What can a jump shot get you ?

I remember this ad where the voice over goes :

"A jump shot can get you a shoe deal, a big house, a supermodel, fancy cars, a bunch of 'yes men', a Swiss bank account.

But none of these things can get you a jump shot."

It was an ad for sportwear.... a basketball shoe, if I remember correctly. It was a great ad, if you're a basketball fan. 

Well, the Celtics have living proof of this in Glen Davis - their reserve power forward. In a crucial game 4 playoff match against the Orlando Magic, he nailed this game-winning jump shot in the final second of the game.

How crucial was that shot ? Well, the Celtics defence of their NBA title would have been hanging by a thread if Glen hadn't nailed that shot. And how does this relate to the jump shot ad ? Well, Glen Davis didn't have a jump shot last year.

You see, the Celtics coaches had two instructions for him after last season ended. Stay away from the dinner table, and practice that 15-20 foot jump shot - and practice he did. He worked on it during the off season, pre season, regular season and now he's suddenly a credible scoring threat because of that jump shot. 

It will extend his NBA career and add 1-2 million to his contract every year. If we're looking at a 10 year career, that's USD10-20 million extra that he'll get all because of that jump shot. You can get a lot of big houses and fancy cars with that kind of loot. And to top it all off, he's been invited to try out for Team USA (along with his team mates, Perk and Rondo) for the 2012 Olympics.

But none of these things happen without a jump shot in his repertoire and as the ad goes, none of these things can get him a jump shot. 

It's not as easy as it looks. There are bucket loads of professional players who struggle to hit a jump shot on a consistent basis. And that's when they're standing all by themselves on a basketball court. Try hitting a jump shot when you have a 7-foot guy rushing out to block your shot. Practice helps a lot, but there's still some innate talent involved.

ps. This guy has the one of the best nicknames I've ever heard. He's 6-foot-9 and 289 pounds and his nickname ? Big Baby.

pps. As bulky as that sounds, Big Baby is actually light on his feet. One of the things that Danny Ainge liked about him is that he has great footwork. Check this out :