How Anthony Edwards Constructed This “Super Pretty” New Sweater: “Make Them Respect It” – Blogging Sole

SAN FRANCISCO — If shooting is an art form, then Chris Hines is a sculptor of gilded frames. A basketball craftsman. A steward of blows.

As assistant coach of Minnesota Timberwolveshe watches from the sidelines his latest masterpiece: the filming of Anthony Edwards.

“It’s crazy now, and it sucks for me,” Hines said, “I know when it doesn’t fit. So I’m watching from the bench going, ‘Damn!’ as soon as it leaves his hands.

His student has no such problems.

“I think I’m going to do this every time. I’m not going to lie,” Edwards said, flashing that soda commercial smile from the Chase Center visitors’ locker room on Sunday.

Bragging is proof of one’s sophistication. To be clear, Edwards can sense when his form is going wrong and failure is likely. But he’s gotten his mechanics to a point where he doesn’t feel very often anymore.

“Most of the time,” he said, “when it leaves my hand, I’m like, ‘Damn, that feels good.’ Because I worked on it, man I’m not even funny. I worked so hard on my Trey Ball…I’m happy where we’re at.

Behind all his flair, Edwards’ diligence is visible in his form. Although his magnetism suggests that becoming a superstar is easy, his vastly improved shooting underscores a maniacal work ethic.

This art has functionality. Edwards left the Bay Area this week – after splitting a two-game series at Warriors of the Golden State – with the most successful 3-point baskets in the NBA at 103, and his 241 attempts were behind the Boston Celtics. Jayson Tatum for most of the 3 takes Tuesday morning. At just over a quarter of the way through the season, Edwards is one of the best 3-point shooters in the league — a powerful counterbalance to his reputation as an attacker from the rim.

But don’t miss the aesthetic of her polished sweater. Appreciate the artistry of Edwards and the engineering of Hines.

This may be missed because of Edwards’ dunks and viral quotes. But he developed a rather picturesque plan.

“Hell yeah,” Edwards said. “Super pretty. Thanks to C. Hines.

3rd player in NBA history to make 100 threes in first 23 games.

special. 🐜 pic.twitter.com/S9JCNRq95s

– Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 9, 2024

The hidden springs in her legs are already attractive. He simply floats, or so it seems, as if time slows down while he is in the air. Edwards getting up for a jumper, looks like something cool is going on. He has already developed a classic and attractive medium.

The mechanics of his jumper have become much cleaner. It’s an efficient transition between pickup and checkout. Smooth. Effortless. Unlike the shot of typical jumpers, who reach the peak of their jump before deploying something clumsy. Edwards worked on his form until it was a fluid, consistently reproduced movement, capped with a portrait-worthy follow-through and snapshot of the net.

Ant-Man has created another path that inspires fear. One of the most captivating players in the league adds to a genius bag already brimming with personality.

“She’s not the prettiest,” he declared, nodding to Kevin Durant, Steph Curry And Klay Thompson. “They have cute sweaters. I’m not trying to have the prettiest sweater. I just want it to fit. Yeah, that looks good. But as long as it fits, it looks better.

However, beauty comes at a price. For Edwards, it was paid off in a process that was as methodical as it was relentless.

Hines and Edwards pieced it together as a long-term project. As is often the case with Edwards, his ability was evident. Talent flows out of him like Jheri Curl juice. The last four years have been about harnessing its universal abilities, as will the next 10 years.

Edwards initially resisted. Some days he despised Hines, the tortuous professor.

“He hated me,” Hines said with a proud smile. “Right from the start. He said, ‘C. Hines, you’re not going to change my game.’ I’m not trying to change your game. Let me tweak it, and you’ll be fine.

Hines gained Edwards’ trust by not changing the canvas but by appreciating it. Edwards often heard what he couldn’t do, how he needed to change – people constantly told him how to describe his game. Hines instead asserted that Edwards only needed refinement, not rebuilding. They worked on structure, framing his shot around the play that made it special.

Hines started by cleaning up Edwards’ strong points. Its handle. Its finishing packages. His footwork. His touch at the edge. These were fundamental elements to build on.

“He already had a pretty decent shot, solid and strong,” Hines said. “We just wanted to tighten everything up around his shot. Little things. …How does he put it in his pocket? Is it clean? How to find shoelaces without looking for them? Little things of this nature. So, tightening it all up, it’s been really fun watching the process.

The plans are too incessant to count, the hours too blurry to count. Filming is a meticulous profession. It’s the feel and the form. Technical and creative. It remains true to the unique character of the shooter while respecting universal laws.

Hines went to work simplifying Edwards’ shooting stroke. First, they had to break his habit of dropping the ball too low. Now, through simple muscle memory, his process begins with the ball near his belly button.

Then they modified its high release. Edwards had a long range of motion, lifting the ball from his crotch behind his head, creating plenty of opportunities to disrupt the outcome. The longer the shape, the more difficult it is to reproduce.

So, by raising the starting point and moving the trigger point forward, its movement became more efficient.

Another thing Hines fixed: Edwards’ habit of bringing the ball closer to his body, limiting his range of motion. Hines taught him to keep his elbows in an L shape instead of a V shape so as not to lose power and fluidity. Hines instilled in Edwards the need to keep his elbow above his eyebrows at the top of his form.

Follow-up was another important element. Edwards now has a pronounced wrist snap, like he’s dipping his hand into the rim. This gives his ball an emphatic spin that splashes across the net.

“We go to the gym four or five times a day just to shoot,” Edwards said. “I just shot. I just shoot. So I tried – tried to perfect it. Because when I came to the league, the main thing was: ‘He could go down, but he couldn’t shoot.’ He can’t shoot. He can’t shoot. So I’ve been trying to get that name out of my name for a long time. It’s still a bit of a work in progress, but I feel like I’m heading in the right direction.

Last month, Edwards sent a voicemail to Curry, looking to glean some off-the-ball wisdom from his Team USA buddy. This was after a summer spent picking Durant’s brain, his favorite player.

The threat of Edwards’ aggressive attacks, which produced a montage of highlights, prompted defenders to step back, conceding the jumper to prevent the poster. His rise to MVP candidate has increased the number of double teams he faces.

So, his next level of growth is becoming a threat off the ball. The cadence of dribbling on a shot is very different without the rock. Keeping the same form when catching and shooting requires repetition and precision drilling.

Edwards said he wanted to shoot well enough and long enough for his pump fakes to send defenders flying, opening up lanes for his drives.

“In order for me to score without the ball,” Edwards said, “I have to be able to shoot. You know what I’m saying? Make them respect it. … Just being willing to shoot on the catch makes from you another threat on the offensive end because guys have to respect it now because I want to catch and shoot So now if you get me off the line now I’m getting to where I really want to go. that is to say the descent.

It takes thousands of shots, hours and hours, for years and years. Hines didn’t want to rush the process. He intended not to skip steps, to master one skill before moving on to the next.

The pursuit of greatness is antithetical to rushing. A masterpiece transcends time with a commitment to quality.

A player has to want that. I really want it. For this level of improvement, drudgery is unavoidable. The amount of work Edwards puts in is illustrated when he stops. Suspended in the air. Fluid mechanics. Nice rotation. Silky splash. His weakness became a work of art. You can tell by the way it was designed.

(Top illustration: Meech Robinson / Athletics; photo: Adam Pantozzi / NBAE via Getty Images)