Louisville Cardinals Forward Bringing Back the Granny Shot

By Daniel Tran | Jun 17, 2015

The Louisville Cardinals had to endure Chinanu Onuaku’s poor free throw shooting last season. A shift in style might change that.

Coin flips are rarely how you would want to settle an argument in your favor. The Louisville Cardinals basically had to flip one every time Chinanu Onuaku reached the free throw line last season, creating an atmosphere comparable to a Sunday morning church service with how many prayers were being mumbled every time he was at the charity stripe.

Looking to change his fortune and end his futility from the free-throw line, Onuaku has looked into the past to find an answer to his questionable free-throw percentage, which mercifully finished at 46.7 percent when the season ended; way back into the pass.

More from ACC

According the Colorado Springs Gazette, Rick Pitino showed the 18-year-old Onuaku video of Rick Barry, who played his last season of professional basketball in 1980, shooting his signature underhanded free throw, also known as “The Granny Shot.” It seems that Onuaku is open to any solution to improve his free-throw percentage.

He has been practicing the shot while trying out for the USA Basketball U19 team where he is one cut away from being on the final roster. Onuaku has said the underhanded shot has been a huge improvement over the more traditional free throw shot he’s been trying to grind out. U19 head coach Sean Miller has been impressed.

“He’s sacrificing the way it looks for the result,” Sean Miller commented. “It says a lot about him.”

It is amazing that coaches haven’t taught Barry’s technique more since he finished his career with an 89.3 shooting percentage from the free-throw line. The naturally softer shot makes it so that even if the basketball makes contact with rim it will roll in.

Still, Sean Miller’s initial comment on the way it looks is indicative of the lack of widespread use of the technique by more players. It’s an odd looking shot that will garner more laughs than cheers. Opposing players and fans will undoubtedly be merciless once Onuaku debuts the shot next season.

Of course, the biggest silencer of critics of the shot will be draining them right in their faces. There is nowhere else to go but up for Onuaku and his 46.7 free throw percentage. Canyon Barry, Rick Barry’s son who plays for the College of Charleston, utilizes his dad’s free throw shot and has a career free throw percentage of 72.9 percent. If Onuaku can touch that, it would be a vast improvement and worth the initial ribbing from the opposition.

H/T College Basketball Talk

Next: Jarvis Johnson Medically Ineligible for Minnesota

More from Busting Brackets