Markelle Fultz’s shooting woes are well-documented. The second-year guard has struggled to get his jumper working following his tumultuous rookie campaign with the Philadelphia 76ers, shooting 42.2 percent from the floor and 30.8 percent from three. The free throw line hasn’t been all that much better, as Fultz is only connecting on 56.8 percent of his attempts at the line.
Some of Fultz’s strangest moments have come at the charity stripe, like the time he had a weird hitch in his shot that drew a ton of attention. His latest twist to his free throw routine came on Friday night against the Utah Jazz, when Fultz tossed the ball around in his hands like a hot potato before shooting.
The latest from Markelle Fultz at the FT line: pic.twitter.com/OJZPKEfvf1
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 17, 2018
Sure, it was really, really weird, but that also might be the smoothest that Fultz’s motion on free throws has looked in a while. It didn’t suddenly fix his free throw woes, as he only went 2-for-4 from the stripe in the Sixers’ 113-107 win over the Jazz, but he was happy with how things went. Fultz explained to Ian Begley of ESPN that he thinks it’s “working nice,” and he plans on sticking with it moving forward.
Markelle Fultz on his new approach at the free throw line: "It’s something I added right now. Just trial and error. It's been working nice for me so I'm going to stick with it for now." He went 2-for-4 vs UTA. Rebounded his own miss late in the 3rd & found Butler for a 3-pt play https://t.co/807xKORmHb
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) November 17, 2018
To steal the title of a book, when it comes to Fultz, the only rule is it has to work. So much of this season is about building his confidence in his shot back to where it was when he was a no-doubt No. 1 overall draft pick. If playing hot potato with the ball before he shoots a free throw helps him get to that point, then this is more fun quirk than anything. If not? Well, then it’s back to square one.
