Luck or skill?: long distance shots

[Maawdawg]

I thought this video was pretty interesting. It is about a kid who made a 90 foot shot in a game. Seems he is ridiculously accurate shooting at about that distance from the video.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=3979893&categoryid=2378529

[DenyThisFlesh]

Long distance shots like that are mostly luck. Even if you have a good trajectory on the ball and it goes almost perfectly, it can't touch the rim until it's at least halfway down or it will likely take a huge bounce. There is some skill involved. For one, you have to be very strong to throw a basketball that far and the accuracy it takes to hit that small a target from that distance is pretty impressive.

[Bro13ama]

while ya there is a ton of luck involved theres also lots of skill

im pretty sure i read somewhere that kevin love, last years UCLA star, could hit shots from across the court pretty consistently and I think i remember hearing wallace on DET is good at hitting half court shots

[Maawdawg]

Yeah, some NBA guys make half court shots like normal people make 3s. If you ever go to an NBA game go in as early as you can and try to catch some of the early shoot around. Some of the shots those guys take and make are crazy. Some luck is involved in it actually going in but it takes a lot of skill to actually get it close on a consistent basis to have a chance.

[laxfish76]

This is also impressive, coming from a guy who can hardly shoot a mid range 2 pointer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhor8TRLpP0

//Lax

[sir woimz]

I went to a Heat game last year and saw DWade make 3 in a row. He was really pumped up about it. It was crazy to see.

[Redenbacher09]

A one time deal is luck. The fact that he can do that on request is skill. Very impressive.