Markelle Fultz Discussion II

[eyeatoma]

I can guarantee with 100% certainty this terrible foul shot form has nothing to do with an injury, and anyone who believes that it's an injury is incredibly gullible.

This is a textbook case of the yips. If the Sixers were smart, they would use this fake injury excuse to sit him down for 2 weeks and have him work with a shooting coach to try and build his confidence back up.

If that doesn't help the next step would be a sports psychologist.

And just throwing this out there... Fultz says he's in love with Chic Fil A. Chic Fil A puts MSG (monosodium glutamate) in everything. Many health experts say MSG is a neurotoxin. Everyone reacts differently to different chemicals. If Fultz has a sensitivity to MSG and is ODing on Chic Fil A, perhaps the MSG is screwing with his brain.

Uhhh... wtf did I just read lol...

[Kolkmania]

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Very interesting take on Fultz's current affairs with his shot.

I obviously agree for the most part since I made a very similar post.

That said, I'm really skeptic that is a long-term move orchestrated by the Sixers and that the first part of the free throw motion is added later on. Why? Because Ben Simmons' issues at the line are really similar to the issues Fultz has and Simmons had a ****ing year to get his FT form right. I don't think that Fultz motion and hesitation to shoot can be answered simply with one explanation, I think it's a combination of multiple things.

1. Adjustment mechanics by Fultz

I absolutely believe that some of this is on Fultz himself, the post I made three weeks ago contained pictures from his form around the draft. So this was absolutely initiated by Fultz or someone close to him, I put the post in this spoiler for those who are interested.

Spoiler:

There were some things that really needed some adjustment, one of them was Fultz' upward momentum from his legs. Shooting is about rhythm, you don't want forces to counteract which will lead to misses when you're tired and it creates inconsistent motions.

This is a picture of Fultz' workout prior to SL. You can see the space between his heels and the ground increasing while he's bringing the ball up to his set point (1-3). He's at the maximum height at 3 and as a result he can't bring any momentum from his legs to the ball when he's actually getting the ball to his release point (3-4).



Compare that to Curry's form. You can see a gradual elongation of his knees and momentum from his forefoot throughout the entire motion and reaching the maximum verticality when he's releasing the ball.



You can see the improvement in the video from Unbreakable. Now he needs to get comfortable with it and do it more in control, he loses balance a bit because it's so explosive. No need for that with free throws and such a relatively short distance.

Another thing that's apparent is his set point (3 in image) than in his college season. The red lines and circle indicate the positions of his arms and ball when he shot it in college.



Personally I would like to change it back, since it makes it easier to release it with the proper angle without pushing the ball like he did during scrimmage. Once again the quoted video indicates this transition back to his former set point.

At last for those who were wondering, this is what Fultz' likely wanted to change during the offseason. Some players in the NBA have a so called "one-motion" shot. This is when you simultaneously move the ball up with your upward momentum and extend your elbow to speed up the release, illustrated with picture below.



Most players bring the ball up to their set point and the only movement left is the extension of the elbow. The one isn't better than the other, most people with two-motion shots can adjust better in the air and shoot over people like Damian Lillard, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, etc and the one-motion shot is quicker.

This is a personal preference and Fultz should just choose which one he's more comfortable with, he used a two-motion shot in college and high school and imo probably suits him better as a tough shot maker.

2. Adjustment made by Sixers (John Townsend?)

Spoiler:

In the first image I broke Fultz' FT down to bringing the ball up to his set-point, ball from set-point to release point and actually releasing the ball. In his current free throw form he removed the first part which the YouTube video pointed out as well.

Simmons starts his free throw motion also with the ball extremely high, nearly at shoulder level. After that he brings the ball up to his set point before extending his elbow and flexing his wrist to release the ball fairly fluid. Do think that his elbow pointing this far out (see figure) is inexcusable after one year off, but I don't even think that's the biggest problem.



It's just like Fultz, the complete lack of rhythm. There's barely any movement in his legs and the ball only moves a couple of inches towards his set point. Look at Simmons shooting jump shots, the ball still barely dips, but there's a huge difference in his lower body. The upper movement of him jumping carries a lot of the vertical force needed to shoot, therefore Simmons can focus on properly aiming and providing horizontal force with his elbow and wrist. Play this YouTube video with .25 speed.

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Now compare that to this, where there's ZERO lower body movement in the entire free throw motion.


Instead of this it should be like this:

1. Bend your knees, bring the ball from your waist to the set point with a flexed wrist and proper hand positioning (under the ball and not sideways like Markelle does now).
2. Move the ball from set point to release point, by extending your elbow, wrist and knees at the same(!) time

Since both Simmons and Fultz have the same rhythm issues, I wonder if it's someone within the organization that's responsible for this. Obviously the best bet is shooting coahc John Townsend.

Some shooting coaches think that the success formula to shooting high percentages from the line is removing as much moving elements as possible. It makes it easier to replicate each shot and thus get more familiarity with it. I think John Townsend (our shooting coach) agrees with this philosophy. For some players this works, but some players need fluidity and rhythm to make shots. I tend to think Fultz and Simmons belong in the latter category.

3. Injury/mental issue

Spoiler:

https://www.reddit.com/r/sixers/comments/784zmp/fultz_lefthanded_jump_ball_evidence_of_a_bum/?ref=share&ref_source=link

This happened several times this season, also prior to some free throws. It's clear that his elbow is bothering him, we don't know to what extent, but it's in his head. I don't see him adjusting hands when going for blocks or other stuff during live play, but when the game is stopped he seems to focus on his shoulder.

I would like to see Fultz being pulled out of the rotation for a couple of weeks. Not that he's playing poorly, I think he does plenty of good things on the court, but get him out of this mental game he's playing. Say that his shoulder is hurting him and let him ease into things and get the confidence in his shot back.

[SexDrugsPnR]

I can guarantee with 100% certainty this terrible foul shot form has nothing to do with an injury, and anyone who believes that it's an injury is incredibly gullible.

This is a textbook case of the yips. If the Sixers were smart, they would use this fake injury excuse to sit him down for 2 weeks and have him work with a shooting coach to try and build his confidence back up.

If that doesn't help the next step would be a sports psychologist.

And just throwing this out there... Fultz says he's in love with Chic Fil A. Chic Fil A puts MSG (monosodium glutamate) in everything. Many health experts say MSG is a neurotoxin. Everyone reacts differently to different chemicals. If Fultz has a sensitivity to MSG and is ODing on Chic Fil A, perhaps the MSG is screwing with his brain.

lol. 1.4 billion chinese people have no problem eating msg. oh wait... maybe that's the reason why yao was always hurt?

[LloydFree]

He's clearly the #1 prospect... The next James Harden...

[James40]

I can guarantee with 100% certainty this terrible foul shot form has nothing to do with an injury, and anyone who believes that it's an injury is incredibly gullible.

This is a textbook case of the yips. If the Sixers were smart, they would use this fake injury excuse to sit him down for 2 weeks and have him work with a shooting coach to try and build his confidence back up.

If that doesn't help the next step would be a sports psychologist.

And just throwing this out there... Fultz says he's in love with Chic Fil A. Chic Fil A puts MSG (monosodium glutamate) in everything. Many health experts say MSG is a neurotoxin. Everyone reacts differently to different chemicals. If Fultz has a sensitivity to MSG and is ODing on Chic Fil A, perhaps the MSG is screwing with his brain.

Dude, I ate tons of paint chips as a kid, and even I can hit 60% from FT w/o looking like I have palsy.

[Unbreakable99]

"ODing on Chick fil a"

Actually, he's been eating it less, so maybe he's going through some Chick fil a withdrawal and they need to lock him in a room with a catering tray and let him go to town.

Fultz right now trying to make his way to his car to get some much needed Chick fil a:

Chic-fil-a is a helluva drug.

[CoreyGallagher]

He's clearly the #1 prospect... The next James Harden...

Harden began his career shooting 8-26 in his first four games. Fultz better.

[ankle420breaker]

I've been quietly suspecting this to be a Chick-fil-A MSG related issue for awhile.



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[CoreyGallagher]

I appreciate this investigation.

[Unbreakable99]

So do we relay our findings to the Sixers on what happened to Fultz? Chic-fil-a MSG is it. I hope reporters ask about this lol.

[Negrodamus]

It's actually a time released neurotoxin that kicks in when you're 19 years old and completely manipulate with the motor skills, but only your arms above your head in a standing position. In the south, they (delightfully) call it Chicken's Wing Revenge.

Or he's just changing his shot.

[Unbreakable99]

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[LloydFree]

He's clearly the #1 prospect... The next James Harden...

Harden began his career shooting 8-26 in his first four games. Fultz better.

Actually he only shot 38% through the end of December that year, was quite an inefficient scorer for a while.

The Fultz comparisons to James Harden crack me up, even more than the Evan Turner comparisons to Brandon Roy. You have a superstar who plays slow and at his own pace, so now 'lets draft a player who is slow and he'll do similar things as Harden...'

[CoreyGallagher]

I mean, I was being sarcastic, for a number of reasons. Numbers are true tho.

[Unbreakable99]

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[Bobalob]

Its clearly the shoulder or after affects of it. He also has only attempted 6 shots from outside 9 feet, and has nto attempted a 3 pt shot.

I've had shoulder injuries from weight lifting. Its not like a knee injury where you cant run so its not even a thought. W/ a shoulder you have range of motion so u can technically do most things still, but theres a quick pain associated with it, so to avoid that pain you change the range of motion. He's either A) Still injured and thats the onyl way he can get the ball up without pian, or B) Not injured anymore but he developed a new motion and cant get out if it.

If its A i'm shocked an NBA training staff would allow him to go out there and shoot thru a shoulder injury. This is the sign of a poor franchise. Its thirst. They are too desperate to have him out there and/or not stern enough to protect him from himself

[LloydFree]

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This issue was the most predictable of all his deficiencies. Inability to get clean shots off against the weakest of college defenders, without getting a pick. You can't blow past or over a college player, you're gonna get your contested shot blocked in the NBA. This won't be easily fixed.

[phiphan]

The blocked shots are ugly. Hopefully he adjusts to the speed/length/athleticism of NBA defenders.

Lloyd -- even you have to be pleased with what he's shown on on-ball defense, yes?

[Unbreakable99]

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This issue was the most predictable of all his deficiencies. Inability to get clean shots off against the weakest of college defenders, without getting a pick. You can't blow past or over a college player, you're gonna get your contested shot blocked in the NBA. This won't be easily fixed.

Yeah. I pretty much predicted this. It will be rough early for him. To be fair he hasn’t attempted any jump shots so half of his game is cut off from whatever is happening to him. He has looked a little quicker than I expected though so that’s a positive but he really needs to work shooting against NBA length.

[JojoSlimbiid]

Like I said should of stayed at 3. Could of had elite two way wing who is gonna be a net positive his rookie year Josh Jackson

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Could teach Okafor a few things about defense clearly.

but at least he can shoot right?

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Great mechanics on his shot right here.