Originally published at: In defense of granny style | Boing Boing
…
4 Likes
He played from 1965-1980 but the post calls him a 1950s star.
2 Likes
In family games of horse, the granny shot has always been used often. The ball lands softer on the rim because it is near the apex of its arc and if done right has plenty of backspin. The big problem is that it is not a shot that can ever be used during the game (off the free throw line), and it takes practice to get the touch right. Practicing over hand free throws helps with shooting during the flow of the game, and to make free throws of either style when exhausted in the middle of a hard, physical game takes a lot of practice
5 Likes
The backwards granny throw is a go-to move for me when playing horse. Free throw line, back to the hoop, lean back a bit, and toss.
3 Likes
I fell like the “granny style” shot wouldn’t be quite so maligned if the main things people associate with it weren’t Rick Barry (one of the biggest assholes in sports, and noted racist), and the movie Hoosiers, a basketball movie in the late 80’s that centered on an all-white team and was also pretty racist.
Even if those old-timers had a better free-throw technique, basketball is still culturally driven, and the choices of cultures aren’t necessarily based on statistical advantages.
4 Likes
Is it only the NBA and men’s basketball that matters?
I imagine many men would never do the granny style shot because they think it’s a girly style.
I wonder if any women b-ball players use it.
2 Likes
Those socks . . .
8 Likes
oof. As a Celtics fan (who probably watched that game ‘live’ (on TV), I never picked up on that interaction, but that clip is brutal and painful to watch. Bill Russell’s annoyance in his subsequent responses to Barry’s “friendly cajoling” is telling, even as he had to play along on a national broadcast. Even as he was (arguably) the greatest player to ever play in the NBA, Russell had to deal with so much crap like this this throughout his career.
And sometimes the crap he had to deal with was literal.
3 Likes
“50s basketball star”?
Also, “when players throw the ball in a straight line to the hoop”. Huh? 1. It’s not a “throw”. 2. It doesn’t go in a straight line.
Jesus.
I’ve watched a fair number of WNBA games, and have never seen any underhanded free throw attempts. I’m not aware of any professional player (in any league) who shoots underhanded.
1 Like
The main reason the granny shot isn’t used is that it’s associated with women and old people.
3 Likes
Where’s their sense of pride?
I think they implicitly answered that. They’d rather have the ‘pride’ of a normal throw and missing, than the ‘pride’ of scoring but being seen to do so with an underhand throw. Calling it ‘granny style’ doesn’t help these ‘alpha males’, either.
There was a really good episode of Revisionist History about granny shooting, a few years back.
1 Like
So women players don’t want to be thought of as women?
2 Likes
Or old women.
What do you think?
2 Likes
Don’t think. Just play!
3 Likes
2 Likes
“Where’s their sense of pride?”
Probably overwhelmed by their sense of ego, and marinating in the proceeds of $40 million contracts.
Not like they’re going to get more money, fame, or women by making a few more free throws.
Helping THE TEAM win, however… is usually not a priority.
1 Like
Yep. And (to my way of thinking) perhaps connected to the fact that NBA players have (in comparison over the years with society by and large) lagged in acceptance of LGBTQ. Granny style? Not for REAL men.
1 Like
