Yellow Jackets double FT shooting percentage in one season; from 32% to better than 60%
The question was mixed in with the ones that usually begin an interview for a Noah Basketball story.
"Please spell your name."
"J-i-m O-'-G-r-a-d-y."
"How many seasons have you been the head coach of Milton High School in Vermont?
"Three."
"Where is Milton?"
"About 10 miles north of Burlington."
Then came the question.
"What's your record at Milton?"
Coach O'Grady hesitated, which created a silence over the phone.
"Coach?"
It was a fair enough question to ask and relevant to the story.
"The first two seasons we were 3-34."
That record, 3-34, may still make Coach O'Grady wince, but it should be a reminder of how far his program has come in such a short period of time.
The Yellow Jackets finished the 2009-2010 season with an 11-11 record. It included a road playoff victory in the Vermont High School State Championships for the first time in eight years. Milton lost 62-57 to No. 1 seed Fair Haven in the quarterfinals, despite having a one-point lead with 11 seconds to go.
"We were 11 seconds from the semifinals," O'Grady said. "Eleven seconds. Milton hasn't made it to the semifinals since 1994."
So how did this program turn around so quickly?
Well, there were many factors. Good coaching was one. A commitment to work hard by the players was another. And as the wins started to pile up, a belief that Milton could indeed compete against any team prevailed throughout the program.
"We really developed a confidence that winning programs have," O'Grady said. "We went into every game thinking we could win."
O'Grady also credits Noah with the team's improvement. Last year, the Yellow Jackets shot about 32 percent from the foul line and 35 percent from the field. This season with the help of Noah, Milton upped those numbers to better than 60 percent and 40 percent, respectively.
In fact, O'Grady had so much confidence in his team's free throw shooting that in the first playoff game against Woodstock, the coach ordered his team into a stall in the fourth quarter.
The result was one field goal made in that final quarter.
"But we also made 18 of 19 free throws," O'Grady said.
Milton won 58-52 and demonstrated it could close games from the line even when the pressure is the greatest. During the playoffs, the Yellow Jackets converted 41 of 50 free throws.
"Our problem the past two seasons is we couldn't make our free throws," O'Grady said. "We went to the line a lot, but we didn't convert."
Milton didn't get the Noah system until last November, a couple of games into the season. During those opening games, the Yellow Jackets went to the line 40 times but made less than half.
It took until the eighth or ninth game when coaches, players and fans saw the improvement.
"That's when everybody bought into the Noah system," O'Grady said. "From that point on, there was always a fight to get on Noah."
The Yellow Jackets had 11 players so they would practice 5 on 5 with one player completing a session on Noah. This went on the entire season. O'Grady also applied Noah to his team's three-point shooting drills.
"We would set it on 'continuous mode' and have players come off picks," O'Grady said. "Noah would measure the arc with a defender on the shooter. It's such a great mode because it helps simulate real game conditions and situations."
One player who really took to Noah was Derryk O'Grady, a slick 6-1 freshman shooting guard and the coach's son. Derryk was already an exceptional shooter, having made 25 of 25 free throws at the initial clinic run by Noah national sales manager Rick Turk.
"I believe Rick told me the only other person to do that was (John Carter's) son," O'Grady said.
At first, Derryk didn't believe Noah could help him, even that night when his father came home with the news that Milton was going to buy a Noah. Derryk possessed an exceptional form that produced an optimal arc.
"I was a little cocky about my shot," Derryk said.
But then he fell into a huge slump and couldn't make free throws, medium range jumpers or three-pointers. So he and his father set Noah on camera mode and determined his slump had nothing to do with his arc and distance.
"My off-hand was coming down before the release," Derryk said. "So we moved my off-hand back up and got everything back on track. I wasn't shooting short anymore."
That adjustment proved to the younger O'Grady that Noah could help his game in more ways than he realized.
Father and son are excited about the prospects of next season. The team returns an outstanding player in Cory Chase, who can do just about anything on the court.
"Everyone is so excited," O'Grady said. "We plan to use Noah during the AAU season. The kids can't wait to get back into the gym."
Added Derryk, "We still need to get better at closing games. There were only two games last season that we weren't in it. Every other game, we had a chance, even against the No. 1 seed in the playoffs."