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United Bank Playbook: TCU
February 24, 2017 12:09 PM | Men's Basketball
Statistically speaking, last year West Virginia’s Elijah Macon probably had a better chance of being struck by lightning than making a big free throw.
The forward converted a scattershot 46.3 percent from the charity stripe and was the last guy you’d want to see on the floor when the clock hit the 10-minute mark of the second half.
It was just simply impossible to have him out there.
A year later, Macon is one of those guys you want to see out there stepping up to the line. If you recall, in a recent game against Texas Tech, it was Macon who made two critical free throws with a couple minutes left in regulation to tie the score at 68 in a game the Mountaineers eventually won in double overtime.
So far this year, Macon is makin’ 65.4 percent of his free throws including hitting nine out of his last 10 this month alone.
So, what gives?
How did he go from novice to marksman in such a short period of time?
Amazingly, Macon said he began watching some old-school videos of Julius Erving and that’s how he became a better free throw shooter.
“I’m just doing the one-dribble thing (just like Erving used to do),” Macon explained after Monday night’s win over Texas. “I make sure it’s positioned in my hand and obviously my hand is not as big as his, but he got it, it was a one-dribble thing and he shot the ball. It’s the same way.”
Whoa, whoa, hold on Elijah, wait a minute.
According to Elijah Macon, the best way to learn how to shoot free throws is by watching old tape of one of the best dunkers in NBA history - Dr. J.
Julius Erving?
THE Julius Erving - Dr. J - the dude who practically invented the slam dunk.
Seriously?
Like most kids growing up in the late 1970s, I used to read those Spalding “Street Ball” ads on the backs of comic books featuring Dr. J, but I don’t recall the good Doctor ever shooting free throws in them, though.
Now, throwing one down from the free throw line …?
I do remember that.
So, I hopped on to Google to check out Erving’s career free throw percentage and guess what, old Elijah is on to something here: Erving was a career 77.7 percent free throw shooter.
Not too shabby!
That Elijah is a pretty smart dude and now he’s even beginning to drop some of that knowledge with the other guys on the team as well.
“I told Jevon (Carter) the other day if you miss one I know what you’re doing wrong,” Macon said. “He pauses for a minute and when you pause for over three seconds or whatever your timing is, you’re going to miss it. And every time I counted over three seconds he missed it.
“It’s just repetition,” Macon explained. “You have to keep doing it until you get better at it.”
Keep doing it Elijah, and keep watching those old-school Dr. J free throw videos, wherever you can find them!
***
Speaking of Jevon Carter, he may be playing the best basketball of his career right now.
He’s coming off back-to-back, 24-point nights against Texas Tech and Texas, and also recently scored 19 in a win against Kansas State.
His stat line against the Longhorns was 24 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and a steal. Two nights prior, he had 24 points, seven rebounds and a pair of assists against the Red Raiders.
Against K-State, it was 19 points, nine rebounds, two assists and a couple of steals. He has now taken over the team lead in scoring at 12.6 points per game, continues to lead the team in assists and steals with 115 and 78 respectively, and has become one of the team’s better rebounders averaging 4.7 boards per game.
Individually, those numbers are alright but collectively they are outstanding.
“We ask him to do a lot and he does a lot,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “He and Nate (Adrian) are really the keys to the press and then we ask him to handle the ball, run offense and then we ask him to score. He’s been terrific.”
Carter is shooting better than 45 percent from the floor now and his 3-point shooting is inching closer to 40 percent as well.
“Every time I shoot the ball I feel like it’s going in and I just stay in the gym,” Carter explained. “Then I come out here and put it on display.”
Carter said his increased production is simply a matter of becoming more assertive on the floor.
“Coach (Larry) Harrison and Coach Huggs tell me they like it when I’m aggressive and when the coaches are telling me to be aggressive then I’m going to be aggressive,” he said.
“I’m just taking open shots when they’re there,” he added. “My teammates do a good job of finding me when I’m open and I’m just being confident and knocking it in.”
***
Forward Esa Ahmad is questionable for West Virginia's two-game Texas trip at TCU and Baylor, said Coach Bob Huggins.
After some general questions about how he’s feeling (fine, he says), West Virginia coach Bob Huggins during Thursday morning's Big 12 coaches' teleconference was asked about the general health of starting forward Esa Ahmad, who missed Monday night’s game with Texas because of lower back spasms.
Ahmad may or may not be with the team for its Texas Two Step against TCU on Saturday and Baylor on Monday night.
“We’ve had two days off and he’s been getting treatments and all that,” Huggins said Thursday morning. “It depends upon how he feels. We kind of sit around here and talk about it as a staff and it’s something you don’t want to have linger.
“We all worry about him getting on a plane for three hours and then we get to Fort Worth and play a game and then get on a bus and ride a bus for however long it is (to Waco). If he’s not 100 percent ready to go, I don’t know if we’re doing him or the team any justice. It kind of depends upon what the medical staff and what he says.”
Of course, making things a little easier on Huggins is the way his backup, Lamont West, performed on Monday night in Ahmad’s absence. West scored a career-high 23 points, including making six-of-eight from 3 against the Longhorns.
During one stretch in the first half, West was solely responsible for flipping a 10-point deficit into a double-digit lead with his 3-point shooting.
***
West Virginia’s game against TCU on Saturday is a crucial one for the Horned Frogs’ NCAA Tournament aspirations. TCU’s RPI has slipped to 53 and the Frogs have lost four straight against Baylor, Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Kansas heading into Saturday’s 2 p.m. clash against the Mountaineers.
With regular season games left against Kansas State and Oklahoma, TCU’s best remaining opportunity to add a signature victory is Saturday against No. 12 West Virginia.
The first time these two teams met in Morgantown back on January 7, they played neck-and-neck until about the eight-minute mark when the Mountaineers took over the game and won 82-70.
Six-eleven junior forward Vlad Brodziansky has taken over the team lead in scoring, averaging 13.6 points per game. He is shooting an impressive 57.7 percent from the floor and ranks second on the team with an average of 5.7 rebounds per game.
“I think they’ve made a conscious effort to get the ball in the paint,” Huggins said.
***
And finally, Huggins offered the line of the year when he was asked Thursday to comment on Kansas’ amazing 13-year streak of Big 12 regular season titles.
By the way, Huggins’ Mountaineers were about 15 seconds away from at least delaying Kansas’ Big 12 regular season title by another game when they lost in overtime in Lawrence back on February 13.
“It’s remarkable,” he began. “They’ve got a hall of fame coach sitting on the bench, they’ve got the best players in the league and nobody beats them at home. Iowa State got them for the first time there in like 102 years. I think it was right after (Dr. James) Naismith wrote those rules was the last time they lost there.”
Classic Huggs.
College Basketball Crown Recap
Thursday, April 16
Ross Hodge, Honor Huff & Brenen Lorient | Oklahoma Postgame
Sunday, April 05
Ross Hodge, Treysen Eaglestaff & Brenen Lorient | Creighton Postgame
Saturday, April 04
Ross Hodge & Honor Huff | Stanford Postgame
Thursday, April 02
