ROBERTS
2-3   .667
Wed 12/27   
vsCSU BAKERSFIELD
2-4   .500   
Sat 12/30   
vs#19 TENNESSEE
3-9   .333   
Tue 1/2   
@MISS ST
1-3   .333   
Sat 1/6   
@AUBURN
2-5   .400   

I actually counted 4 games, I think this shows there is the potential there to be a good free throw shooter, he just needs to keep working and the consistency will come.

[hawgmasta]

I'm too lazy to look it up but aren't CMA teams usually decent or upper tier FT shooters in the sec?

[TebowHater]

I actually counted 4 games, I think this shows there is the potential there to be a good free throw shooter, he just needs to keep working and the consistency will come.

What do you make of his three years of HS - including elite level AAU coaching - where he improved all the way from 51% to 53%.

And by three games I meant he had three in a row. He won't be here long enough to ever be a good FT shooter.

[rude1]

What do you make of his three years of HS - including elite level AAU coaching - where he improved all the way from 51% to 53%.

And by three games I meant he had three in a row. He won't be here long enough to ever be a good FT shooter.

What he did in high school is pretty meaningless, kids are too busy being kids at the level to put in the amount of time needed to improve from the line. Now he may well be one of those guys who may never shoot them well, but the glimpses he has shown IMO shows that with work and a routine he gets confident in, he can improve. I noticed when he was shooting well, he wasn't bouncing the ball, just catching, spinning the ball and shooting. Now he seems to have lost confidence in that, he now sometimes bounces the ball, other times he doesn't, this to means he just doesn't have a routine he feels confident in.

[Jim Harris]

Gafford should shoot 100 FT's a day in practice! After all, he's gonna spend half his time at the line , HE'S A POST PLAYER!

One coach I've known for about 100 years now would say he should not just shoot 100 FTs a day, but learn to shoot those 100 FTs properly every day. If he just shoots 100 the way he's shooting now, he'll keep clanging half of them on the back iron. Some guys like Macon, who seems to have a flatter trajectory than you'd usually want, you still don't want to deal with shooting form because he's usually knocking them in, but Gafford isn't hitting enough to just be allowed to step up and toss them up there like any ol' shot. He should be taught properly how to shoot the ball from a stationary position over the front of the rim. This particular HS coach down in where I'm from made 66 in a row one day. He didn't miss on 67, he just stopped because the day was running long. The HS team he was an assistant coach for many moons ago hit over 75 percent, with one player hitting a school record 92 percent.
But your point on Gafford is dead-on. He's going to go to the line a bunch more because teams are going to spend a foul on him every time he gets an offensive rebound and before he can put it back through. When he bricks two, it's basically a turnover.

[Kevin]

that is what these kids do today. he has been a big for his career. so every team he has played on as ask him to dunk, and block shots.

so no one has spent time with him in a gym, working on his form shooting so he can shoot more consistently.

not taught post moves, mid post moves.


gafford is a product of the system. just run around a play, play, play

[Sow Lancelot]

I don't get it. His technique, the ball position on his hand, follow thru motion etc... are all wrong. There is nothing fluid about the way he shoots so it will always produce similar results.
I'm no coach, but I have helped local kids here at our gym greatly improve pretty quick.
This is shooting basics 101.

Appears that he shoots FTs off the palm.

[alohawg]

Appears that he shoots FTs off the palm.

Yep, he does. That alone says a lot.

[niels_boar]

He was shooting FTs well in November and the first half of December.  He missed his first four against Troy with a wrap around his hand.  The radio announcers commented that he ripped it off and made his last two.  He hasn't shot them well since the break.  I wonder if he has an issue with his shooting hand or wrist.  He hasn't looked as explosive lately either and was limping a bit against Auburn.  He may not be completely healthy.

[incHOGnito]

On the plus side... Gafford is looking more and more like he will be back next season.

I agree that unless he really turns it on, we will have him back.

If he develops this offseason like he did last, we could be really good next year even without Macon and Barford.

[Soooie21]

Down through the years this has been the case with many post players.  However, he seems like the type who would be so focused on improving that we would see his FT% gradually improve.  Hasn't happened yet.

He has great upside..but right now, he plays like he is just the tallest player on a high school team...the team as a whole does a bad job of blocking out....

[TexasRazorback]

Gafford should shoot 100 FT's a day in practice! After all, he's gonna spend half his time at the line , HE'S A POST PLAYER!

Just because you are a post player doesn't mean you are going to shoot a lot of free throws. Guards can just as easily get to the line. but with that being said, i do agree he needs to work on his FT shooting