SAN FRANCISCO – When describing his improved jump shot at the team’s shootaround in Denver, Moses Moody used a sound to explain why he has knocked down almost half his attempts from behind the arc this season.
By adding what he called “pop” to his shot, hearing an ensuing “swish” has become common while connecting on 44.7% of his 3-point attempts overall.
“It was just about getting under the ball, and adding a little pop to it,” Moody said.
Despite being relegated to shooting with just his left hand during the offseason after undergoing surgery on his dominant right thumb, Moody still found a way to improve his previously flat jump shot, which saw him make 37.4% of his 3-pointers last season.
“Shooting with my left hand made me realize that I had to teach myself how to shoot again with my left,” Moody said of the change entering his fifth professional season. “Therefore, I had to really go step by step, going through what I do with my right hand.”
The 23-year-old guard characterized the mechanical change as a minor adjustment rather than a full-blown rebuild.
Legendary South Bay shooting guru and Pinewood High School girls basketball coach Doc Scheppler, who famously honed Palo Alto native Jeremy Lin’s jumper, noted that such mild adjustments are far from uncommon at any level of basketball.
“Sometimes, it doesn’t require more than just a small tweak, augments that assist with what they already do,” Scheppler told the Bay Area News Group in a phone call on Friday afternoon.
Scheppler opined that Moody’s old shot saw him have a slight delay between when he jumped and loaded up for the shot.
“Moses’ rhythm was off, and he’s got better rhythm now, and more power on his shot,” the multi-time state champion Scheppler said.
Along the way, Moody remembered advice that former Splash Brother Klay Thompson had given him.
“Klay used to talk about that upside-down wave when you’re shooting it that comes at the end,” Moody said.
The results have been obvious.
The fifth-year guard has made at least five 3-pointers in three games, already surpassing the two such games he had last season.
Despite coming off a calf injury that sidelined him for the first two games of the regular season, Moody has not taken a slow and steady approach to getting shots up. He is averaging a career-high 5.9 3-point attempts per game heading into his team’s matchup Sunday with Indiana.
That kind of volume is welcomed by the coaching staff.
“He’s found his groove now,” head coach Steve Kerr said after a recent game.
Moody’s greatest value arguably still comes as a point-of-attack defender, where he is able to capably guard almost any ballhandler while also navigating screens.
But thanks to his new shooting mechanics, Moody is quickly establishing himself as, perhaps, the team’s second-best shooter behind Steph Curry.
