Did Brady Morningstar Outdo (or Underdo) Chuck Hayes?

Two seasons ago, Chuck Hayes shot two of the ugliest free throws anyone had ever seen. After a Kenyon Martin flagrant foul, Hayes stepped the line for two shots with no one in the lane…then this happened.

Wow. You know it’s bad when Allen Iverson tries to get a travel called on your free throw attempt.

During last night’s Kansas-Texas showdown that didn’t turn out to be much of a showdown, Brady Morningstar stepped the line in place of Cole Aldrich. Morningstar is actually a pretty good foul shooter (75% on the season), but he wasn’t in this case.

What was that??!?!?!

Morningstar’s explanation was that the ball was wet and it slipped, causing that ugliness, but that shot will live forever in YouTube infamy regardless of the explanation.

So, that begs the question, which of these foul shots was uglier?

I have to say that I lean toward Chuck Hayes, mainly because it happened twice in a row…and also because it may have ruined his free throw shooting career.

UK fans will remember him as an always solid shooter. He hit 73.8% of his foul shots as a freshman, 78.8% as a sophomore, 68.1% as a junior, and 73% as a senior. For his career, he shot 288 of 393, or 73.3%.

How can a guy who shot nearly 80% from the foul line for an entire season devolve so badly that he can launch that hideousness? Don’t guys usually become better shooters when they play basketball for a living in the NBA?

Hayes shot over 61% his first two years in the league, but things started to go south starting in 2007. He shot just 45.8% that season, 36.8% the next, and 53.5% this year. Since 2007, he is just 41 of 86 from the foul line. Did those two horrendous foul shots pschologically ruin him?

Even still, Chuck will never measure up to Arinze Onuaku’s stunning ugly free throw shooting prowess.