Darren Harris Has The Chance To Be Special

This level of skill doesn't come along too often

Back in the 1970’s, Duke had a sharp-shooting guard named Rick Gomez. He was not particularly quick but he could really shoot.

He arrived in the ACC about the same time that Brian Magid showed up at Maryland and Magid was also a spectacular shooter.

Both of them transferred after a couple of years. Why?

Because in the 1970’s, there was no three point shot. That would come in in the 1980’s and suddenly players who could hit deep shots were immensely more valuable.

By the time Dennis Scott stopped a fast break in the 1991 NCAA tournament and stepped back for a long three, the value of the shot and guys who could hit them had long since been established.

Now, everyone wants a talented three point shooter. And while Duke has several on this year’s team, it’s possible that freshman Darren Harris might be the best of them all.

Look at this video on YouTube. Coaches will look at fundamentals, how the shooter squares up, how the ball is held in the hand, is the elbow straight, and that sort of thing. There are far more levels of knowledge to this than most of us would dream of.

There is a much easier test for the rest of us though: how soft is the shot?

People can learn to shoot in any number of ways. Look at the difference between Stephen Curry’s form and Larry Bird’s and you’ll have a good idea. When you look at how they put the ball through the hoop though, it’s the same: the ball hits dead center more often than not and falls right through.

Watch Harris. You can look at the fundamentals, which are all clean, but the main thing is how the ball falls through the net. This guy has a very high-level understanding of how to shoot.

There’s more to the game than shooting of course. To play at a high level, you need to be athletic, you need to be a willing defender, and you need to learn the other subtleties of the game. But pretty clearly, when you look at this clip, Harris really gets shooting. He has a special talent.