Sports
Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Colleges
Hook shot key to Heath's style
By GREG AUMAN
Published November 7, 2007
TAMPA - The scouting report on Stan Heath as a basketball player? Watch out for that left hook.
As a player at Eastern Michigan, Heath used a hook shot to gain success, a necessity carried over from his undersized playground days.
"When you're small and playing with older guys all the time, it's the shot you know you can get away with, that they won't block," Heath said. "On the playground, you don't want to get your shot blocked, because it's embarrassing. They'll talk trash. They already had the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag back in the day."
It's an old-school shot, but one fans saw regularly from his Arkansas teams, and one that assistant coach Reggie Hanson has worked to implement with USF's big men, including 6-foot-9 senior center Kentrell Gransberry, the nation's top returning rebounder.
"It's a very difficult shot to defend," Heath said. "There are certain things I emphasize. The big guys should always have a go-to move, and to me, when you're in around the basket, a hook shot is very difficult to stop. Gransberry is very comfortable with it, and (junior) B.J. (Ajayi) is comfortable, too. I don't know if it's a staple of my coaching or not, but we certainly do teach it."
[Last modified November 7, 2007, 00:13:49]
Share your thoughts on this story
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Letter to the editor
