“ALL THINGS BASKETBALL BLOG”

Malcolm Gladwell- Author of “Ten Thousand Hours”

Gladwell cites all sorts of really bright, well-educated and naturally talented folks who never made it. The premise is that those that grind can overcome great talent.

Gladwell really gets on track when he suggests that cognitively complex pursuits require ten thousand hours to get good. Drawing on a supply of examples, the rule seems to go for champion chess players, classical music composers, brain surgeons, top hockey players and fine artists. We’re talking fine artists here; those who more or less know what they’re doing.

“Success has to do with deliberate practice,” says Gladwell. “Practice must be focused , determined , and in an environment where there’s (honest) feedback.” Further, the penchant for study, reflection, application and hard work is often propelled by obsession. One has to have concentrated workouts most everyday over a period of years to accomplish true excellence! While obsessive behavior may be an antisocial plague to societies and communities at large, it’s total moxie when lone practitioners catch it . In other words, this is how one becomes great at something!

This certainly applies to free throw shooting!

Posted By Coach Greg Haskell

Written By Greg Haskell

Throughout the entire NCAA Tournament the biq question mark when it came to Memphis was its foul shooting. Coach Calipari claimed that his team would make them when they needed to do so, but that wasn’t the case in the final minutes of regulation last night. Free throw shooting without a doubt matters (Read More).

Written By Luke Winn Si.com
So how do you claw back against a Memphis team that had blown away its last two opponents — including another No. 1 seed, UCLA — by simply running them off the floor in the second half? Or as Rose had described it, by “just hoopin’” better than any other team in the tournament?

The answer: You slow the Tigers down. You put them on the free-throw line, the area of their greatest weakness, in the final two minutes. Memphis had come into the dance as the nation’s fourth-worst free-throw shooting team, but had hit 20-of-23 against the Bruins. So you foul in hopes that the percentages even out. You foul in hopes that this line, which Calipari had uttered in the previous day’s press conference, would come back to haunt him:

“I think I have mentally tough kids. If they’re relaxed, they’re going to make free throws. A kid that’s not mentally tough that shoots 90 percent, knees knocking, he’s missing it. Percentage doesn’t matter. And we’ve got tough kids.”

And then you watch, as Chris Douglas-Roberts, who hit 9-of-11 free throws against UCLA. but was a 71.2 percent shooter from the stripe on the season, misses the front end of a one-and-one. There’s 1:15 remaining, and you get the ball to Darrell Arthur for a jumper that cuts it to 62-60. You watch as Douglas-Roberts misses two more free throws with 16.8 seconds left, but Dozier gets an offensive rebound, and you have to send Rose back to the line with 10.8 on the clock.

He misses the first but makes the second. The score is 63-60. If you’re Collins, you think to yourself, “Now I know we have chance.”