[lawrence]

I'm not sure the author is a basketball player:

"Aiming for the center of the basket increases the chance of hitting the front of the rim and having the shot drop straight down."

Has anyone ever seen a free throw drop straight down after hitting the front rim? Seems like the only way to make that happen would be to throw the basketball baseball style on a line, and nail the bottom of the front rim. Even Shaq had better mechanics than that.