St. John’s has the yips.
Golfers stricken with the yips complain of all sorts of ailments — shaky hands or hands that are wrapped so tightly that if the putter were made out of coal, they would make a diamond.
The more you think about it, the more pressure you put on yourself, the worse the results.
The Red Storm (9-6, 1-2 Big East) are the second-worst free-throw shooting team in the Big East. They are 312th out of 345 Division I schools.
When the Johnnies go to the line, St. John’s fans clamp their hands over their eyes, barely daring to peek. It is painful to watch.
But it is even more baffling to fix, other than by recruiting better free-throw shooters.
“It’s not an effort thing,’’ St. John’s coach Steve Lavin said. “It’s different. You know if you’re not rebounding, you can really jump your team and challenge them and get up in the face: ‘Rebound the ball!’ But free-throw shooting or putting, I don’t think that’s something you scream.
“Or like in tennis, ‘You’ve got to serve better!’ It’s going to be diminishing returns if you’re screaming at your guys about free throws: ‘Relax out there! Just make a free throw!’ ’’
The Johnnies, who play Georgetown (10-3, 0-2) at the Garden today, missed 12 free throws (15-of-27) in a 58-56 loss to Rutgers on Wednesday night.
Chris Obekpa, who is second in the nation in blocked shots (5.07 per game) is the Red Storm’s most egregious free-throw shooter. He has attempted 21 free throws this season and made just five.
But he is not alone. On this St. John’s team, Obekpa is merely the leader of a pack that shakes when it goes to the line. There are just two players — D’Angelo Harrison and Felix Balamou — shooting 70 percent or better from the charity stripe. Balamou leads the team at 87.5 percent. Even Harrison, an 80-percent free-throw shooter last season, is at 78 percent.
The yips are contagious. The yips are a taboo topic. You’ll often see players stay away from a bad free-throw shooter. It’s like rubbing up against someone who has the flu.
“We shoot a lot of [free throws], but I always believe in Dean Smith’s philosophy … which was you don’t make such an issue of it because it’s like putting in golf. You got to work on it, you got to work on your short game in golf,” Lavin said.
“Like hitting, it could become too psychological. … You look at the mechanics, you get your reps in there, [make] some basic modifications, but then you also don’t want it to put any more undo pressure than kids are already putting on themselves to make that shot.’’
This must be particularly galling to Lavin. His father, Cappy, was such a good free-throw shooter he won his honeymoon trip as a prize in a foul-shooting contest.
The Johnnies began this season as a terrible rebounding team and a porous defensive one. But they have evolved into a glue pad on defense. And the Red Storm have been much better on the boards in recent games.
Free throws are a different matter. Books have been written. Videos have been shot. Dr. Tom Amberry wrote a book “Free Throw: 7 Steps to Success at the Free Throw Line.”
Seven steps.
The Johnnies have a yoga instructor. But they don’t have Dr. Amberry. And they still have the yips.