The Hook Shot and Finger Roll.. GONE!!!

[mendyweiss]

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/PHO/AAGZ061_16x20~Kareem-Abdul-Jabbar-Hook-Shot-Posters.jpg
Two of my favorite basketball shots seem to have gone the way of the Dodo bird!!
They were a thing of beauty and grace. Now all we seem to see is 35 foot jump shots and slam dunks that shake the building!!

[BoondockSaint]

I never understood why more big men didn't work on a sky hook. I guess Kareem was right when he said, "Other people didn't think it was cool enough."

[A.J.]

Kareem developed his techniques partially out of necessity as the NCAA had banned the dunk for the longest time.

[Doctor Z]

I guess that skyhook went to the same place as those shorts.

[BoondockSaint]

Kareem developed his techniques partially out of necessity as the NCAA had banned the dunk for the longest time.


He actually developed the skyhook in his early high school years because while he was tall he was also very skinny and had some trouble playing against older, stronger centers on the inside.

[TheMojoPin]

Exactly.

I can understand attempting these if you need to do this due to your size or lack of muscle, but otherwise, it's pretty pointless. The goal is to win games, not look like a goddamn ballerina.

[Fezticle98]

Miss the set shot.

[King Hippos Bandaid]

A Sky Hook took Skill, I miss the Sky hook

Most Ballers today, want Sneaker Contracts, the Quickest way to a Sneaker Contract is a Slam Dunk.

[TheMojoPin]

A Sky Hook took Skill, I miss the Sky hook

Most Ballers today, want Sneaker Contracts, the Quickest way to a Sneaker Contract is a Slam Dunk.

You also have a better chance of actually, y'know, scoring points. Crazy talk, I know...

[King Hippos Bandaid]

You also have a better chance of actually, y'know, scoring points. Crazy talk, I know...


True, But you still have some players who will still hit a lay up on a Fast Break, not a Fancy Dunk to Show off

:king:

[BoondockSaint]

You also have a better chance of actually, y'know, scoring points. Crazy talk, I know...

It's not like Kareem never dunked, he did. But how many centers are a scoring force 10 to 15 feet away from the basket? Few. And the skyhook was deadly and a shot that even Wilt Chamberlin couldn't block. Who gives a fuck what it looks like?

[MadMatt]

My coach would have beaten us to death if we didn't finger roll!!! OK, he might not beat you, but he did pull a few of us out of the game to ride pine until we got it through our thick heads.

Of course we were a bunch of "short" hicks that couldn't dunk, so that might have had something to do with it.

[short is relative - I was 6' as were most of the guys. When I could still play we were "too young" to dunk]

[El Mudo]

meh....


Kareem pushed off on every single skyhook he ever put up...


And, as bill simmons put it, he was the only great player who was legitimately OWNED by three rivals while he played....(Walton in the 70s, Hakeem in the 80s, and Moses every year in between)

[TheMojoPin]

It's not like Kareem never dunked, he did. But how many centers are a scoring force 10 to 15 feet away from the basket? Few. And the skyhook was deadly and a shot that even Wilt Chamberlin couldn't block. Who gives a fuck what it looks like?

It has nothing to do with how it looks, it's how likely it is for you to score and contribute to your team winning to pull it off. Few "big men" have the natural skills to pull off the skyhook, so it's ridiculous to expect it to be something that all big players "should" try and do. It's essentially a trick shot that can be very useful if mastered, but few can actually master it. Besides, it's usueful to have your big players on the inside on offense to try and get the rebound if necessary. Trying for stuff like the skyhook keeps that size out from under the basket.

In short, it's not a necessary part of the game, and there are more common and productive options for players of that size to score and contribute.

[DarkHippie]

i've seen Yao use a form of the sky hook. I also remember Ewing having a great hook shot coming cross court from left to right

[King Hippos Bandaid]

i've seen Yao use a form of the sky hook. I also remember Ewing having a great hook shot coming cross court from left to right


after 4 steps, I was a huge Knicks Fan, but if Robots refereed games, Ewing would have the most Traveling infractions in the History of basketball

:king:

[FUNKMAN]

if the tv wasn't on in work I wouldn't watch any of this. i saw Tony Parker take 4 steps to the basket and nothing was called. they carry the ball all the time, might as well be watching the globe trotters...

[ralphbxny]

Ever since Charles Smith missed that finger roll against the bulls and Killed the knicks and all us knick fans the shot went away. I dont hold grudges, but if he would have only dunked it!!!