The Re-Construction Of MKG's Jump Shot

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

This is a phenomenal article by Zac Harper of CBS Sports. It's pretty long, so I'm only linking certain things; but it's a fantastic read and very informative. Harper evens uses video and picture evidence of how his jump shot is changing...
 
Link: http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/eye-on-basketball/22820597/the-reconstruction-of-michael-kiddgilchrists-jump-shot
 

Charlotte Bobcats wing Michael Kidd-Gilchrist doesn't just have a hitch in his shot; he has a motion that almost looks painful to execute over and over. It's a shooting motion that should have been corrected a long time ago, but wasn't for whatever reason by previous coaches, probably because he's always been such a dynamic player all over the court. It's easy to overlook things like that when you have a do-it-all player.
 
Looking at Kidd-Gilchrist's jump shot, there's a lot going on and it never looks calm. His right elbow encroaches the area where his left elbow is as his hands look completely out of position. In the process of his elbows drawing near each other, he seems to pause his motion at the apex of his jump before letting go a very flat shot trajectory.
 
It's such a lack of a weapon for Kidd-Gilchrist that he appeared to just not take shot attempts a lot of the time during his rookie season because there wasn't any confidence in his outside shooting. He shot 27.2 percent from the field on jump shots as a rookie and only took nine 3-pointers (he made two of them).

 

“I think there's a lot of things going on," Price said at Las Vegas Summer League. "I think what most everybody is looking at right now is where his elbow is, the hitch in his shot, things like that, but there's a lot of balance, footwork, getting your body in position squared up to shoot the basketball that's going on, as well. I typically start there first. I start with the feet and move up. Most guys think of shooting from the waist up but a lot of things happen starting with your feet.”

 

"I take the whole approach to it," Price said, "and just kind of gradually work. I don't try to fix 12 things at one time. You try to gradually improve some areas, get things better, and start working on the next thing."

 

"Basically for the most part, he wasn't ready to shoot when he got the ball," Price explained after his pupil went 4 of 4 from the field for 11 points in the team's second summer league game. "So even [sunday] we talked about that, I thought [sunday] was the best job he's done. I mean he was actually ready, took his shots in rhythm, and made a couple. Just doing those kinds of things are going to help. Obviously, to become the kind of shooter you want to be, you're going to have to eventually get a lot of things straightened out. But I think just getting some of that stuff is going to help him a lot.”

 

That's not the only thing about Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's shooting motion that is funky, though. It translates to the free-throw line as well, where the Bobcats' player does a little hop on his free-throw attempts. It's hard to remember the last time a professional player hopped on free throws, but it's not necessarily that his coach has a problem with him doing.
 
“Actually, the little hop is, I'm trying to encourage him to do that just to get a little more lift on his shot," Price admitted. "Free-throw shooting is so much a rhythm thing and if that's something that can kind of help his rhythm a little bit, then we're going to let him do that.”

 

“I think the worst thing you can do is say, ‘OK, we're going to try to be here by here.' " Price explained. "Our goal is to work everybody to get better every day and just see where it takes us. Keep moving and gain confidence as we go. I think too many guys are like, I mean I understand statistics and things like that, but ‘OK this guy is 40 percent, well our goal is 48 percent.' Well, if you don't get to 48 [percent] but you improve, it's like sometimes you can put false goals that maybe don't accomplish what you want to accomplish in the long term.”

[chubs2496]

Yeah I read that earlier. I likes how price talked about not trying to be pushy and just trying to fix one thing at a time.

[teeray]

I am not exaggerating when I say Mark Price may be the best pure shooter who has ever played so I completely trust him.

If it were me though i would blow the whole thing up and start over all at once.

[ItsPantone278]

I bet his form problems are from shooting before he was strong enough or practicing a lot before he got any proper direction.

[CardiacCats]

He shot 5/9 on outside shots in SL...... small sample but improvement for sure.  I do think he's getting it off quicker.  I don't think MKG will ever be able to create and knock down jumpers from the perimeter with a hand in his face, but I'm hoping he can become a decent spot up shooter.  If he can achieve this we'll have a top 5-10 SF for the next 10-15 years

[Cary Kollins]

Wait...Mark freaking Price is an assistant?! That is awesome. If anyone can fix mkg's shot its him. I used to tear up some nba jam with him.