Last season, after two months of competition, Jeremy Sochan surprised everyone by adopting a special free throw shot: a one-handed shot. A proof of eccentricity or a lost bet with a friend? No, a desire to reverse a very bad trend.
Because after 23 career matches, he only had a very low 46% success rate on the line (11/24). Gregg Popovich, with his assistant Brett Brown, therefore made the decision to offer him a one-handed shot.
“It was at 45% and I spoke to Brett to ask him what we were going to do”remembers the Spurs coach for The Athletic. “There was so much stray movement in his shot that we decided to try it with one hand, to see how it would feel. »
A very useful gesture for settling, but not used in matches for decades. Illustrious veterans shot like this: Bob Pettit, Oscar Robertson or Don Nelson, and the three succeeded in more than 75% of their career attempts.
Don't be ashamed to shoot one-handed
It was not difficult to convince Jeremy Sochan because, between inelegance and inefficiency, the choice is easy. “I was in a bad situation where I wasn't making enough free throws. I was ready for anything”confides the player.
“The main drawback is that most players will probably be embarrassed to want to do this in front of the whole world. That was our biggest worry,” relates Gregg Popovich. “So I asked him for his opinion. I didn't want to put him in a strange situation. If he didn't want to, we didn't do it. But maybe it was easier to control and we could take a look. »
During training, the rookie started shooting with one hand very close to the circle, to feel comfortable with the gesture. Then he moved back, ending up on the free-throw line. The results were soon interesting.
“He did it, and I don’t know if instant is the right word, but very quickly he started putting it in, with more regularity,” notes the Texan coach. “So we insisted, telling ourselves that we could do it over five or ten matches. It worked and now he's comfortable like that. »
No matter the bottle…
Therefore, as Jeremy Sochan himself says: “Why not try it in a match? » This will be the case in Houston, on December 19, 2022. He is only a little 1/4 into the exercise… “It wasn't my best match. It was new to me and I didn't know how the first attempt would turn out.” he recalls.
The fact of dribbling before shooting disturbs him. The next game, in New Orleans, he removed them from his routine. “He breathes and shoots. We all know that taking too long on a shot usually doesn’t end well.”Judge Gregg Popovich.
Since he switched to this shooting method, 63 matches, Jeremy Sochan has gone to the free throw line 153 times. He scored 116 times, a very correct 75.8% success rate.
“It’s become my thing and I’m very happy with it, because I went from 45 to over 70%”, he congratulates himself. So the bottle doesn't matter as long as you get drunk. “The opponents will be surprised, but it fits. Only the result counts. »
| Jeremy Sochan | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2022-23 | SAN | 56 | 26 | 45.3 | 24.6 | 69.8 | 1.7 | 3.6 | 5.3 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 11.0 |
| 2023-24 | SAN | 29 | 29 | 43.4 | 38.9 | 75.0 | 1.6 | 4.0 | 5.7 | 4.1 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 0.2 | 11.0 |
| Total | 85 | 27 | 44.6 | 29.6 | 71.5 | 1.7 | 3.7 | 5.4 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 11.0 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
