The best guess as to whether Kansas basketball coach Bill Self will leave Udoka Azubuike on the floor again at the end of a close game is that he won’t.
Self acknowledged that decision cost KU the game in an 85-80 loss at Oklahoma. Afterward, the coach said he didn’t know what he would do next time, but it’s difficult to envision a scenario where he does it again any time soon.
Now for the tougher question: How can Azubuike improve at the free-throw line in the short term?
The comfortable answers don’t get to the heart of the matter.
You’ve heard the explanations.
It’s mental.
He just needs to see a few to go in to develop confidence.
He needs to devote even more time to practicing free throws.
Sure, it’s mental at this point, but it didn’t start that way and it’s not the root of the problem. It’s the one area of the game he can’t improve so he’s putting so much pressure on himself to get better at it that it’s made the problem grow deeper.
A mental fix might elevate him from a percentage of .375 to mid-.400s, although that’s even optimistic.
As for just needing to see a few go in, well, if a golfer’s feet are pointing right and his shoulders are pointing left, it would take a swing mistake to hit the ball straight. If the lucky swing mistake happens to occur on three consecutive swings, that doesn’t mean the mistake will occur at a more regular rate.
Azubuike won’t become significantly better at the line unless he fixes the bad mechanics of his shot, which leads us to the next common, wrongheaded solution: He just needs to practice them more often.
Wrong.
Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice makes permanent.
The more reps of bad mechanics, the harder it will be to replace them with good ones.
“From a technique standpoint, we’re not going to change his shot in February,” Self said.
That’s unfortunate. It would seem changing a free throw in midseason would not be nearly as radical as a jumper, given that there is no defender and no time element to releasing the shot.
“I’ve had boosters say, ‘Shoot them underhanded. Do this. Do that.’ I don’t think that that’s going to be the case moving forward,” Self said.
Bravo to whatever boosters suggested the underhanded method. But not just any random granny-style shot. If the change is made, it needs to be learned from the best teacher of it.
That of course would be Hall of Famer Rick Barry.
An assistant coach from Kansas could reach out to Barry, pick his brain dry on the particulars of his method, teach it to Azubuike, send video of the sessions to Barry to make sure it’s being taught properly and pick his brain for where it needs to be taught better and what bad habits might be creeping into Azubuike’s efforts.
A pro-active approach is called for here.
Udoka won’t ever shoot 90 percent from the line the way Barry did because Barry was a great shooter, but the steadily improving sophomore center is an ideal candidate for the Barry method.
Also, seek Barry’s input as to how quickly he thinks Azubuike could master the method well enough to use it in games.
Azubuike wouldn’t be the first big man to make such a change.
Louisville center Chinanu Onuaku played two seasons of college basketball (2014-16). He shot .467 his first season, spent the offseason practicing shooting underhanded and improved to .589 his next. But his method wasn’t exactly like Barry’s or he could have had an even greater improvement.
For now, Azbuike will continue to start with the ball left of his ear and in one motion bring it near his chin and then release it. The granny method is called unconventional, but it’s far more conventional than Udoka’s current style.
This is no easy fix and requires pro-active, original thinking.