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The very worst jumper in the NBA even confuses the player's coach

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Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown tried to explain the inexplicable before his team’s game against the Toronto Raptors on Monday.

In other words, he tried to explain the mechanics of Markelle Fultz’s jump shot.

Fultz, the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, hasn’t played since Oct. 23 due to a shoulder injury. But while his shoulder is on the mend and he prepares to return to action, his jump shot still needs work.

Fultz returned to practice last week, but it looks like he’s still struggling with his form.

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Video of him at practice shows that he’s still got a weird hitch in his shot.

But his free throws look better than they did back in October, when the shoulder injury forced him to alter his form.

In October, it looked like he was favoring that right shoulder.

Brown remains baffled by the shooting struggles of his top draft pick.

“I’m old and I’ve never experienced anything like this,” Brown told reporters Monday.

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“When you start looking at what he did in his free throws, and how he got … he’s a rise-up guy. He’s a live-ball, off-the-dribble, rise-up guy. Loading up, and being like a Kyle Korver type, that wasn’t what he was. He was a wiggly, do-what-he-wants-to guard.”

Brown wants to get Fultz back to what he was before they drafted him out of Washington.

“How we find what he was, is what I’m most interested in now,” Brown said.

“As far as like, taking that and moving a hand or release point, or something, we’ll deal with that after we’ve found home plate,” Brown added.

As for when he will return to action, that’s a little fuzzy, too.

“Philadelphia 76ers guard Markelle Fultz has been cleared to begin the final stage of his return-to-play program,” the team said in a statement. “The program consists of gradual re-integration into team practices and training, complemented with additional conditioning work to support fitness readiness for gameplay.”

The good news is the Sixers beat Toronto on Monday, 117-111, to improve to 20-20, one game behind the Pistons for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

 

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Dave is a lifelong sports fan who has been writing for The Wildcard since 2017. He has been a writer for more than 20 years for a variety of publications.
Dave has been writing about sports for The Wildcard since 2017. He's been a reporter and editor for over 20 years, covering everything from sports to financial news. In addition to writing for The Wildcard, Dave has covered mutual funds for Pensions and Investments, meetings and conventions, money market funds, personal finance, associations, and he currently covers financial regulations and the energy sector for Macallan Communications. He has won awards for both news and sports reporting.
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