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Walter Pitchford: Just a suggestion

Norm Peterson

By Norm Peterson
in The Haymarket Hardwood

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Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

Posted
Posted

I was watching Walter in warm-ups last night and he seemed to be a little frustrated as he was bricking 3 pointers off the back iron.  Like he couldn't figure out what he was doing wrong that they weren't going in.  Just kept grimacing and shaking his head.

 

Of course, sitting way up high, I have a better angle on what his shot looks like than he does.  And he's shooting darts.  He's using a 3-iron when he should be using a lob wedge.  There is very little arch on his shots.  It's like he fires it directly at the rim.

 

He needs to get a little more arch on his shots.  When he's on, he seems to have a better arch on the ball.  But when he's missing, I'd be surprised if very many of his 3 point attempts get any higher than the top of the backboard at their apex. 

 

Maybe if they could jerry-rig a Plexiglas barrier for him to shoot over, where he's forced to put some air underneath the ball, it might break him of this habit.  Get him to more consistently arch his shots so they have a better chance of going in.

 

Just a suggestion.

 

 

atskooc

atskooc

Posted
Posted

I think part of it is his height.  I think tall dudes struggle more than little dudes to get arch on their shot.

 

Doesn't mean it's not fixable, but it's probably been something he's struggled with for a while.

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

Posted
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Let's see, he is shooting right at 40% from behind the 3 point line and leads NU in 3 point shooting percentage and your telling us he is shooting it wrong?

Are you suggesting that because he shoots it relatively well that there's no room for improvement and no need to work on doing anything any better?

kldm64

kldm64

Posted
Posted

 

Let's see, he is shooting right at 40% from behind the 3 point line and leads NU in 3 point shooting percentage and your telling us he is shooting it wrong?

Are you suggesting that because he shoots it relatively well that there's no room for improvement and no need to work on doing anything any better?

 

 

No, I'm suggesting that at all.  I'm just saying he's our best 3 point shooter on the team as far as percentages go so there are probably other players that need improvement before he does.

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

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Posted

 

 

Let's see, he is shooting right at 40% from behind the 3 point line and leads NU in 3 point shooting percentage and your telling us he is shooting it wrong?

Are you suggesting that because he shoots it relatively well that there's no room for improvement and no need to work on doing anything any better?

 

 

No, I'm suggesting that at all.  I'm just saying he's our best 3 point shooter on the team as far as percentages go so there are probably other players that need improvement before he does.

 

KLDM, here's my thing.  Some guys on the team with worse shooting percentages might never get them better no matter how hard they work.  Benny Parker is probably never going to be a good shooter.

 

But if you look at Walt, he has a readily identifiable fault that can be fixed.

 

Yes, he's shooting a pretty decent percentage now.  But Brian Conklin was about 10 percentage points better.  Imagine if Walt could fix that readily identified fault and up his shooting percentage by 5 or 10 percent.  How much bigger of a weapon would he then be?

 

And while Kendrick Perkins might roll his eyes when I say it, I have watched Walter particularly during warm-ups and his misses come mostly when he's shooting a flat shot.  Those times when he gets some air under it, he starts ripping the net.  Last night, he was shooting bricks and he acted like he couldn't understand why.  But when you don't get any air under the ball, that's what happens.

Section_316

Section_316

Posted
Posted

Walt's J is really bad when it's flat… and really good when he has some arc and rotation. He pumped yesterday and shot a pull up and it was like on a downward angle to the rim, just ugly...

 

I do think he will become a better shooter in time (not that I am complaining about his shot now).. and get better looks when we have a PG that can create a little bit more. 

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

 

Let's see, he is shooting right at 40% from behind the 3 point line and leads NU in 3 point shooting percentage and your telling us he is shooting it wrong?

Are you suggesting that because he shoots it relatively well that there's no room for improvement and no need to work on doing anything any better?

 

 

No, I'm suggesting that at all.  I'm just saying he's our best 3 point shooter on the team as far as percentages go so there are probably other players that need improvement before he does.

 

Just to further amplify my point ...

 

If history repeats itself, two years from now, people on this board will be complaining about how Coach Miles never develops players and one of the things they'll look at to support the contention that no one ever gets better is Walter Pitchford's 3-pt percentage.  And they'll say he was shooting 40% as a sophomore his first season here and he's still shooting 40%.  Or worse than that.  Or not much better than that.  Or whatever.

 

Not sure how other players having lower percentages means you don't spend any effort on a guy who starts and gets most of his points from long range, but setting that aside, wouldn't you like to see Walt giving you Ethan Wragge-esque productivity?  His sophomore year, Ethan shot about 42%.  This year, he's shooting almost 49%.  He hasn't gone a game this year without nailing a 3.  He hasn't had a single 0-fer night from beyond the arc this year. 

 

Walt, on the other hand, has gone 0-fer from beyond the arc 6 times this season.  He might have a game where he hits 3 of 4 (@Northwestern) and the game right before that he might go 0-4 (@Michigan).  Wouldn't it be worthwhile for Walt to work on getting more consistent?  And to me, it seems like when he's clanging them, he's shooting it flat.

AuroranHusker

AuroranHusker

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Neither of our Point Guards could knock down a 3 to save their lives, yet Norm chooses to offer up advise to our Center who has the best 3pt % on the team.

That's because Pitch has the potential to be so much better if he were to tighten up his shooting motion (I.e. modify the elbow-tastic nature of his set-up).

FredsSlacks

FredsSlacks

Posted
Posted

 

Neither of our Point Guards could knock down a 3 to save their lives, yet Norm chooses to offer up advise to our Center who has the best 3pt % on the team.

That's because Pitch has the potential to be so much better if he were to tighten up his shooting motion (I.e. modify the elbow-tastic nature of his set-up).

 

Everyone could be better at shooting. The thing Pitch should work on most is rebounding.

Cybrrmonky

Cybrrmonky

Posted
Posted

well, he hit one when we needed it.  He's not a pure shooter.  He can knock some down but I want Pitch taking more shots from inside the arc than outside of it.  The guy could be Lamar Odom if he'd develop his game to where he could drive & finish consistently.  He's a matchup nightmare.  If he just stands outside & lobs 3's he's making it too easy on a defense.  If I was an opponent I'd take my chances with him lobbing up 3's all game.  He's a guy you respect from out there but he's not one that's going to beat you every game.  Anyone else notice Pitch pretty much lobs a 3 on our 1st possession every game?  That drives me nuts..

 

Rey is the one that should be hitting a higher percentage.  With him it seems to be mental or a case of rushed mechanics.

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

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Neither of our Point Guards could knock down a 3 to save their lives, yet Norm chooses to offer up advise to our Center who has the best 3pt % on the team.

1.  Who is taking more of our 3 pt shots?  Those PGs?  Or our Center?

2.  What suggestions do you have to offer for Webster or Parker?  Exactly my point.  Pitchford has something readily identifiable to work on and perhaps fix:  Adjust the launch angle of his shot to get more air under it.  What would you suggest to fix Webster and Parker?

Norm Peterson

Norm Peterson

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well, he hit one when we needed it.  He's not a pure shooter.  He can knock some down but I want Pitch taking more shots from inside the arc than outside of it.  The guy could be Lamar Odom if he'd develop his game to where he could drive & finish consistently.  He's a matchup nightmare.  If he just stands outside & lobs 3's he's making it too easy on a defense.  If I was an opponent I'd take my chances with him lobbing up 3's all game.  He's a guy you respect from out there but he's not one that's going to beat you every game.  Anyone else notice Pitch pretty much lobs a 3 on our 1st possession every game?  That drives me nuts..

 

Rey is the one that should be hitting a higher percentage.  With him it seems to be mental or a case of rushed mechanics.

Did you listen to the Miles show the other night?  If not, throwback wrote up a good summary of it.  But it's interesting you should mention that because that is one of the things Miles talked about in his show.  He talked about how last year they taught Brandon Ubel to drive at the basket (and some of you may remember how that became a weapon for Brandon) and Miles says he'd rather see Pitchford driving it than posting up.  Like what they taught Ubel to do last year.

 

The really interesting thing to me is what did you see last night?  You saw Shavon Shields doing exactly what Miles said on his show he wanted to see Pitchford doing more of.  And look at what happens.  Shavon goes off for a career high points. 

 

You're on the same wavelength as Miles on that one.

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