Originally Posted by ballocks

this has been a little frustrating to watch for me, too. i'm glad we have dave hopla on board now to help out but it's hard to be patient. i'm not sure why chris thought it would be a good idea to reform his jump shot to begin the year, and while he since appears to be gradually reverting to his comfortable form from last year, i don't like what that says about his approach on the whole. i think he's thinking too much about things that need to come naturally after a point, and that's probably had a major effect on his free-throw shooting this season.

now, if he were reading this, i'd be quiet, but since he's not i have to be honest: his release on free throws (in terms of their full extension) is not uniformly consistent anymore (it used to be much better, imo). as a result, you see chris bricking more free throws than ever now- occasionally, out of nowhere- sheer bricks. to begin the year, it was frustrating because he was experimenting with a new form overall (although, again, i wasn't sure why he would), but now it's even more frustrating because he's got at least two forms in his head- and more importantly, at least two forms in his arms- and the consistency suffers in that headspace (imo).

i hope coach hopla can help to resolve this because, i know, ignorance is bliss and chris is playing remarkably well right now, but i totally see it affecting games in the future- not in the shaq way, where you know he can't hit them, but in the more dangerous (imo) bruce bowen way, where you don't know when he'll hit them. chris wasn't on this path last year but now he is, imo, and hopefully it can be worked out. i wouldn't underestimate its importance to this team- i think this thread is on point.

peace