The Lost Art of the Hook

Yesterday, with all the news of Kevin Duckworth’s passing, I got to thinking about what made Duckworth so good on the court. For me, it wasn’t just his size and ability to clog the middle on defense and use his body to clear room on offense; it was his beautiful baby hook shot. He had a quick yet feathery touch and could use that shot to score against any Center… even the greats like Ewing, Olajuwon, and David Robinson. Other Blazer Centers like Bill Walton and Arvydas Sabonis were good with the baby hook too, but Walton’s shot was clunky compared to Duckworth. Sabonis, the closest thing I’ve seen to Goliath, powered it in with force… a very strange thing for a shot like that… maybe his hugeness just made every shot seem like it went down with force. Kevin Duckworth shot it with finesse, which you don’t always think of when you think of 300 pounders.

Once in a while, LaMarcus hits the baby hook. I think he could get really good at it if he tried. He’s got a smooth touch and flow to his game that would be fitting for the baby hook. I’d love to see Greg Oden perfect it but I’m not sure how good his touch is. With his size and dunk-ability he’ll get to the basket often enough against smaller guys, but this would be a great shot for him to learn to use against the big shot blocking opponents like Dwight Howard, Amare Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler , and Marcus Camby.

Lew Alcindor, AKA Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, made the sky hook famous. The sky hook had more of an arch than the baby hook and was usually shot from farther out. The arch made it almost impossible to block. The baby hook is easier to master and more accurate for most players because it is closer to the basket and has less margin for error in flight. All hook shots, for me, are cool to watch. The sky hook is a shot you can see forming; it uses almost exaggerated movements before the shot is in the air. The baby hook on the other hand, isn’t as predictable - an unexpected quick flick of the wrist, usually catching the opponent off-guard because the shooter is heading away from the basket. Today, you don’t see many who have perfected the hook shot. I think too many big men take the easy way out by counting on the dunk or the rebound put-back. I think the game would be more fun to watch if Centers added hook shots to their repertoire.