The Handle Podcast – Shawn Fury: 05/13/16

By Reinis Lacis (@LamarMatic)

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Shawn Fury, the author of book “Rise and Fire”, joined me for a chat to turn The Handle Podcast into The Jumpshot Podcast. We talked about what inspired him to do a book on the jumpshot’s history, discussed underrated marksmen like Bob McAdoo, Jerry West and the LA legend Raymond Lewis and got into his writing and researching processes.

Rise and Fire on Amazon, www.shawnfury.com, @ShawnFury, Shawn Fury on Facebook, the video page for Rise and Fire.

Topics discussed in the podcast:

02:05 – Shawn’s inspiration for a book on the jumpshot. Shooting while growing up, the jumpshot being an integral part of the game which keeps altering it;
05:25 – The elusive author of the first jumpshot, there not being clear evidence which points to one person, sniffing out the false information during the research process;
10:40 – Mythical stories on Pete Maravich, the way players from the 60s and 70s are reported to have made shots from unlikely distances;
14:20 – Many chapters being on local legends who have fascinating life stories. The sad story of Los Angeles legend Raymond Lewis who was praised as being as good as almost anyone in the NBA, yet not playing a game in the league. Him dominating Doug Collins in the 76ers rookie camp;
23:05 – How good Austin Carr was, a 34.6 points per game scorer on 52.9% for his NCAA career at Notre Dame;
25:00 – The underrated Bob McAdoo, the forgotten years of him being the league’s MVP in Buffalo. McAdoo being the first great big man outside shooter.
31:20 – McAdoo ending up with the Los Angeles Lakers after a few criticized stints with other teams;
33:50 – Shawn being excited to meet Jerry West, a icon to him while growing up;
35:45 – The interviewed players (like Rick Mount and Purvis Short) being great to talk to, having a radiant passion when conversing about the jumpshot;
37:10 – The sad tale of Jerry West’s 1-8 record in the NBA Finals;
40:00 – How a chapter on Stephen Curry should have been there if the book was released some years later, the difficulties of comparing players from different eras;
45:25 – The shortcomings of the three-pointer, how it has affected today’s game;
49:55 – Iowa six-on-six women basketball, the YouTube channel dedicated to it, the greatness of Denise Long and Jeanette Olson;
54:30 – The lost chapter of Drazen Petrovic‘s and Oscar Schmidt’s shoot-out, the impact they and Dirk Nowitzki have had as international players;
58:40 – How feared the impact of the jumpshot once was, coaches and the media railing against it in eras past;