Breaking Down Derrick Rose’s New Jump Shot | NBA Playbook

Breaking Down Derrick Rose’s New Jump Shot

If there is one flaw in Derrick Rose’s tremendous game, it is his jump shot.  In his first two seasons, Rose’s jumper from the free throw line extended and out was so inconsistent (especially off the dribble), that it never was considered a threat.  The reason a jump shot is so important for a player like Rose is because if he has a respectable jumper, defenders can’t just sit back and pack the lane.

By all accounts, Rose has focused on improving his jumper this offseason.  Rose showed off the results of his hard work to a number of campers, and Docksquard Sports was able to obtain the video (link via TrueHoop).  Here are a couple jumpers off of the dribble:

When looking at his form, a few things really stick out.  The first being his wide base when rising up to attempt the jump shot:

WideBase

A wide base is key because when you take off you want to be balanced.  If you aren’t you tend to float while shooting your jump shot, and you don’t land where you take off (which is something that you want to when taking jump shots).  With your feet shoulder’s width apart, you pretty much guarantee that you will be balanced when rising up.  This is especially important for a fast ballhandler like Rose.  He likes to go at guys off the dribble, getting them on their heels before pulling up.  A wide base helps keep him from floating forward on his jumper.

HighRelease

When he is in the air, you notice a high release point.  This also seems like another little tweak of Rose’s shot.  The reason for the high release point is that it naturally forces you to put more arc on the shot (something that Rose struggled to do on his jumpers last year).  In addition to the high release point, you see that Rose’s body is straight ensuring that he will jump straight up and down.

Now this is Rose just dribbling up and shooting, this situation is probably not going to take place in the NBA.  More often than not, Rose is going to have to make a move before pulling up off of the dribble:

The key for Derrick Rose is going to be taking that jump shot form that he had when he was casually dribbling the ball and shooting it, and transferring it to moves off the dribble.  On his crossover move, he does a nice job of doing that.  He keeps the wide base, jumps straight up and straight down, and has that high release point.

Rose also showed off a few step back jumpers:

Now this step back jumper was Rose’s most inconsistent shot that he showed off during his camp.  This is understandable, because the step back jumper (while it could be really effective for a player like Rose) is a really tough shot to master.  In the video above, Rose shows an ability to knock it down, and when he does it is because he is transferring over the same form from the first two shots. However, he is unable to do it consistently.  Rose still has that high release point, but he tends to float on his step back jumper, even kicking his leg out on a few of his misses.

All things considered, I really like Derrick Rose’s new form.  Just from watching a nine minute clip of him shooting around, it shows that the people coaching Rose know what they are talking about.  It also shows that Rose is listening and taking the advice to heart.  The next challenge is going to be to see how Rose performs in actual competition.  Yes, Derrick Rose is going fast in these drills, but the speed in the NBA is 100x faster.  If Rose can maintain his new form, release point, and balance when he is shooting, Rose will see a spike in his shooting percentage.

03
Aug 2010
POSTED BY Sebastian Pruiti
POSTED IN Chicago Bulls Shooting Form Shooting Mechanics
DISCUSSION 16 Comments
TAGS

  • finzent

    I always had Rose pegged as a pretty good jump shooter, and hoopdata seems to agree; he shot 44% on long twos last season, which is actually really good (even more so because he took almost seven a game). So, while your analysis is interesting as always, saying that the jump shot is his biggest flaw seems a bit hard.

    (I don’t have the synergy numbers, of course, which might be more useful.)

  • Sebastian Pruiti

    Fiznet, thanks for the comment. Even on makes, I was never really a fan of Rose’s shooting form, because it results in some terribly inconsistent nights. This new form is much easier for him to shoot it consistently. Rose would have games, where he would shoot lights out and then have games where he couldn’t hit a jumper. He can still shoot the same percentage next year, but be more consistent (by shooting 44% every game rather than 80% one game and 0% the next). When he is more consistent, he is more of a threat that defenses need to worry about.

  • Rex

    I thought the issue was Rose’s lack of 3-point shooting, so that the work on his shot was to make him a threat from downtown.

    I don’t see him play much, and don’t know the Bulls offense, so I’m just speculating here, but maybe the downside of his good-but-not-great jumper isn’t so much his long-2 FG% but his assists, which at 6 per game is on the low side. A better jumper from further out would bring a man closer to him, opening up his teammates, a la Nash and D-Williams.

    I watch the Celts a lot, and you can see that Rondo’s weak jumper (which is worse than Rose, granted) lets the defense cover positions 2-4 better. Still, he’s racked up 8 and almost 10 assists per game the last couple of years, and in a slow-paced offense. That makes me think part of Rose’s low assists was also due to offensive strategy. With a new coach, and a little better jumper, maybe those #’s will jump next season.

  • Rex

    Oops, missed SP’s point about consistency.

  • Schubertz

    You could also say that his assists were low because some of his team mates never shot the ball well or are never really consistent (specially on the 3 point line). So while it is true that Rondo has a jump shot worse than Rose, Rondo has more consistent team mates than Rose.

  • Schubertz

    You could also say that his assists were low because some of his team mates never shot the ball well or are never really consistent (specially on the 3 point line). So while it is true that Rondo has a jump shot worse than Rose, Rondo has more consistent team mates than Rose.

  • inveca

    perhaps it's just the clips that were selected but i noticed that all the shots are from the left side. for a right handed shooter (or at least for me), it's 'easier' b/c the left hand becomes the pick-up hand and the right hand simply moves into position for the shot. on the right side, the right hand picks up the ball and it must then be moved into shooting position. doesn't sound like much but hand position is a critical element in shooting. hopefully, he feels confident in shooting the step-back, etc. from the right side as well.

  • Anonymous

    perhaps it’s just the clips that were selected but i noticed that all the shots are from the left side. for a right handed shooter (or at least for me), it’s ‘easier’ b/c the left hand becomes the pick-up hand and the right hand simply moves into position for the shot. on the right side, the right hand picks up the ball and it must then be moved into shooting position. doesn’t sound like much but hand position is a critical element in shooting. hopefully, he feels confident in shooting the step-back, etc. from the right side as well.

  • http://www.nbaplaybook.com Sebastian Pruiti

    In theory you are right inveca, shots are easier off the dribble for players when they are using their “weak” hand, however, here the only reason there are clips from the left side is because it is the only way I got clear video. He was taking jumpers from both sides, but campers heads were in the way of Rose's lower body.

  • Sebastian Pruiti

    Rose was taking jumpers from both sides, however there wasn’t any clear video from the right side, which is why only clips from the left side were taken…

  • http://www.nbaplaybook.com Sebastian Pruiti

    In theory you are right inveca, shots are easier off the dribble for players when they are using their “weak” hand, however, here the only reason there are clips from the left side is because it is the only way I got clear video. He was taking jumpers from both sides, but campers heads were in the way of Rose’s lower body.

  • Drose

    Is his leg post kick out on his step back jumpers because some players do when they fade-away as well?

  • Drose

    Is his leg post kick out on his step back jumpers because some players do when they fade-away as well?

  • Drose

    Is his leg post kick out on his step back jumpers because some players do when they fade-away as well?

  • Ramentasty

    Ahh why is a high release point so helpful? when i make a high release point, the rim is so much lower making me think i shouldn't have to arc the ball as high and making my shot flat.

  • Ramentasty

    Ahh why is a high release point so helpful? when i make a high release point, the rim is so much lower making me think i shouldn’t have to arc the ball as high and making my shot flat.