University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Greatest Show on Earth
February 7, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2005
By Adam Lucas
It's one of the best pregame shows in college basketball, and it doesn't require laser lights. There's no smoke or loud music. Not even a glimpse of a Frisbee-catching dog.
It's about as stripped down and basic as basketball can be. Approximately one hour before every game, Rashad McCants emerges from the Carolina locker room. He grabs a basketball off the rack. And then he shoots.
The process is repeated before most Tar Heel practices, and it's become so familiar that it can be identified simply by its sounds: the bounce of the ball, the pause as it's being released, and the ripping sound as the ball tears through the net.
He frequently begins with shorter shots, the ones most of us look at and think, "I could make that." But then he takes a step back. Then another step back. Before you know it, he's standing 25 feet from the basket and still looking as effortless as he did from 15 feet. The repetition is what makes it impressive, the way every moving part stirs exactly the same way every time.
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"Squaring up your body is key, and that comes from shooting so much. As you get ready to release, you always want to have a window where you can see the goal and the rim. When the ball is released, have your right arm straight so the rotation is the same every time. Keep your body straight up and down. You don't want to lean left or right. Keep your guide hand on the ball until you reach the peak of your jumper. It's what is guiding the ball where you want it to go. Once you take your guide hand off the ball, it's a one-handed shot from that point on."
Rashad McCants on shooting technique
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"The key to a shot is repetition," McCants says. "You get more comfortable with shooting the ball from far out. You have to know where you're shooting from and get comfortable with the area of the court that you're on."
Much of that familiarity was built during his high school career at New Hampton Prep. He'd spend hours in the gym, often accompanied by future Tar Heel teammate Wes Miller. One would shoot, the other would rebound. Just the bounce of the ball and the swish of the net. Familiar sounds.
Those New Hampton seasons were the last major tweak to his shot until the summer of 2004, when he picked up a subtle change from Raymond Felton.
"Over the summer, I was able to watch Raymond shoot a lot," McCants says. "His follow through was impeccable. I had never seen anyone follow through like he did. I added that to my shot, became comfortable with it, and the ball started going in a lot more."
He's comfortable out to at least 35 feet with his jump shot and says he can approach 40 feet without changing any of the mechanics of the shot. The sharp flip of his wrist at the end of his shot this season has added the final flourish to what was already nearly textbook form. He's one of the rare players with a muscular upper body who doesn't look awkward taking a jump shot. Instead, it's that impressive upper body strength that allows him to exhibit such tremendous shooting range.
It is instructive, then, that in the year when he's having his best shooting season--his 42.6 percentage from three-point range and 50.2 mark from the field would be career highs--he is shooting less, not more. There were times in his career when he might have been known more as a shooter than a scorer, that subtle distinction in terminology that separates the shot-hunters from the basketball players.
As a junior, without a doubt, he is a scorer. Or wait. Maybe he is just a basketball player.
"Last year, my focus was on proving I could be a dominant force in the ACC," he says. "This year it's on winning a national championship."
It shows. It's obvious in the way he passes up a wide-open shot at Virginia to try and get Reyshawn Terry the ball in even better position to make a shot. It's obvious in the way he plays defense, in the way that he's second on the team in blocked shots. And it's most obvious in the assists category on the stat sheet, where he'll set a new career high with over a month left in the season--with 61, he could pass his previous career high of 65 as soon as Wednesday night's game at Duke.
Those are the signs of a mature basketball player. It may mean he's overlooked for some individual honors, because some observers don't recognize anything but scoring average. But he knows, his coach knows, and his teammates know: he's played his best basketball as a junior.
And also found time to put on some pretty amazing pregame shows.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. His book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about the book, click here.
