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  • Calipari trying to improve Johnson's foul shooting

    By: LARRY VAUGHT



    To try and help Dakari Johnson with his foul shooting, Kentucky coach John Calipari went to the film room.

    “We worked on his free-throw shooting yesterday,” said Calipari Friday. “I think he’ll be fine. Showed him clips of (former Wildcat) Enes (Kanter), some other guys in the league before I worked with them. Had worked with Enes; Enes right now is the leading big-man free-throw shooter (in the NBA).

    “Just shortened his stroke, so it’s from here (chest level), and he did it and it looked pretty good.”
    Johnson, a 7-0 freshman center, is just 8-for-17 at the foul line in five games. Take out his 4-for-5 against Robert Morris — he banked in one foul shot — and he’s 4-for-12 in the other four games.
    Johnson said the changes Calipari made were not dramatic.

    “Just not bringing it above my head. Just keeping it in front of me and just getting a softer touch on in it,” Johnson said.
    But free throws are not the only thing Calipari wants Johnson, who is averaging 6.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 13.2 minutes per game, to improve.

    “He’s gotta grab balls with two hands. He’s gotta be more athletic, which means be more alert before you guard and before you catch the ball. Don’t bring the ball down; get it up to the goal and keep your hands up,” Calipari said. “You’re 7-foot tall and you’ve got long arms. Why would you bring it down and make yourself small? Because it’s easier. ‘I want to gather myself.’

    “So most of our guys, if there’s two ways of doing it — this is the easier way and this is the harder way, right now, this group has been used to, ‘Let me do the easier way.’ We’ve gotta get them out of that mode.”
    Comments 5 Comments
    1. CitizenBBN's Avatar
      CitizenBBN -
      You know it's bad when Cal is so public about his work on free throw shooting. Most of it is just putting them up softer. Their basic form (WCS/Dakari/Lee) isn't horrible, it's just really hard. They're not giving it a good chance to hit the rim and drop through and these guys aren't going to swish 80% of them.

      They're all bringing the ball down too much too, no doubt. Turns you into a 5' guard instead of a 7' big man. Catch it and make your move, compress that ball with both hands and don't bring it down to your waist and pause, it's exactly the thing that draws pesky guards in to slap it away.
    1. Doc's Avatar
      Doc -
      WCS improving is more important. Stein is in for big minutes when it counts


      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
    1. UKHistory's Avatar
      UKHistory -
      If anyone does not believe that Cal actually is opposed to one and done, listen to him a little.

      The guy is going nuts the past year and a half trying to teach guys that they need to learn the basics before becoming NBA legends.

      A lot of work needs to happen. I hope we can go into the Christmas break with the only loss to Michigan State. We need that. We need practice time and effort to beat some teams like UofL and what lies ahead in the SEC.
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Couple of minor adjustments, some trips across the street to the gym, some added confidence, and the weak players' FT percentage moves up 15%. That could be huge.
    1. KeithKSR's Avatar
      KeithKSR -
      Quote Originally Posted by CitizenBBN View Post
      You know it's bad when Cal is so public about his work on free throw shooting. Most of it is just putting them up softer. Their basic form (WCS/Dakari/Lee) isn't horrible, it's just really hard. They're not giving it a good chance to hit the rim and drop through and these guys aren't going to swish 80% of them.

      They're all bringing the ball down too much too, no doubt. Turns you into a 5' guard instead of a 7' big man. Catch it and make your move, compress that ball with both hands and don't bring it down to your waist and pause, it's exactly the thing that draws pesky guards in to slap it away.
      They need to relax and have lots of repetitions.
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