Moses Moody spoke to reporters at practice the other day on the eve of the Golden State Warriors’ game at the Denver Nuggets. He said he’s been working a lot with development coach Jama Mahlalela and studying Klay Thompson’s shooting mechanics.
That brought me back to the “reverse waterfall”, which Klay himself explains here:
…and J.J. Redick helps expound on to Danny Chau of The Ringer here. Idk, I still have trouble with that metaphor. My brain just refuses to invert a waterfall. 🤷🏻♂️
Even Moses has a little trouble explaining it:
… he’s balanced on his shot. His feet are sometimes — they really don’t matter. Sometimes they’re angled a little bit but from his hips to his shoulders it’s all pretty squared up to the basket. His elbow, when you — that’s the main thing I had to figure out because when I square my shoulders it didn’t come off my hand like I wanted to but then watching him, it’s kinda hard to explain right here, I’d have to have a ball in my hand but he’s in line like that, his shoulder’s lined up and just the release makes it possible to have elbow squared, come off the right way off the finger and have his shoulders squared up. It’s kinda hard to explain like this, but that was the key. That’s what I like about his shot and I kinda took from it.”
Here’s the rest of the interview. I like the part where he talks about the team’s struggles but that they’re staying positive:
• *(inaudible)* “… go figure some stuff out on an NBA floor.”
• *Improvement:* “… (you can) see the journey to this point. It’s not the endpoint … studying guys … trying stuff out … things not work, learn from my mistakes …”
• *Kuminga:* “That’s my dog (he’s been asked this a million times so I’ll skip the rest as it’s on our YouTube channel) …”
• *Someone in the locker room like him:* “… he’s just an energetic fun to be around type of dude … uplifts the room.”
• *Struggles:* “Everybody’s just trying to figure it out … most of it is positive 🚨… keep going … we just gotta figure out what works.”
• *Solutions:* “Like I said, trying stuff out … going back to the drawing board … me and coach Jama been putting a lot of time in a little bit with my shot. I’ve been watching a lot of Klay … parts of it … Klay’s been the blueprint for me …”
• *Denver short roster:* “It’s opportunity. It’s a free swing … underdogs … San Antonio … nothing to lose …”
[Klay blueprint explained here]
• *What’s your method, do you hunt shots or look to drive?* “… I just let the game come … just playing my role … what’s best for the team is what’s best for me …”
/end