The ignorance of national broadcast teams...

[Drucci]

The comment of Jackson reminded me of an excellent article of Boston.com about Ray Allen's routine and his training. It was published last year, just before the tipoff ot the first round for the Celtics. Here is an extract :

The routine is paramount. People don't understand that. They see Ray Allen, his head meticulously shaved, his jersey tucked carefully into his shorts, his socks pulled up to precisely the same length, and they are drawn to his silky jumper. Can you blame them? It is so smooth, so fluid, so seemingly effortless.
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Everyone wishes they could shoot like Ray. They tell him that all the time. They are envious, they say, of his God-given talent.

"An insult," says Allen. "God could care less whether I can shoot a jump shot."

As the Celtics kick off their campaign for an NBA championship tonight in the opening round of the playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks, Allen will leave nothing to chance. He will line up for the tip exactly as he has for his other 73 games. His pregame ritual does not waver: a nap from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m., a meal of chicken and white rice at 2:30, an arrival time at the gym at precisely 3:45 to stretch. Allen will shave his head, then walk out to the court at exactly 4:30. He will methodically take shots from both baselines, both elbows, and the top of the key.

I think Mark Jackson should read it, maybe he would understand how much work Ray and other great shooters have to do to get to this level of excellence.

[Fan from VT]

Such comments also completely discount the fact that, while he does work hard, kobe has more natural ability than almost anyone else in the NBA. There's a lot of very hard workers in the world, and basically none of them end up as top tier talents in pro sports

[Amonkey]

It's known that the best shooters are the ones that put the most time into just that, shooting.  While other players may do some shooting, but also focus on lay ups, posts, and spend time in the gym playing ball, shooters like Ray Allen and Reggie Miller are known to be in the gym shooting balls.  I am sure House spends a good quality of time in practice shooting threes while guys like Rondo spends more on drills.

[Atzar]

... knows no limits.

From today's Rockets-Lakers game: "Some people are just born shooters, like Ray Allen. Kobe Bryant, on the other hand, has worked very hard to develop this type of shot".

I guess Ray just plays cards with the Garden janitors for several hours a day, then. 

I'm really glad somebody else took issue with this as well.  When I heard that, I was yelling at the TV.  To say that Ray Allen is a born shooter while Kobe had to work for it really disrespects Ray and all of the hard work he has to do - he's in the gym the afternoon of every game, putting up jumpers. 

I'm not saying Kobe hasn't worked to get where he is, because he has.  But saying Ray hasn't done the same is either stupid, misinformed or both.

[RAcker]

My form has always been unorthodox and I've had to work hard to develop a consistency and touch within this form I developed young and wasn't able to "correct" so that I can shoot a high percentage. 

Ray has beautiful form as many do, but he has outworked almost everyone in his generation to have the quick release, lift and touch on his shot that looks so effortless.

This kind of comment is completely detrimental to every young person that may have heard it.

[Finkelskyhook]

Jackson is awful without Van Gundy keeping him in check.  Too much air time is a bad thing for Jackson...... and his Laker bias really comes out too.

Brilliant, and absolutely accurate post, Coach.  Jackson, without VanGundy, talks way too much and says absolutely nothing of note.

Kobe and Ray are both hard workers.  Ray's stroke is the standard bearer for jumpshots in this generation.

[Schupac]

Ray's practice routine is famously strict and lengthy.  I would definitely say Kobe's is too, but it is a pretty innacurate statement.

But I can be forgiving of something like that, considering these guys don't have a script.  If you had to comment on a live event for over two hours, there's bound to be a few things that come out wrong.

I'm usually pretty harsh on the commentators but this seems like a foible.