The 3-point shot has changed basketball, creating a spread out game that in turn opens avenues to the basket.
In between the arc and the rim is a shot that balances the floor and serves as an equalizer for smaller players: the floater.
Also known as the teardrop, the floater has become one of the most effective shots in the game, a high-arcing counter to the long arms of the lane.
“You get into the lane against a shot blocker, it’s a quick, deceptive shot — you can’t see it coming,” Northern Arizona coach Shane Burcar said while watching Houston’s Final Four practice in San Antonio last week.
Monday’s national championship game between Florida and Houston will be filled with 3s, dunks, step-backs and the occasional mid-range jumper.
Keep an eye out for the floater.
The smallest players on the court will likely use it the most. For them, getting to the lane often comes with a price, a rejection of ball or body — sometimes both. Even scoring at the rim is no easy task, an effort in shot angles and spin to avoid hands reaching well above the rim.
The floater takes some calculations of its own, a split-second geometry equation of time and space.
The primary: determining whether the rim protector is hanging back or charging out. He hangs back a little, the shot can be a bit flatter. He charges, the teardrop takes its shape, often sailing well above the height of the backboard.
Bank or no bank is another. Most players like the purity of all net, others have no problem banking it in. Sometimes the bank opens organically, a natural product of trying to get the ball over arms stretching 10, 11 feet in the air.
Some players shoot the floater with a flick of the wrist, like a running jump shot. Others do more of a push shot, even from 12 feet out. Get in too close and the push becomes the only option, a way get the shot off while still keeping it out of reach.
Also, running wildly into the lane and throwing up a shot rarely works. The floater requires balance, even for a one-footed, one-handed shot. Keep the body in control and balanced, start the motion with two hands before letting one drop off, and the chances of success will be higher.
And land where you shoot. Nothing ruins a good floater like an offensive foul.
“It’s definitely about repetition,” said Tony Darden, who runs Darden Sports Skills Academy in the Phoenix area. “When I have them in practice, it’s about repping the right way, being on balance when you’re shooting it, just being controlled, landing where you shoot.”
The float game opens up a myriad of possibilities in the lane.
Undersized big men can use it to get shots off quickly over behemoths in the lane, sometimes in the form of a half hook or push shot.
Threat of the floater also creates a dichotomy for potential shot blockers. Because it’s a quick shot with a varying arc, timing it for a block can be like trying to swat a balloon that’s losing air.
Venturing too far opens up lobs behind the shot blocker or bounce passes to the dunker spot along the baseline. Kickouts to the wings are a possibility, too, should the wings collapse and try to help in the lane.
“If a good guard can utilize that float game to an alley-oop pass or a bounce pass to a layup, now that’s an whole different type of guard,” Burcar said.
Origin of the teardrop is up for debate.
Former San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker was one of the first players to consistently use the shot effectively while winning four NBA championships between 2003 and 2014. He even claims to have invented the shot, perfecting it while trying to score over much bigger players as a kid.
But go back through history and other players had similar shots.
Boston Celtics Hall of Famer Bob Cousy had a version of the floater while playing in the 1950s. Even further back, Stanford’s Hank Luisetti was known for his running one-handers.
From a pure elegance standpoint, George Gervin’s finger roll may have had the silkiest one-hander in basketball history during the 1970s.
Players such as Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving and Chris Paul took what Parker nearly perfected and carried it to the next generations of floaters.
Now floaters are floating everywhere.
“Almost every elite guard has like a floater in their package,” said Aden Holloway, Alabama’s resident float-game specialist. “Coach (Nate Oats) doesn’t really like us shooting it all the time because there’s better shots to get, but depending on the game and the game adjustments, he’ll say, yeah, I’m going to need that shot tonight.”
Teams in all levels of basketball are finding they need the equalizing floater every night.
___
AP National Writer Eddie Pells contributed to this story.
___
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.
John Marshall, The Associated Press
