Mocs’ Dixon has regained shooting confidence
It’s not that Nat Dixon has become a better basketball shooter this season for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
He’s just become a more confident one.
The 6-foot-4 junior guard has made half of his 32 3-point attempts this season for the 4-5 Mocs, who host Charlotte at 1 p.m. Sunday in the first game of a doubleheader. It’s Toys for Tots day at McKenzie Arena, with a buy-one-getone-free ticket deal for those who bring a stuffed animal to the game.
For Dixon, it’s not just simply 3-point shooting, although he doesn’t look like the same person who attempted only 18 3s last year, making six. He just appears to be a much better player this season, shooting 48 percent from the field (41 last season) and 83 percent from the free-throw line (59 last season).
“Nat has developed, but he’s worked hard on his shot,” UTC coach Lamont Paris said after Tuesday’s 70-66 loss at Marshall. “He’s been one of our most consistent shooters the whole season. He had one stretch where he forgot where the middle of the hoop was, but he’s been really good, confident, and his shot selection has been great.
“That probably has some effect on the outcome, but you still have to make them. You can take all the good ones you want, but you’ve still got to make them and he’s been making them, so that’s been a welcome sight.”
Dixon leads the team with eight double-digit scoring performances this season and is averaging 11.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists in a team-high 32.6 minutes per contest. Last season — two years removed from starting his college athletic career as a football wide receiver at Boston College — he was finding his way on a Division I basketball court, averaging 2.6 points and 1.8 rebounds per game for the Mocs.
Scoring always had come fairly easily to him, as Dixon averaged 28.5 points per game — tops in the state of Florida — as a high school junior. He cut his senior season short to concentrate on football, but then after one season at Boston College he transferred to East Mississippi Junior College to pursue basketball.
Now he’s settled in again — and confident.
“I spent a lot of time in the gym this offseason, but a lot of it is mental,” Dixon said after Tuesday’s game. “Coach Paris told me he knew I could shoot, the guys on the team know I can shoot and they told me not to think about it: Just let the ball go, just shoot it. I feel I could always shoot the basketball — growing up I had always been able to shoot — but I had a little lull, fell back and kind of lost my confidence, but the guys and Coach Paris did a good job of picking me up and letting me know I can shoot the ball, and it’s OK to shoot.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.