TheGreatGatsby
Gold Member
Barry was .91% from the line for his entire career.Yea. I remember when Bird hit those 71 in a row and we were all sure he'd break Calvin Murphy's 78 straight FT's and then he clanked one. I think he made another 20 or 25 in a row after that but it didn't matter. Bird only shot .886 but he did that while playing heavy minutes and while coming into his career with the severed finger; so the first five years he wasn't there yet. His first couple years, he actually shot from about a foot behind the line because he hadn't readjusted yet and he had lost some of his finesse. But Bird did shoot roughly 92 percent from the line for his final six years. He looked automatic by then. I was always surprised when he missed. I think he missed when he daydreamed or something
West, Barry, Bird - these great shooters. I wish they had played in HD. I don't think the camera caught all the magic.
It might have been different if he severed his finger 90 degrees before his career started too. But there's no doubting Barry's touch. He would do running two handed underhand shots from like 17 feet away on top of his great regular stroke.
