The Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Dallas Mavericks in their first warm-up match yesterday, but it is worth noting that the star player Giannis Antetokounmpo changed his free throw action and received good results.
In this game, Antetokounmpo played 25 minutes, 9 of 19 shots, 1 of 4 3-pointers, 6 of 7 free throws, and 25 points and 10 rebounds. Although the team eventually lost, Antetokounmpo made a very high free throw percentage. In the past, his career free throw percentage was only 63.3%.
Compared with the previous free throw action, his current action has changed a lot-when the free throw is thrown, the ball is placed lower and closer to his body. At the same time, keep your right arm out and keep your elbow on the horizontal line, so that the elbow is easier to apply force and the movement is smoother. He now has his arm back for free throws, and he has more strength when he makes a shot.
New free throw action:
Old free throw action:
This change allowed Antetokounmpo to be more comfortable with free throws in the first warm-up game. Only 1 free throw was missed in 7 free throws.
However, Antetokounmpo said, “It is no different from the past, I try not to think about it now. Obviously, I made a change a month and a half ago, but that has become a thing of the past. I don’t think about it now. How to make free throws, I think how to shoot better.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo has made a significant adjustment on his free throw shooting technique/routine. He is getting his arms behind his body, to generate more power on his execution/release.
He shot 6/7 tonight… pic.twitter.com/PMUytKk01g
– Harris Stavrou (@harris_stavrou) December 13, 2020
Antetokounmpo’s next goal is to improve his projection ability, and this is his biggest weakness. In the past two seasons, as long as he was targeted in the playoffs and restricted under the rim, he couldn’t start because he didn’t have the ability to shoot consistently from mid to long range.
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