Shaina Pellington didn’t take the easy path. No one would have blamed her if she did.
After all, she was entering her fifth season as a college basketball player. Why shake things up?
But Pellington knew the time was right to strip down her shooting form and start over. Arizona’s point guard said she was in the gym “immediately” after the Wildcats’ season ended with an NCAA Tournament loss to North Carolina — a game in which Pellington shot just 1 for 9 from the field.
“I knew that it was going to be key for me coming into this year to get to where I want to get this season,” Pellington said. “It’s exciting for me because teams they know how I play. They know I’m extremely hard to stop when I’m penetrating to the rim. Teams will stand and give me space.
“But now if I’m hitting that shot consistently, they have to guard me now. It’s over with. They’ve got to pick their poison at this point. I feel like I’m one of the best at what I do in terms of penetrating, getting to the rim and creating my own shot. Once that shot starts clicking as well, like I said, it’s over with.”
UA assistant coach Salvo Coppa worked with Pellington to improve the arc on her shot. They also made a mechanical fix that should allow Pellington to see the rim better as she shoots.
Coppa has made it relatively simple for Pellington.
“We are fixing it with form-shooting and working completely without legs, just working on an arm first,” Coppa said. “Then when we see the arm now is OK, your execution is better. Now let’s add the legs. Now start above the head. ... Just a simple process to make everything easier for the player. ... With Shaina, this started from the basics — from breaking down her shot and always talking to her to see how she is feeling about it.”
Overhauling one’s shot requires hours and hours of practice as new muscle memory is built.
Coppa, a native of Italy, compares it to driving.
“You drive without the stick in the United States — automatic. You go to Italy, and you drive with a stick, and you say, ‘I need some time.’ Then you go back to the United States, and you are without the stick again,” he said. “It’s mechanics. It takes thousands of repetitions. It’s not easy, just a simple change like that. It’s not that easy.”
Coppa remembers watching Hortencia Marcari, a Hall of Famer and one of Brazil’s greatest players. She played for one of the teams coached by Coppa’s father, Santino Coppa. Marcari told the younger Coppa that she didn’t leave the gym until she hit 500 shots.
“That stays here in my head. As a kid, I’m like, ‘Wow! 500 shots scored,’” he said. “ I think this kind of challenge with yourself is important. The routine, doing the same thing every day. Even if you don’t feel like it, ‘I feel too tired.’ No, just do your routine. Do your work. There is a moment it is going to pay off. Technique is very important. Because again, I believe that if you’re not a great shooter in this case, and your technique is wrong, you keep shooting 500 shots with a bad technique, you are creating a bad habit. Change your technique and keep shooting.”
UA coach Adia Barnes and her staff don’t typically overhaul players’ shots. There’s a reason why. It’s “probably the hardest thing to do,” Coppa said. They made an exception for Pellington because she was “humble and had the ‘want-to’ to do it,” Coppa said.
In the 2020-21 season, Pellington’s first since transferring from Oklahoma, she took 19 3-pointers and made only one of them. Last season, she took 42 3s and made 11 (.262), while her scoring average doubled to 11.3 points per game. She also had two buzzer beaters — including a deep jumper to sink Oregon State.
But Pellington is shooting just 16.5% from 3-point range in her college career. She needs to improve in order to play at the next level.
“She doesn’t need to be a shooter, but you need to be able to have a consistent pull-up (jumper),” Coppa said. “Or if you’re open from the 3-point line, you need to be able to shoot that 3. If not, it becomes very, very hard to play a very high level.”
Coppa doesn’t want to get to far ahead. He is focused on what Pellington can do during her final season as a Wildcat. “Using her strengths and working on her weakness can be key, not only for her as an individual but also as a development of our team — to make our team better,” he said. The Wildcats open their 2022-23 season Nov. 10 against Northern Arizona.
As with any process, things aren’t always perfect.
Pellington and Coppa have a had a few disagreements, but the guard said she knows Coppa “is trying to make me the best version of myself.”
“I respect that and I respect him,” she said. “I’ve embraced that journey for myself. And I really listen to the things he says so I can become that that great player — that player I want to be.”
The next step for Pellington is being consistent.
“If she’s able to do that, she can be one of the top players,” Coppa said. “She can surprise a lot of people.”
