Markelle Fultz Says Rookie Shooting Woes Due to Injury, Not Mental Block
Philadelphia 76ers guard Markelle Fultz said Friday that his shooting issues last season were based solely on physical limitations due to a shoulder injury.
When asked about his trainer, Drew Hanlen, recently saying that he had "the yips" last season, Fultz disagreed, according to Bleacher Report's Yaron Weitzman: "I think it was a misterm in words, me and Drew have talked, what happened last year was an injury let me get that straight."
Fultz's shoulder ailment limited him to just 14 regular-season games as a rookie in 2017-18.
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In June, Hanlen appeared on the Talking Schmidt Podcast (h/t NBC Sports Philadelphia) to talk about his work with Fultz.
Hanlen discussed Fultz's shooting issues and suggested they may have been mental: "With Markelle, obviously, he had one of the most documented case of kind of the yips of basketball in recent years where he completely forgot how to shoot and had multiple hitches in his shot."
In 14 games last season, Fultz averaged 7.1 points and shot just 40.5 percent from the field. He also attempted just one three-point field goal.
Fultz then averaged 1.7 points in three playoff games and shot 14.3 percent.
Philadelphia made Fultz the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft following a dominant season at the University of Washington in 2016-17.
During his one season with the Huskies, Fultz averaged 23.2 points per game, shot 47.6 percent from the field and shot 41.3 percent from three-point range.
Despite getting almost no production out of Fultz, the Sixers won 52 games last season and returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2011-12.
Provided Fultz's injury woes are behind him, expectations will be even higher in 2018-19 as part of a backcourt anchored by Ben Simmons and JJ Redick.
If Fultz is able to become a consistent contributor, the 76ers may have enough firepower to contend with the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors for supremacy in the Eastern Conference now that the Cleveland Cavaliers are without LeBron James.
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