How many of your players could not shoot 30% from three?
How many of your players were not a threat to score from fifteen feet?
Next year, the teams you will need to beat to win your conference and win the Sectonal-
How many three point threats will they play in their rotation?
How many players will they play who cannot consistently make an open 15 foot shot?
Next year-
How many players can you have on the floor if they cannot make open fifteen foot shots?
How many players do you need on the floor who can make a three?
#2- Often Players Are Being Told Their Shot Is Better Than It Is
If you asked your individual players if they are a three point threat, most will say that they can make threes. They may be a 10% three point shooter but they remember those shots that went in.
The “voices” players hear, are “voices” telling them to shoot even if they can’t make the shots.
I had a very good post player who had a HUGE game vs an all-state post players. Our player had 20+ points and was unstoppable in the low post. After the game, I ran into a family member of our post. His first question,”Coach, when are you going to start having her shoot threes.” She was barely a 50% free throw shooter and in practice was less than a 20% three point shooter.
Another time, a young post came down as a trailer on offense. When the ball was reversed thru her, a family member yelled,”Shoot the three.” The girl was obedient because she fired up a three that banged high off the board. The player was a hard worker but she could not make an open 10 foot shot, let alone a three.
Because of these well meaning voices, players often don’t feel an urgency to work to improve their shots.
#3 Players Who Are Given Objective Feedback Are More Apt To Be Motivated To Work On Their Shot
There are literally hundreds of shooting drills that a coach can set up to time and score. Some examples;
** 5 Minute Three Point Shooting- if miss 2 threes in arow, then must step in and make one 15 footer before go back.
** Gun Shooting- record makes going around the horn and shooting 100 shots.
At one time, I did two shooting drills for scoring. They did one of the drills each week.
*** Elbow to Elbow Shooitng- 2 ball and 2 rebounders for 2 minutes.
*** Celtic 3 Point Shooting with 2 balls and 2 rebounders for 2 minutes. Make two in corner, two from wing, two from top, two from opposite wing, and two from corner. So they will need to make 10 three point shots. Then they go to the top of the key and just shoot threes the rest of the two minutes. Their score is how many three they can make at the top of the key.
Pick out simple shooting drills that you like, and record the players score. Then post the scores for all the players to see.
If a player shooting elbow to elbow has a score on your test of only 12, and some other players have 25, it should be clear to them that they need to improve.
And if you do this year after year, your best shooter can see that they are not scoring as high as an All-Stater from 10 years ago.
All of this is to give the players motivation that they can see need to become better shooters. It is better to show them than to tell them their shot needs work.
#4- Non-Shooters Can Become Shooters- Ask Brooke Lopez
Brooke Lopez is finishing his 17th year in the NBA. His first season in the NBA was 2008-9. The NBA and basketball in general was a different game. It was gradually becoming a game where all players needed to be able to create space on the floor by being a three point threat.
In Lopez’s first 8 seasons, he did not shoot threes. He averaged 0.0 made three per game. Management and the coaches told him that with the way the NBA was changing, if he did not become a three point threat, his career could be close to the end.
The story is that Brooke Lopez spent the off-season focused on one thing- developing a three point shot. It may not seem like a big deal but in his last nine seasons, he has averaged 2.0 three per game on 35% three point shooting.
So as high school coaches, don’t accept that a player isn’t a shooter. If a player is willing to work on it, they can become a shooter.
#5- “My Shot’s Broken”- “No, It’s Never Been Made”
Many players, many coaches, and most parents have no clue the number of repetitions needed to become a great shooter.
I have seen players during the season who are unhappy with their shot and want to come in after practice or on Sunday to work on their shot. They stay 20 minutes, and once they get to the point that they make 2-3 in a row, they feel their shot is “fixed.”
A player can improve their shot during the season, and the coaches can help a player with their technique during the season. Yet, I don’t know how many times during the season that a player would ask,”What’s wrong with my free throws?” Or “What’s wrong with my three point shot?” I bit my tongue, because I often wanted to say,”What’s wrong with your free throw is the free throws you did not shoot during the off-season!”
To become a great shooter, it takes repetition, repetition, repetition. Great players and great coaches will develop a plan with off-season shooting goals.
Great shooters are made in the off-season!!
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