How to shoot like Ashton Gibbs: Practice
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Ptui!
Nearly every day at Petersen Events Center, well before Pitt's formal practice and on a back court out of public view, a rebounding machine that resembles R2-D2 spits out a basketball to Ashton Gibbs, poised behind the 3-point arc.
Swish!
The shot finds nothing but net.
Ptui!
Another ball spits out.
Swish!
Another 3-pointer, delivered just as mechanically and tirelessly as the machine.
This goes on for a total of 250 shots, followed by 250 of other varieties. And it will go on this morning at Madison Square Garden, where Pitt and Connecticut will tip off at noon in the Big East Conference quarterfinals, the Panthers' tournament opener.
Gibbs has followed this routine since childhood, and it lends weight to coach Jamie Dixon's long-held philosophy about the genesis of a great shooter.
"Shooters are made," Dixon said. "If you look at what Ashton does, it's consistent. Same release, same form, whether he's shooting by himself on that court, whether he's in drills with us, whether he's in a game. And it comes through hours and years of repetition and work. It's muscle memory. It's focus."
It is richly effective, too.
3-pointers made
Jason Matthews, 259
Sean Miller, 239
Ronald Ramon, 233
Julius Page, 210
Brandin Knight, 209
Ashton Gibbs, 203
3-point percentage
Jason Matthews, .457.
Ashton Gibbs, .429
Sean Miller, .416
Rod Brooklin, .409
Donatas Zavackas, .405
Free-throw percentage
Sean Miller, .885
Ashton Gibbs, .881
Jason Matthews, .878.
Don Hennon, .823
Mike Paul, .808
Gibbs, a 6-foot-2 junior guard, is Pitt's leading scorer at 16.4 points per game, and that has come about almost entirely because of that shooting form: He leads the Big East in 3-pointers (89), 3-point percentage (.466) and free-throw percentage (.895).
An argument can be made that Gibbs is the greatest pure shooter in school history, and that could be bolstered today: He needs four more 3-pointers to tie Brandin Knight's season record of 93, set in 2001-02. He also has 203 for his career, making him a virtual lock to pass Ronald Ramon (233), Sean Miller (239) and standard-bearer Jason Matthews (259) by next season.
The Panthers' best ever?
"Oh, I think so," said Knight, now an assistant coach for Dixon. "Ashton makes pressure shots. Percentages don't always tell you about a shooter. He's proven time and again that he hits the shots that count. And it might even be a game where he was struggling. We still go to him, and he still hits it."
First Published March 10, 2011 12:00 am
