The Reason for Scheyer's Shooting Struggles

[NM Duke Fan]

"You want to win, you don't wanna go home so for me I need to find a way to relax. I know I can shoot the ball. I'm putting a little too much pressure on it, and I need to look at my mechanics, maybe there could be something there too."

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/voices/blogpost/7275127/

[OldPhiKap]

"You want to win, you don't wanna go home so for me I need to find a way to relax. I know I can shoot the ball. I'm putting a little too much pressure on it, and I need to look at my mechanics, maybe there could be something there too."

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/voices/blogpost/7275127/

Sometimes, you think about it too much. Jon's greatest shot of the last few weeks -- the turn-around bang-bang at the end of the GT ACCT game -- was pure instinct.

I trust that he'll right the shooting, and again note that he is providing great defense and great vocal leadership. I want him on the floor, regardless of how he's shooting.

JJ went through slumps, Trajan went through slumps. They come, they go. Jon will be fine, and when he has that break-out game it will be lights out. So keep on shooting, Jon, and know that you have a great team that has your back.

[noyac]

I saw in the ACCT that he was taking much longer to shoot than he had all season and now in the NCAA's he is getting very frustrated when he misses. I remember against Ark-PB, Coach Collins talking to him and you could just see the frustration on Jon's face.

I think the frustration comes from him wanting to win and help the team so badly that when he doesn't perform well he starts feeling it is his fault if the team loses. He needs to realize that if your shot isn't falling it doesn't mean you aren't helping the team it means you should focus that much harder on playing D, finding other people (assists), and hustling so that the lack of points from you is made up for with other tangibles and intangibles.

I think he is doing just that and focusing on other area's of his game when the shots aren't falling but the frustration is not going away.

[NM Duke Fan]

As I tell my Qigong and Ancient Awareness Skills students--sometimes you have to lose your mind and come to your senses!

[uh_no]

you're all wrong!

obviously it's tired legs and k overplaying his starters....pause...not

[KyDevilinIL]

Well here's another situation where the odd depth perception/sightlines in the Houston facility could be a wildcard. Is it going to further mess with his head, or will the new environment help him break out of the funk?

Or is that concept entirely overrated? Most teams seem to adapt perfectly well to these football venues.

[DevilHorns]

Or is that concept entirely overrated? Most teams seem to adapt perfectly well to these football venues.

Don't they have a full 4 days to practice in this setting? I think they'll be fine. As fans we over-analyze everything.

[BlueintheFace]

Don't they have a full 4 days to practice in this setting? I think they'll be fine. As fans we over-analyze everything.

They still have to go to school.

[jacone21]

There was a play early in the game yesterday (about halfway through the first half) where Jon caught the ball near the top of the key and was wide open. He hesitated and then took the shot, which he missed. That hesitation was clear evidence of this problem. Jon, just pull the trigger in rhythm, man.

[ElSid]

it's been a long time since he's shot the ball well. this rules out tired legs (his legs haven't been tired since january right?). it could be mental. or it could be mechanics. something is weird about his mechanics to begin with...hence the ball spinning sort of sideways upon release. if zoubek and the plumlees and thomas continue to pick up the slack, the most important thing is for jon just to keep putting up quality minutes in all other respects, as several of you have pointed out already. i love that we barely turn the ball over and a lot of that credit has to go to jon.

from an optimistic perspective, the fact that jon isn't shooting well could be a blessing in disguise. creating more opportunities for others to shine. providing a better experience and more confidence to other players. and then if in houston jon figures out how to score again, it's like going from from the cold pool at the water park to the warm pool. it's gonna feel great.

[CDu]

it's been a long time since he's shot the ball well. this rules out tired legs (his legs haven't been tired since january right?). it could be mental. or it could be mechanics. something is weird about his mechanics to begin with...hence the ball spinning sort of sideways upon release. if zoubek and the plumlees and thomas continue to pick up the slack, the most important thing is for jon just to keep putting up quality minutes in all other respects, as several of you have pointed out already. i love that we barely turn the ball over and a lot of that credit has to go to jon.

from an optimistic perspective, the fact that jon isn't shooting well could be a blessing in disguise. creating more opportunities for others to shine. providing a better experience and more confidence to other players. and then if in houston jon figures out how to score again, it's like going from from the cold pool at the water park to the warm pool. it's gonna feel great.

Technically, that first sentence isn't true. Scheyer shot it pretty well in the opening round game (3 of 5 on 3s, 4 of 7 overall). He hasn't shot it well consistently in a long time. He's only had a handful of strong shooting games since the end of January, mixed in with a lot of clunkers.

[Vincetaylor]

I think Jon should start driving to the hoop more and taking some shots closer in. He is very capable of scoring points this way and it could go a long way in restoring his confidence...if that is really the issue.

[heyman25]

Not really true,his dribble drive from the baseline was an airball against Cal. He misses more than he makes in his drives. Nolan is the star of the dribble drive. Its not Jon's back its not fatigue. He is missing his shots period. He needs to work on it between now and Friday.

[Kedsy]

I think Jon should start driving to the hoop more and taking some shots closer in. He is very capable of scoring points this way and it could go a long way in restoring his confidence...if that is really the issue.

Except that's kind of been his problem for the entire slump. Since (and including) the Florida State game on Jan 27, Jon has shot 38.4% on this three-point attempts (which is actually a little better than his career percentage of 38.0%), but only 30.9% on his two-point attempts.

I agree there's a lot of value for a slumping player to see the ball go through the hoop, but at least in the past month and a half, taking close-in shots doesn't appear to be an effective way for Jon to accomplish that.

[OldPhiKap]

Jon needs to breathe out of his eyelids like the lava lizards of the Galapagos Islands.


That, or just watch some silly movie before the game to relax.

[Saratoga2]

He has been missing close in on shots he would have made earlier in the year. He has also shot a couple of air balls on open shots. Clearly something is going on with him but I have no clue what it is.

[Devilsfan]

No pressure. He's merely leading us out of the desert (the field) where we've wandered aimlessly for the last several years into the promised land (final four).

[Kfanarmy]

CBCSports has a sweet 16 preview at http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2010/...w.html?ref=rss

what I found interesting was wrt Butler: "They will need Horizon League MVP Gordon Hayward to step up if they are going to survive. Hayward shot 4-of-13 in the Murray State game, and hasn't been himself since sustaining a back injury on Feb. 26."

sound familiar?

[Billy Dat]

From the horse's mouth at today's press conference:

Q. The last game against Cal, your shooting statistics, was that something Cal was doing defensively? Was that an off shooting day? Can you talk about that game and how you bounced back from that?
JON SCHEYER: Yeah, you know, it happens. The last game I didn't shoot the ball well. I had a lot of great looks. Guys had me in great positions, I just didn't shoot the ball well. So it's something I just went back to Durham, worked hard on my shooting.
You know, it's also not -- the last game, I don't really base my game on whether I shoot the ball well or not. But for me I just want to go out there and play well, defensively, offensively, and shooting will come.

Q. You said about your mechanics, you said last week in Jacksonville that you want to go back and look at film. Do you see anything in there?
JON SCHEYER: Well, last game against Cal, I was just -- I was pretty passive. Once I started to miss a few, I started feeling pressure on myself because the way we were playing defense as a team, we had a chance to really, you know, extend the lead to a 20-point lead or, you know, at least 20 if I had just a couple of those open looks. So I was just getting tight on my shots and trying to guide the ball in.
So for me that's one thing I looked at. I just need to go and shoot the ball. I know my teammates have confidence in me, I just need to have confidence, too.

Q. But everything looked good you saw on film?
JON SCHEYER: Well, no. Actually I was just really trying to guide the ball in. Really, I was kicking my legs out on a couple of them. That's just something I looked at. For me, I just need to shoot the ball strong like I have in the past.

[dukelifer]

From the horse's mouth at today's press conference:

Q. The last game against Cal, your shooting statistics, was that something Cal was doing defensively? Was that an off shooting day? Can you talk about that game and how you bounced back from that?
JON SCHEYER: Yeah, you know, it happens. The last game I didn't shoot the ball well. I had a lot of great looks. Guys had me in great positions, I just didn't shoot the ball well. So it's something I just went back to Durham, worked hard on my shooting.
You know, it's also not -- the last game, I don't really base my game on whether I shoot the ball well or not. But for me I just want to go out there and play well, defensively, offensively, and shooting will come.

Q. You said about your mechanics, you said last week in Jacksonville that you want to go back and look at film. Do you see anything in there?
JON SCHEYER: Well, last game against Cal, I was just -- I was pretty passive. Once I started to miss a few, I started feeling pressure on myself because the way we were playing defense as a team, we had a chance to really, you know, extend the lead to a 20-point lead or, you know, at least 20 if I had just a couple of those open looks. So I was just getting tight on my shots and trying to guide the ball in.
So for me that's one thing I looked at. I just need to go and shoot the ball. I know my teammates have confidence in me, I just need to have confidence, too.

Q. But everything looked good you saw on film?
JON SCHEYER: Well, no. Actually I was just really trying to guide the ball in. Really, I was kicking my legs out on a couple of them. That's just something I looked at. For me, I just need to shoot the ball strong like I have in the past.

I don't know about this. Clearly Jon has no idea what he is saying. Doesn't he read DBR.