My Jump Shot in High School

by

Kenny Sailors

I played basketball at the old Laramie High School [see image below] for three seasons – 1936-37, 1937-38, and 1938-39. I was all-state in Wyoming the last two years.

The thing I remember most about shooting my jump shot in high school was that I started out practicing dribbling to the end line - 10 or 12 feet out from the right side of the basket and sometimes clear out to the corner.  [See image below of old gym.]

I did most of my shooting at that time from the right side of the court. [See image below - Gym dedication to Kenny in 2015]

When I got to the corner I didn’t have any defender coming at me from the front or the right side. So I jumped and turned in the air to face the basket and shot the ball. Sometimes I would end up out of bounds when I landed.

Later on in high school I started shooting a few from in front of the basket, but I still shot mostly from the side in order to eliminate the defense from covering me. And I was fast enough to get away from any defender trying to catch me from behind.

I eventually discovered I could get more height on my jump shot if I went straight up out of my dribble, AND it was more accurate if I kept facing the basket all the time and not turning in the air as I rose. Also, that turned out to be the best protection from the defense, because they didn’t know when I was going to pick up my dribble and shoot. If the guy guarding me got too close I’d dribble past him. So the defense gave me room. My opponent couldn’t time his defense with my stop and jump. Because I took him by surprise the only way he could stop me was by fouling. Anyway, defenders in those days usually kept both feet on the floor. So it was easier once I was airborne.

As I began to shoot more and more from in front I found I had more room to maneuver, too.

Eventually, I worked on refining my shot by bringing the ball up over my head and a little out in front while shooting with one hand. I don’t remember ever shooting with two hands.

At the point where I reached the top of my jump, but hadn’t started down yet, I attempted to release the ball. This is probably the hardest part of shooting a jump shot – the timing of when you release the ball. You don’t want to shoot it on the way up because it’s not as accurate. But I had to learn to shoot before my feet came back down or I’d be traveling. It took a while to perfect this – actually several years. It didn’t happen overnight. I found that eventually my instincts told me when to release the ball – at the exact moment I was hanging in the air – neither going up nor coming down.

Also when I was a kid I learned to start practicing the jump shot from in close - maybe 8-10 feet from the basket - and gradually worked out to the free throw line. That’s where I eventually took a lot of my shots. Of course, in my day, a basket was worth just two points no matter where you shot. So the closer the better as long as you could get open.

For today’s kids it’s a mistake to begin shooting the jump shot way out at the three-point line. You won’t develop a good jump shot by trying to make it from too far away when you don’t have the strength and technique to succeed from there until you’re older.

Oddly, I’d have to thank the Casper High School coach at that time, Okie Blanchard, for using a zone defense against us.

Blanchard  was one of the best coaches in Wyoming.

On the small floors, common in that day, a zone usually was pretty effective.

Once our offense got their zone moving I found that with my speed and dribble I could find a seam and penetrate the front line of their defense, and before the inside defenders could reach me I’d stop near the free throw line and shoot, unless I chose to pass to someone underneath. Coach Blanchard’s zone helped me learn how to attack a zone which came in handy in college. I found it was easier to get free against a zone because against a man-to-man it’s harder to shake a really good defender and get in the clear.

But my shot also worked well against most man-to-man defenses especially on a larger floor. My dribble and quickness were the keys to getting free against anyone, and it didn’t matter how tall my opponent was when I surprised him with my jump shot.

As I entered college, I also had to learn how to come to a quick stop out of my dribble and jump straight up. I had to do this to keep my momentum from carrying me forward and getting a charging foul. And I still had to work on the timing of releasing the ball at the peak of my jump. It took a while to perfect.

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More:

January 29, 1939

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Typed from Kenny’s written notes and some interviews by Bill Schrage, an archivist for Kenny Sailors.