Markelle Fultz, Year Three: He's back! Big....?

edoug

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Jul 15, 2005
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The problem is he appears to have the yips and none of this teaching matters if his brain causes him to panic the moment before release.
Yeah, saying it's very fixable may have been a bit optimistic. The mental part is impossible to know. His form is so bad that fixing that part might make him more comfortable.
 

DJnVa

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Dec 16, 2010
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Another video. Oof


It's like a 12 year old shooting FTs--no consistency. First one hit front of rim before bouncing in, second on basically got more backboard than rim on the right side, then 2 right on target.
 

DJnVa

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Dec 16, 2010
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This is one of those things that just brings home how horrible and perverse the internet can be. There's no good reason this should be happening so publicly except for our own entertainment.
The internet didn't put him out there, the Sixers did. He shouldn't be shooting in front of cameras.
 

Valek123

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Jul 13, 2005
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We blindfolded kids that had the yips that bad, or had them shoot at an X on the wall. Can't let results dictate form change, right now ***From 10 second clips with no information on what is being told or taught*** he seems focused on not failing rather than fixing form.

Truly feel bad for this young man, he should be in some small gym well away from the public eye working on getting right and not seeing himself online at all.
 

Reverend

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We blindfolded kids that had the yips that bad, or had them shoot at an X on the wall. Can't let results dictate form change, right now ***From 10 second clips with no information on what is being told or taught*** he seems focused on not failing rather than fixing form.

Truly feel bad for this young man, he should be in some small gym well away from the public eye working on getting right and not seeing himself online at all.
6D700418-2B5B-4979-A738-9A4B5277329C.jpeg
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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I know it isn't, but f that was just his FT form and he could manage to hit 75%, why bother changing it even if it is ugly?
 

bowiac

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I know it isn't, but f that was just his FT form and he could manage to hit 75%, why bother changing it even if it is ugly?
Because players shoot much worse in actual games than they do in practice. Based on a regression using practice free throw rates from the Lakers a few years ago, I would project a 75% practice free throw shooter to shoot about 44% in the NBA.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Because players shoot much worse in actual games than they do in practice.
That's the scary part — you hear practice stories of Dwight Howard hitting 90% of his FTs, or Curry hitting 80 straight threes, etc. If Fultz look that nervous in practice (and honestly, I have a hard time watching cos it looks so emotionally painful for him) what happens in front of 15,000 fans, with wins and losses in the balance?

I'm with others who think he needs to get totally away from the cameras for a while — go with his closest friends and his sports shrink to some remote playground in Bali or something.
 

Over Guapo Grande

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I'm with others who think he needs to get totally away from the cameras for a while — go with his closest friends and his sports shrink to some remote playground in Bali or something.
Despite my C’s allegiances, I would sign up to be his sports psychologist in a Len Bias heartbeat to train in Bali. I mean, I have my masters degree and everything.
 

mauf

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Are the 76ers actually releasing these practice videos? I assumed they were either filmed surreptitiously, or were taken for purposes of helping Fultz see what he is doing wrong but were misappropriated and posted online. Can’t imagine the team would want this film out there.
 

slamminsammya

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As that video points out, if Fultz is still injured it would make no sense for him to be practicing and shooting before he is recovered. This is why I feel very confident its the yips. Furthermore they point out that his jumpshot actually looks great when he hits that turnaround fallaway. Again, further evidence for yips.

As many have explained in this thread, the yips can be extremely context dependent. A baseball player can make a hard throw from the outfield to third base without a problem if the runner is tagging up, but the routine throw in after a fly ball out is impossible. In my case I had yips with tennis. Easy forehands became impossible for me, but if I had to stretch or run hard for a forehand I stopped thinking and had a smooth stroke.

Fultz has some situations where his shot is fine, like that turnaround. Then, at the free throw line, he looks like someone who has never touched a basketball.

Definitely the yips.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Because players shoot much worse in actual games than they do in practice. Based on a regression using practice free throw rates from the Lakers a few years ago, I would project a 75% practice free throw shooter to shoot about 44% in the NBA.
I believe the gap is even wider than that. I've mentioned years ago the time I was in the gym with Chris Wilcox and his personal coach in the summer in Raleigh, NC when he made close to 40 FT's in a row using repetitive, fluid, and flawless mechanics with soft arc and tight rotation........Wilcox made 55% of his FT's in the NBA.

The problem with all these wacky ideas in how to fix a mental problem is that the wacky ideas only force the player to think even MORE as these are not natural practices for him.
 

Bob420

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Jul 14, 2005
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He needs some medication. I wouldn't be surprised if he has other anxiety issues outside basketball.
 

Lazy vs Crazy

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He sent this ominous tweet yesterday:

"You really can’t trust NO ONE !!"

Sounds like things are pretty bad.
 

mauf

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Fultz is still active on Twitter?? That causes me to question his wisdom, and the wisdom of the folks who are advising him. Dude should be nowhere near social media right now
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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He sent this ominous tweet yesterday:

"You really can’t trust NO ONE !!"

Sounds like things are pretty bad.
Some reddit guy posted something he said he heard on TV broadcast: "On ESPN broadcast, Mark Jones said Brett Brown told production in an interview that Fultz is experiencing some 'psychosomatic effects' lingering after his shoulder injury. Basically internal psychological conflict and mental block"

Can anyone confirm that was true? If so, wonder if Fultz's tweet was in response to this [/speculation].

Video from before the OKC game. His lefty shot mechanics look good!

 

tims4wins

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If you told me it was Gerald Green in the video I'd probably believe you. Wonder who will end up having the better career.
 

benhogan

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Looks better here.

Markelle looks so much more confident moving quickly. If I'm the Sixers I cease the public displays of FTs/set shots and work on:
1. ball handling drills
2. going fast/finishing at the rim with a coach
3. strength training, Miami Heat style (Olynyk is ripped)
4. defense drills
5. video work

Let the kid build his confidence doing things he is capable of now. In the off-season get him to work 1-1 with a shooting coach in a private gym.
 

IdiotKicker

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Nov 21, 2005
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Let the kid build his confidence doing things he is capable of now. In the off-season get him to work 1-1 with a shooting coach in a private gym.
Without seeing what happened in private, it's possible that he has no issues in that setting at this point and that where he's at mentally is that he is fine when no one is watching but needs to break through the block that happens when he is in a public setting. I'm not saying that this is definitively the case, but things like this can very much be location/situation/environment-dependent. There's a ton that we don't know about what exactly is going on, so in situations like this, especially where Fultz was effectively out of sight for two months, I tend to believe the two sides are in agreement on the path since it's not like he wasn't out of the public eye for a significant period of time already.
 

sezwho

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The Heat are famous for their conditioning program. Its "a thing" in the parlance of our times.
Only half joking, but you also spend a lot more time in a swimsuit if you live in Miami. A little gut is more obvious at the beach/pool party than the Irish Pub, as I discovered moving from Somerville to San Diego one winter.

As for Fultz, they shouldn't be releasing any video though good to see him moving explosively. I wonder whether that 'trust' tweet was about whoever released those zapruder videos. I'm not an expert, but it seems unlikely they were taken by a professional videographer that a team would employ.
 

Sam Ray Not

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The Heat are famous for their conditioning program. Its "a thing" in the parlance of our times.
Anecdotally, South Beach is also famous for pharmacists whose customers somehow end up with Marvel comics bodies (ARod, Wade, LeBron, Giancarlo Stanton, e.g.)
 

HomeRunBaker

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Markelle looks so much more confident moving quickly. If I'm the Sixers I cease the public displays of FTs/set shots and work on:
Reporters have access to parts of NBA practices as part of their media agreements. Unless you shut Fultz down you can't really keep him out of the reporters eyes or lens. He doesn't look remotely close to being ready to compete in an NBA game. Right now it looks like he's going to join Royce White and former Celtics #1 pick Bill Green, as high draft picks who never could play in the NBA due to anxiety issues.
 

benhogan

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What are the odd's he plays in another game this season? It is getting close to a shutdown. Teams will just dare him to shoot anything outside the paint. 30 games left and they're tied with the Pistons for the final spot. He'd be a liability on the floor at this point.

Markelle should really do other drills, besides shooting, while reporters mill about. His body language is dreadful after missing a FT. He needs to work on his shooting in private, with a coach.
 

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
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What are the odd's he plays in another game this season? It is getting close to a shutdown. Teams will just dare him to shoot anything outside the paint. 30 games left and they're tied with the Pistons for the final spot. He'd be a liability on the floor at this point.

Markelle should really do other drills, besides shooting, while reporters mill about. His body language is dreadful after missing a FT. He needs to work on his shooting in private, with a coach.
I think he’s done for the year. He needs several months out of the spotlight to work through these issues. If Philly makes the playoffs, you can’t expose him to that kind of scrutiny.
 

Caspir

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Pretty soon they'll have a table of these bad boys outside of practices like it's a Kevin Hart show.

 

DannyDarwinism

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Jul 7, 2007
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The saga continues. Conditioning-wise "he looks like he hasn't played basketball in a while", is not an encouraging sign for a guy who has all the means and incentive to be in great condition. And apparently it's to the point where he needs to improve conditioning, but actually has to be held out of conditioning drills due to poor conditioning? The "I don't really know much about it" in response to Fultz re-making his shot is consistent with what he has said before, but still incredible, plus the tacit confirmation that at this point, his shoulder isn't an issue.

Also, on Tuesday Fultz did an interview with Caron Butler, with whom he shares an agent, but apparently he set it up without the knowledge of the Sixers. Fultz hasn't been made available to local media since the beginning of the season.
 

The Needler

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The saga continues. Conditioning-wise "he looks like he hasn't played basketball in a while", is not an encouraging sign for a guy who has all the means and incentive to be in great condition. And apparently it's to the point where he needs to improve conditioning, but actually has to be held out of conditioning drills due to poor conditioning?
Its pretty obviously BS. Players who are full participants at practice have to be made available to the media. He pulls him out of conditioning because then he won't be a full participant.