Kareem Skyhook Tracking

[Aido]

I was watching some footage generously collected by 70sfan on youtube of Kareems post game, and i wondered how accurate the hook was. Does anyone know of any tracking that has been done on the hook / have they done any themselves. Im gonna try and do it over the next while but ive got exams and school and such.

[Aido]

Update Ive tracked 5 or so games.
The Skyhook (right hand) is 30/51 (not including below)
(right)Skyhook is 1/1 after foul(ie foul was called mid hook and cowens slowed his defence)
Misc right hook(not skyhook-y enough) 1/1
(left)Skyhook 3/8
Misc left hook 2/2

[Aido]

So the nba requirement to qualify for the single season 3pt record you need to have made 82 threes, so that seemed as fair a benchmark as any to stop at. However when he reached 82 makes it was in the 85 finals so i said i may aswell finish it out. So in total i tracked somewhere around 25 games and hours of footage.

Possible sources of error:
The method i used to comb through the footage was to skip forward 5 seconds every click with the arrow keys on youtube til the lakers/bucks had the ball. So theres a chance i missed one or two (the number is definitely low).
Possible bias of sample. Only the best games tend to survive the test of time and are put on youtube. However the finals were uploaded good or bad as were several other series. Either way id estimate that this error isnt too big.

Results
*Note no category is contained within another
Right handed skyhook: 99/162 = 61.11%
Right handed jump hook(not skyhooks): 1/1 = 100% (theres a chance i forgot to track these towards the end)
Right Skyhook where a foul was called causing the defence to relent(atleast one of these were hard fouls and they didnt count as baskets): 3/8 = 37.5%
Left handed Skyhook: 7/17 = 41.18%
Left handed jump hook: 2/2 = 100%

Almost 100% of these shots were taken within 8 feet
And he seemed to be most accurate on the right baseline where it was honestly magical to watch.
Ill probably continue this for a while more however it has consumed enough of my sleep schedule for a while

[Aido]

Did some further tracking hes at 125/247= 61%

[Aido]

So the nba requirement to qualify for the single season 3pt record you need to have made 82 threes, so that seemed as fair a benchmark as any to stop at. However when he reached 82 makes it was in the 85 finals so i said i may aswell finish it out. So in total i tracked somewhere around 25 games and hours of footage.

Possible sources of error:
The method i used to comb through the footage was to skip forward 5 seconds every click with the arrow keys on youtube til the lakers/bucks had the ball. So theres a chance i missed one or two (the number is definitely low).
Possible bias of sample. Only the best games tend to survive the test of time and are put on youtube. However the finals were uploaded good or bad as were several other series. Either way id estimate that this error isnt too big.

Results
*Note no category is contained within another
Right handed skyhook: 99/162 = 61.11%
Right handed jump hook(not skyhooks): 1/1 = 100% (theres a chance i forgot to track these towards the end)
Right Skyhook where a foul was called causing the defence to relent(atleast one of these were hard fouls and they didnt count as baskets): 3/8 = 37.5%
Left handed Skyhook: 7/17 = 41.18%
Left handed jump hook: 2/2 = 100%

Almost 100% of these shots were taken within 8 feet
And he seemed to be most accurate on the right baseline where it was honestly magical to watch.
Ill probably continue this for a while more however it has consumed enough of my sleep schedule for a while

Sorry i miss spoke, these shots were within 12 feet

[Blackmill]

Good work. I actually did something similar several years ago, and arrived at similar numbers. I think his sky hooks from the middle of the lane were even more accurate. I mostly used games from 1976 onward.

Another effort (I can't recall where it was posted) used many games from the early 70s and had his overall average closer to 50%. I'm not surprised since I think developed a stronger base in the mid-70s. This allowed him to absorb small amounts of contact better which used to knock him off balance. Plus, this was when he developed his jumper, which probably helped him turn some of his more difficult left-handed sky hooks into easier jump shots.

I think it would be interesting to track how he shot based on where he received the ball and how the defense played him. Kareem's percentages didn't change too much as he got older. I would argue that he was considerably less able in the mid-80s compared to the mid-70s. So why didn't his percentages drop more? His team got better at delivering him the ball and spacing the floor. The mid-70s Lakers were quite miserable in these areas and opposing teams exploited this fact. I suspect tracking instances of sky hooks with acceptable spacing and ball delivery would reveal the difference between his ability in the late 70s vs mid 80s.

[Aido]

Good work. I actually did something similar several years ago, and arrived at similar numbers. I think his sky hooks from the middle of the lane were even more accurate. I mostly used games from 1976 onward.

Another effort (I can't recall where it was posted) used many games from the early 70s and had his overall average closer to 50%. I'm not surprised since I think developed a stronger base in the mid-70s. This allowed him to absorb small amounts of contact better which used to knock him off balance. Plus, this was when he developed his jumper, which probably helped him turn some of his more difficult left-handed sky hooks into easier jump shots.

I think it would be interesting to track how he shot based on where he received the ball and how the defense played him. Kareem's percentages didn't change too much as he got older. I would argue that he was considerably less able in the mid-80s compared to the mid-70s. So why didn't his percentages drop more? His team got better at delivering him the ball and spacing the floor. The mid-70s Lakers were quite miserable in these areas and opposing teams exploited this fact. I suspect tracking instances of sky hooks with acceptable spacing and ball delivery would reveal the difference between his ability in the late 70s vs mid 80s.

Yeah my sample was mainly about 75 onwards also. Yeah I think he definitely improved the hook Vs stronger opponents after his bucks days or atleast after 73 ish