Inside the Book
Pure Shooters Are Born Not Made

A taste of what awaits — the Foreword and the opening chapters.

"Skills vary with the man.
We must tread a straight path
and strive by that which is born in us"
~ Pindar, Odes (fifth c. BC), Nemea 1, tr. Richard Lattimore

Foreword

Life can be pulled by goals
just as surely as it can be pushed by drives.

~ Viktor Frankl

Shooting is as much an art as it is a skill. The art of shooting and the development of skills to become a pure shooter are the culmination of hard work, dedication, and countless hours of practice. To become highly accomplished in this facet of the game, the pure shooter's foundation starts with the fundamentals. The best shooters are those that find an effective method, or routine, that produces the same focus and execution of movement no matter the situation.

Pure Shooters Are Born, Not Made explores from a player, team, and coaching perspective the quality most great shooters possess. Pure Shooters examines the many variables that can affect shooting and development of consistent skills that each player must develop to become a consummate shooter.

While many examine the outcome of a team sport, this writing displays how shooting is maximized within a team environment — the ability to score when the team needs it, the ability to make an essential bucket when the team needs it and the ability to accept team expectations being the go-to player. These are all examined. No doubt this is a shooter's platform and exposes how shooters become valuable contributors to the success of a team.

You will find that the experiences of the author are those that tap into his experiences as a player, coach, and teacher of the game. For a shooter to develop fully, the methods and instructions in this book will capture all the important steps, qualities, and skills development that will result in being a good shooter. While there are a few great shooters, the ability to improve as a shooter can be achieved by following the methods within Pure Shooters Are Born, Not Made.

Ultimately, you will experience the success derived from hours of practice and honing skills that will never let you down when the game is on the line. Therefore, if you love to hear SWOOSH each time you shoot the basketball, this is an instrumental guide that explains proven methods of becoming a shooter, a pure shooter.

Pure Shooters Are Born, Not Made is a step-by-step analysis for all players that desire to develop all facets of the game and become a complete player.

Elton Stanley

Methodist University Board of Trustees Member

Former Teammate of the Pure Shooter

Hall of Fame  ·  Retired Jersey  ·  All American

Chapter 1

Swish

There are really only two plays:
Romeo and Juliet, and put the darn ball in the basket.

~ Abe Lemmons

Amid the pure shooter's exhibition lies the breathless ambitions to sink the basket. This is the most important testimony to the pure shooter's birthright. The pure shooter has been blessed with the seeds of greatness and must not drift away from the accountability of expressing on this creation. The court is no longer unexplored territory, but a launchpad to compel the mighty jumper to its rightful destination.

The rim is the receptacle for depositing the basketball, the recipient of the pure shooter's demonstrative collateral. The gratifying frequency of "basket good" is the whisper in the ear of the pure shooter as he ponders the next shot.

The court becomes the pure shooter's sanctuary for deadly jump-shooting showmanship. The location, and station of his position on the court outline the bold action of an artform, an artform so laced with skepticisms and controversy as to validate the mystifying content of the pure shooter's finely developed fundamentals and grip-the-ball philosophy.

There is a studious pursuit for perfection with the pure shooter. High ambitions are achieved by tireless work. Other raw talented and top-tier players will attempt to expose the pure shooter. Competition is welcomed. The pure shooter becomes even more industrious to the challenge. And tactical skills are used, and a certain degree of cunningness is exercised to demolish defensive schemes. The competition soon concedes there is no substitute for gifted elegance.

Here, the drama plays out before the masses of moral ineptitude and the undying loyalty of the pure shooter's unblemished commitment to perennial acclaim and scoring. Artificial talent is the counterfeit of the pure shooter's sanctified aptitude. The raw talent is invariably a work in progress and cannot obtain the ordained generosity of the pure shooter's genius.

The hot streak shooter resides in the land of transitory and is a temporary impersonator of the pure shooter's permanent contribution to the scoring machinery. The streak shooter's paradise is of short duration and measured. It denotes an evanescent moment. Luck, chance, and possibility are not within the pure shooter's sojourn.

The streak shooter can drift into periods of intense sharpness, but climatic conditions can modify his capacity to fill the hoop. The shooting and scoring are linked to high temperatures, and a sudden drop in the gauge can force him to seek other alternatives. The streak shooter's sensitivity to heat and cold decreases his overall effectiveness during a shooting operation.

The pure shooter's arsenal always operates at full capacity. There is an ingenious aim that is esthetically pleasing to the team. Within the consciousness of the pure shooter is an implanted imperative to mesmerize the team — or the audience — whenever the opportunity arises. The pure shooter must display the stamina of a marathon runner, not a fifty-yard dash man. Success is a painstaking journey and perseverance is vital in the mission.

This is the accomplishment of a prolific scorer. A marksman develops a campaign of sound judgment and decision making that can only be enhanced by training, experience, and insight. The pure shooter is the panacea for all things unhurriedly wrong in the shooting department of any team. There is an overwhelming confidence, faith, and trust in the work that is being commanded to perform.

The pure shooter is imposing while treading the court. The contours of the court accept each footmark as a dignified step supporting the pure shooter's deep discharge. To the observer, watching the measured steps of a player with academic credentials in the technique of shooting a basketball is intimidating.

The pure shooter expresses sensitivity while gripping the round and inflated ball that becomes an instrument of labor. He scans the elevated backboard, goal, and net for calculation and identification. With proper footing in place and the basketball seams in alignment, there is an elevation to a peak position to release this missile toward the hoop. The eyes, ears, and nose remain on full alert, calculating the depth and trusting their own mental composition and mechanics to release the object of applause to a dead-center transmission.

The pure shooter lands back on the court as the projectile directs itself toward the goal. The mighty jumper releases and witnesses the chatter while the ball is rotating in the air. Is the aim correct? Are all atmospheric pressures within their proper ranges? Is the gift packaged properly? Was there sufficient training and instruction? Are the fundamentals sound? Is the pure shooter qualified to release this projectile for public scrutiny? Has the marksman been commissioned to take the shot?

As the crowd prepares itself for the result, the pure shooter rests with the confidence that he is incapable of missing the target. This is the benchmark of a scorer's profession. The skeptics consider the pure shooter genius a temporary art form that is unworthy of being treasured in museums. They have a gallery of ideals. These naysayers pace around the courtyards and corridors wearing their thinking caps with twisting propellers on top, while the repository of the pure shooter is only dependent on the enunciation of swish.

Chapter 2

Meet Me at 12:00 Midnight

Young people need models, not critics.

~ John Wooden, Legendary UCLA Basketball Coach

It is good business to have a mentor in every phase of social organization, a person you look up to with respect as a role model. It could be someone you would like to mimic or take on their characteristics in a meaningful manner. The role model is not a deity, but a significant person of character and integrity that encourages another through their performances or demonstrations.

The summer of the year 1967 was a tremendous period to attend the top basketball school in the country at Campbell College in Buies Creek, North Carolina. There were many of the nation's top college coaches and players, NBA and ABA players, and top high school players from all over the country.

The top draw at the camp was the legendary collegiate player named Pistol Pete Maravich. Pistol was college basketball's all-time leading scorer — a breathtaking maestro of the basketball arts whose footwork, vision, and shooting instinct left every observer reaching for comparisons that simply did not exist. To share a court with Pistol Pete, even briefly, was to witness the scripture of pure shooting written in real time.

The story continues...

Fourteen more chapters await — each one a deeper study of the mind, method, and mastery of the pure shooter.

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Also inside the book
Practice Makes Perfect Can't Hit the Side of a Barn Offense Versus Defense 100 Points! Legacy of a Champion One Second to Go Preparation Builds Confidence Is Anybody Home? Blind Ambition The Sacrifice Intimidation as a Power Tool Sportsmanship Is Lordship Can a Pure Shooter Be Made? Paint Your Dreams