Thorpe(ESPN) on Moon

[Pchu]

[ghuytro]

Yep for sure. He needs to work on his jump shot.

If he can become a reliable shooter - not deadeye, just reliable - it could be the difference between getting that extra $1-2 million per year when he signs his next contract.

A guy like Bruce Bowen is a 39% career 3 point shooter compared to Moon's 27% this year.

It would also help to open up his driving game more as I've noticed he's having a lot harder time getting to the rim lately because defenders are sagging off of him so much.

[booyah_child]

I hate how he kicks both his legs on his release. It just looks so awkward.

[99 Problems]

The weird thing is that Moon started out on fire, since he was excited about just making the team and then starting... he was hitting nearly everything... then the honeymoon ended and he realized he was a mediocre shooter...

The shooting can be rectified during the offseason, but for the immediate future he can definitely pick his spots better and slash to the rim as much as possible... also just cut to the basket like he was doing a lot of earlier on... it seems like he's become so fascinated by all the great shooters we have, he's accidently trying to copy them, forgetting his strengths and the reason we signed him... just because they give you open looks all the time doesn't mean you have to jack up all those shots..

Sometimes passing up an open shot is better than just taking it for the sake of taking it...

[TorontoBaller]

how can the coaches not recognize and fix this?

[ranger001]

how can the coaches not recognize and fix this?

Altering someone's mechanics is not easy. Its something done during summer when the player has time to get the repetition needed to learn the new mechanics. Moon probably has been shooting that way since he was a kid, changing his shot would take some time.

[reck0n3r]

What's funny about all of this is that smitch, in an interview earlier in the season, said "We all know jamario can shoot the basketball", alluding to the fact that he needed to start driving more.

[Mack11]

how can the coaches not recognize and fix this?

you cant fix this in a matter of days. The quick solution is to tell him to drive the ball, which they have been doing on a regular basis

[emfive]

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Altering someone's mechanics is not easy. Its something done during summer when the player has time to get the repetition needed to learn the new mechanics. Moon probably has been shooting that way since he was a kid, changing his shot would take some time.

Exactly. With coaching determination and pressure, during the season, you could get that shot average to 30%. Ask Bargs!

[davkad]

The shooting can be rectified during the offseason

how can the coaches not recognize and fix this?

what is wrong with you ppl? do you not play or watch basketball? Maybe we can teach KWAME how to catch a ball in traffic in the offseason, or maybe we can teach Varajeao how to hit fadeaways, or maybe just maybe we will teach Bargnani how to rebound or play in the post. Maybe they will teach TJ how to play with heart, or to change his game up and not play so wildly. I can't believe no coaches have recognized that Shaq and Duncan can't shoot free throws - they need to teach them how to do it in the offseason!

This is the NBA kids... basically the skills you come into the league with (and the weaknesses you come into the league with) are basically what you have for your career. Sure, a guy like Jamison has learned to EXTEND the range on his jumpshot, but those are minor adjustments. saying "oh, we have to fix jamario's jumper"... that is just far easier said than done. He's a 27 y/o journeyman... do you not think that he's been working hard as hell on his jumper for the many years he's been dreaming of playing in the NBA? Let's hope that our assistant coaches can fix his jumpshot in the few months in-between seasons... working some improbable miracle that no coach has ever been able to do before.... honestly.... i wish you guys were right... but Jamario will never fix his jumper, he just needs to stick to his strengths

[rdtx2005]

you really need to let go of the great hate you have on TJ Ford and him having no heart.

[cdel00]

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what is wrong with you ppl? do you not play or watch basketball? Maybe we can teach KWAME how to catch a ball in traffic in the offseason, or maybe we can teach Varajeao how to hit fadeaways, or maybe just maybe we will teach Bargnani how to rebound or play in the post. Maybe they will teach TJ how to play with heart, or to change his game up and not play so wildly. I can't believe no coaches have recognized that Shaq and Duncan can't shoot free throws - they need to teach them how to do it in the offseason!

This is the NBA kids... basically the skills you come into the league with (and the weaknesses you come into the league with) are basically what you have for your career. Sure, a guy like Jamison has learned to EXTEND the range on his jumpshot, but those are minor adjustments. saying "oh, we have to fix jamario's jumper"... that is just far easier said than done. He's a 27 y/o journeyman... do you not think that he's been working hard as hell on his jumper for the many years he's been dreaming of playing in the NBA? Let's hope that our assistant coaches can fix his jumpshot in the few months in-between seasons... working some improbable miracle that no coach has ever been able to do before.... honestly.... i wish you guys were right... but Jamario will never fix his jumper, he just needs to stick to his strengths

WOW, I guess Arenas had his jumper before he turned dominant? Or Jose always had a sweet dependable stroke too? Bosh at the FT line was born with his sweet stroke? AP went to Europe possessing such deadly accuracy?

All the great shooters have to work on their shot.

EDIT: IF Moon shot 400 Js a night using a sweet stroke in 21 days he would vastly improve his %s. 21 days to retrain your body into new habits thats about it really.

[itbobby007]

Hopla.

[Indiana Jones]

everyone can get better. it just takes time and effort. case in point, MJ pre-baseball vs. MJ post-baseball...

[TorontoBaller]

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what is wrong with you ppl? do you not play or watch basketball? Maybe we can teach KWAME how to catch a ball in traffic in the offseason, or maybe we can teach Varajeao how to hit fadeaways, or maybe just maybe we will teach Bargnani how to rebound or play in the post. Maybe they will teach TJ how to play with heart, or to change his game up and not play so wildly. I can't believe no coaches have recognized that Shaq and Duncan can't shoot free throws - they need to teach them how to do it in the offseason!

This is the NBA kids... basically the skills you come into the league with (and the weaknesses you come into the league with) are basically what you have for your career. Sure, a guy like Jamison has learned to EXTEND the range on his jumpshot, but those are minor adjustments. saying "oh, we have to fix jamario's jumper"... that is just far easier said than done. He's a 27 y/o journeyman... do you not think that he's been working hard as hell on his jumper for the many years he's been dreaming of playing in the NBA? Let's hope that our assistant coaches can fix his jumpshot in the few months in-between seasons... working some improbable miracle that no coach has ever been able to do before.... honestly.... i wish you guys were right... but Jamario will never fix his jumper, he just needs to stick to his strengths

I should have been more clear...

I was saying, how can the coaches not show him a way of taking the ball to the hole more often, not fix his shot. Even when he IS offered a lane he doesn't take it. I haven't seen him dunk in weeks, (But then there's been very little ball in weeks...)

I DO play basketball. Often.
Good Basketball is about making Good Choices.
And CHOICES can be changed overnight. Heck, they can be changed in a timeout, when Sam says "NO MORE SHOTS JAMARIO, TAKE THE BALL TO THE RIM!" Choices regarding how you move with and without the ball, and choices in shot selection.

We've been winning so it isn't getting focused on enough, but he's the athletic slasher in the starting unit that doesn't athletically slash!

Bosh is bosh.
Calderon dishes, pulls up or turns the corner.
Parker shoots the 3 or takes the off balance pull up (so good)
Bargs has his collection of shots that are improving.
AND MOON SLASHES TO THE NET AND GETS PUT BACKS.

Right? But his shot selection isn't close to his strengths.

THIS is what I'm amazed by.

So it's not about the technique in his jumper, as people have been saying, that can improve slightly over the summer...

Why can't the coaches improve his shot selection, cuz when these games start to matter, those bricks are gonna hurt.

[night_day]

Of course shooting can be improved, players FG% improve over their career all the time, it's not luck! Why else does a guy like Dave Hoopla have a job?! Anyways, wish we still had him!

[Hank_Scorpio]

I said this months ago.

He is pretty much where Jose Calderon was in his rookie year. People forget what a bad shooter he was, but if you were to look at tape, you'd see that his form was terrible. He shot .423 for the season and was 7 of 43 from 3. He's already hit more 3 pointers this season than he took his entire rookie year.

Calderon worked on his shot A LOT - and he worked specifically with Dave Hopla and improved so much that he is now one of the best shooters in the NBA. Jamario Moon needs to do the same thing. Now that he has made it to the NBA, he knows that he can do certain things at a high level. Adding an effective jumpshot would make him a complete player.

If I were him, shooting is pretty much all I would work on in the offseason. I would get whatever training I needed, hire a personal coach, whatever I could do to get that shot.

Because that shot could mean the difference between being a 3-6 million dollar player and being a 7-10 million dollar player.

[99 Problems]

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what is wrong with you ppl? do you not play or watch basketball? Maybe we can teach KWAME how to catch a ball in traffic in the offseason, or maybe we can teach Varajeao how to hit fadeaways, or maybe just maybe we will teach Bargnani how to rebound or play in the post. Maybe they will teach TJ how to play with heart, or to change his game up and not play so wildly. I can't believe no coaches have recognized that Shaq and Duncan can't shoot free throws - they need to teach them how to do it in the offseason!

This is the NBA kids... basically the skills you come into the league with (and the weaknesses you come into the league with) are basically what you have for your career. Sure, a guy like Jamison has learned to EXTEND the range on his jumpshot, but those are minor adjustments. saying "oh, we have to fix jamario's jumper"... that is just far easier said than done. He's a 27 y/o journeyman... do you not think that he's been working hard as hell on his jumper for the many years he's been dreaming of playing in the NBA? Let's hope that our assistant coaches can fix his jumpshot in the few months in-between seasons... working some improbable miracle that no coach has ever been able to do before.... honestly.... i wish you guys were right... but Jamario will never fix his jumper, he just needs to stick to his strengths

Calderon, Jose

Year FG% 3P%

05-06 42.3% 16.3%
06-07 52.1% 33.3%
07-08 52.9% 44.5%


Parker, Tony

Year FG%

01-02 41.9
02-03 46.4
03-04 44.7
04-05 48.2
05-06 54.8
06-07 52.0
07-08 48.8

/rant

[Hank_Scorpio]

"NO MORE SHOTS JAMARIO, TAKE THE BALL TO THE RIM!"

Have you ever actually watched a basketball game?

The reason Jamario isn't "taking it to the rim" is because whoever is defending him is backing 10 feet off.

On defense, you can't take everything away from your opponent, so you force him to do the things he doesn't want to do or the things you want him to do. In Jamario's case, they WANT him to shoot.

This is pretty basic stuff.

[Mack11]

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Have you ever actually watched a basketball game?

The reason Jamario isn't "taking it to the rim" is because whoever is defending him is backing 10 feet off.

On defense, you can't take everything away from your opponent, so you force him to do the things he doesn't want to do or the things you want him to do. In Jamario's case, they WANT him to shoot.

This is pretty basic stuff.

sam mitchell had the exact same problem in his career, people would back off him and he still managed to take it to the hoop. He just needs to get better handles so he can operate.