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Next installment from The UConn Blog.
Tale Of The Tape: Alterique Gilbert’s Jump Shot
Through 11 games, UConn has seen a major improvement in its offense from this season compared to last. While the structural and strategic differences have been crucial to that development, one other vital part has been the emergence of Alterique Gilbert. Not only does he appear completely recovered from the injuries that held him out of the bulk of the last two seasons, he also looks like a whole new player.
Gilbert struggled with his jumper early in his UConn career, never establishing a consistent form, and only rarely hitting shots from outside. His first two seasons, both injury-shortened, saw him shoot 22.6 percent from three. This year, everything has changed; he’s one of the team’s best players and his 41.7 percent mark from beyond the arc leads the Huskies (with a minimum of two 3-point attempts, with apologies to Eric Cobb).
But with a couple shaky games recently behind him, it’s worth wondering whether he’s overachieving or if this is just who Gilbert is now. The mechanics haven’t always looked consistent, and for someone who missed left-to-right* in his previous two seasons, that’s a concern. I reviewed the tape from Saturday’s game against Manhattan, where Gilbert made two of his six attempts from beyond the arc, to see what Gilbert’s performance against the Jaspers could tell us.
[*Missing the majority of jump shots left-to-right, as opposed to missing a touch too long or too short, often indicates a weak shooter. Hitting the far or front rim is a touch issue, and not even Steph Curry has good enough touch to make half of his threes. On the other hand, missing left or right indicates an issue with either aiming or mechanics, which is a much more difficult problem to solve.]
Tale Of The Tape: Alterique Gilbert’s Jump Shot
Through 11 games, UConn has seen a major improvement in its offense from this season compared to last. While the structural and strategic differences have been crucial to that development, one other vital part has been the emergence of Alterique Gilbert. Not only does he appear completely recovered from the injuries that held him out of the bulk of the last two seasons, he also looks like a whole new player.
Gilbert struggled with his jumper early in his UConn career, never establishing a consistent form, and only rarely hitting shots from outside. His first two seasons, both injury-shortened, saw him shoot 22.6 percent from three. This year, everything has changed; he’s one of the team’s best players and his 41.7 percent mark from beyond the arc leads the Huskies (with a minimum of two 3-point attempts, with apologies to Eric Cobb).
But with a couple shaky games recently behind him, it’s worth wondering whether he’s overachieving or if this is just who Gilbert is now. The mechanics haven’t always looked consistent, and for someone who missed left-to-right* in his previous two seasons, that’s a concern. I reviewed the tape from Saturday’s game against Manhattan, where Gilbert made two of his six attempts from beyond the arc, to see what Gilbert’s performance against the Jaspers could tell us.
[*Missing the majority of jump shots left-to-right, as opposed to missing a touch too long or too short, often indicates a weak shooter. Hitting the far or front rim is a touch issue, and not even Steph Curry has good enough touch to make half of his threes. On the other hand, missing left or right indicates an issue with either aiming or mechanics, which is a much more difficult problem to solve.]
