For almost every country in the world, that would be a big positive headline. It would be very popular. In this country, the home of basketball, it’s a humble statement. We are supposed to beat the rest of the world with our great athletes and coaches. Professional basketball players are the best athletes in the world. The men probably average 6’8″ and weigh 240lbs. They can run like the wind, jump tall buildings in one jump, etc, etc, you know the litany. But can they shoot? Can they defend the Pick & Shoot? Roll?

I watched a couple of games and saw what I always see in the shooting arena. The players on the team are doing what they’ve been taught by coaches from a young age…twisting their wrists, shooting off the top of the jump, maybe even reaching for the cookie jar. They’re also squaring up, especially at the free throw line.

Of those techniques, turning the wrist is probably the biggest problem. Did you notice LeBron James trying to make outside shots and flicking his wrist and sometimes “cutting his arms”? He was trying to figure out how many of his incredible muscles to use. He can do it sometimes, but it’s hard to do it consistently and he didn’t shoot well on this series. Shooting the ball from 3-point land, especially, is a big guess. And of course when you start to fail, your mind goes haywire and makes it worse.

A PUSHING ACTION IS MORE RELIABLE

Based on my own experience and research, I feel that a relaxed wrist and hand thrusting motion is the most predictable and reliable. If it’s done at the same speed each time then it becomes repeatable and then you just vary the arc to control the distance. As I’ve said over and over again, this is how Chris Mullin, Jeff Hornacek and Steve Kerr shot. The few great shooters do/did this. Diana Taurasi, my vote for the best shooter in WNBA history, shoots this way now. If she can see a slow-mo replay of her shots, she’ll see her hand bounce off the track, which means her wrist is relaxed. If it was tight, the hand would be stiff and tight, it wouldn’t bounce.

Carmelo Anthony was the best shooter on the USA team. He saved the match against Italy. If he hadn’t scored 29 points in the second half, we would have lost that game as well. But he couldn’t save us against Greece. He is also moving the doll. But probably not as much as LeBron, and his high level of focus and confidence make him one of the few “good, sometimes great” shooters.

THE THREE!

It’s pretty inept to shoot 10 of 40 3-pointers, like they did vs. Germany. And 9 for 28 vs. Greece in defeat. It’s the same thing, the wrist release and flip movements. And this is from the international 3-point line, ~20′ 3 1/2″. This is over 3 feet closer than the NBA’s 3-point arc, 23′ 9″.

15 FOR 30 FREE THROW… NO SHAQ!

And the Free Throws! How players, who have played as much basketball with as much sporting talent as they have, can shoot 15 of 30, as they did against Argentina? How about 20 of 34 against Greece, missing 14 free throws and losing by six points? And Shaq and Ben aren’t even on the team!

In my opinion, it’s due to the wrist-flipping stuff. The muscles of the wrist, hand, and fingers are small muscles, which are called “fast twitch” muscles. They are not as reliable under pressure. A consistent push-and-release motion, like I teach, would serve all these guys well, whether it’s for a jump shot or a free throw.

I’m not talking about the lift, the top of the jump, the side-to-side fade, the kind of shot these guys can pull off, sometimes. With those shots you have to use your wrist and hand because there is little, if any, power left in your legs to propel the shot. And it takes a Kobe Bryant- or Tracy McGrady-type super athlete to hit that shot consistently (and they’re still prone to periods of underperformance because it’s so hard). I am referring, rather, to the open shot from the outside or the set piece and the free kick that we mortals need to perfect.

We need a different way to train the shot! My Swish Method is available to help all of these great players shoot better. He can’t help with the Pick & Roll defense. I leave that to other coaches, but shooting is a subject I know.