Heat center's free throws go anywhere but in the basket

01:36 PM CDT on Saturday, June 10, 2006

Even great men in history have an Achilles' heel, which is God's way of evening things out for the rest of us.

Napoleon had Waterloo. FDR had polio.

Milli had Vanilli.

Shaq has free throws.

The man is one of the best players ever, a colossus in the paint, not to mention a humanitarian friendly to sick children, sportswriters and other lost souls, the kind of guy who walks into a news conference Friday giving noogies to some doofus wedged in his right elbow.

How can you not love a guy like this? And if you do, how can you watch him shoot free throws?

Only if you're a Mavericks fan. And only if you want to see the Mavs end this NBA Finals quickly.

Miami doesn't have a lot of other options. Dwyane Wade isn't feeling so hot. He said he didn't have anything left in his legs late in Thursday's 90-80 loss to the Mavs.

Apparently took all he had just to jump over the backboard blocking Dirk Nowitzki's layup.

If Wade's not well, the onus is on Shaq. He's got to score. And if the Mavs continue to whack away from front and behind, he's got to make some free throws.

He tried nine Thursday. Eleven, if you count the two do-overs he got because Mavs kept falling into the lane out of sheer exasperation waiting for him to get rid of the ball.

Just shoot it, for cryin' out loud.

Bottom line: In nine official attempts, Shaq made one. For the mathematically challenged, that's a rate of 11.1 percent.

Even by Shaq standards, it was dismal. He's averaged 52.8 percent for his career but only 46.9 this season and 38.5 in the playoffs.

"It's probably just a matter of concentration," Shaq said Friday. "I'm probably thinking about it too much.

"I'm gonna step up. I know in order for us to win, I'm gonna need to step up."

About 12 feet closer should do it.

Frankly, watching Shaq at the line is like hearing Pavarotti crack or De Niro flub his lines.

Even Del Harris doesn't like to watch, and this is a man who had his butt grabbed by Shaq the other day.

Harris coached Shaq in Los Angeles. He was in LA when Shaq came over from Orlando and brought his own free throw coach with him.

Harris worked with Shaq. Had other people work with him, too. All kinds of people.

Hypnotists?

Pause.

"You'll have to ask him," Harris said.

Harris has been blamed for Shaq's free throw woes, too, though the criticism came from Rick Barry, who pretty much blames everyone else for everything.

Or as his friend Mike Dunleavy once put it, "You could send him to the U.N., and he'd start World War III."

Besides hollowing out a place as one of the NBA's all-time finger-pointers, Barry was a 90 percent free throw shooter despite a style even your Aunt Sally wouldn't use.

Barry shot "granny style:" Feet spread, ball in both hands, he'd start the shot below his knees and flip it up in a sort of backhanded underhand.

Go ahead, laugh. Mavs free throw coach Gary Boren says granny style is the most efficient method of shooting free throws if you consider the arc of the shot.

Of course, you've also got to consider the embarrassment factor. Shaq did, and he wasn't having any of it.

Figures. Boren once worked with Shaq on Dream Team II in '94, and he didn't have much luck.

VERNON BRYANT/DMN

Shaquille O'Neal has averaged 52.8 percent for his career from the free throw line, but he hit 11.1 percent in Game 1.

"He didn't want to listen," Boren said.

If Shaq had, Boren would have told him to stop saying he's thinking too much.

Shooting free throws is not mental, the coach said. He claims it's almost entirely mechanical.

Said Boren: "There are 41 things I'm looking for."

No wonder Shaq struggles. That's not a free throw. It's a golf swing.

One of the Miami assistants, Bob McAdoo, supposedly has been working with Shaq. But whatever he's doing, it's not working.

"This is about as bad as I've seen it," Boren said. "He's leaving a lot of points on the table."

And the Mavs haven't even resorted to Hack-a-Shaq yet. But they will, and soon. And if you've got any sense of decency, you'll at least cover the kids' eyes.

E-mail ksherrington@dallasnews.com