Shooting is routine for MU’s Rowsey, Howard
Most great basketball shooters are creatures of habit.
After all, they honed their craft through the relentless repetition of the same form until the jump shot becomes muscle memory.
Marquette guards Andrew Rowsey and Markus Howard, two of the best marksmen in college basketball, are no different.
They have combined to make 165 threepointers this season for the Golden Eagles (1411, 5-8 Big East) heading into their game on Saturday at Creighton (19-7, 8-5). That is the most of any NCAA Division I teammates.
The sharpshooters are meticulous in their shot preparation, right down to their pregame routines.
And, like how players with vastly dissimilar shooting forms can each be effective, Rowsey and Howard differ in how they approach the hours before game time.
Both are always the first MU players out on the court, home or away, 90 minutes prior to tip-off.
Rowsey begins close to the hoop, working on what he calls “little craft stuff ”: floaters off each foot, layups off the glass, short jumpers.
“It really started with my dad,” the senior said. “He told me ‘Don’t just come into the gym and start jacking up threes. Start under the basket. Get a feel for the ball, get a feel for the rim and work your way out from there.’ “Howard takes the opposite approach. “Most people like to start in-to-out, start close and work their way out,” the sophomore said. “Me, I just like to start out. I want to get a feel for the three-point line early.”
Howard loves the left side of the court, so
he usually starts there. He slowly works his way around the three-point arc.
“Me and my brother, when I was back home, did a pregame routine where every three inches I move,” Howard said. “So I’ll start literally right on the baseline and I’ll move three inches and then move another three inches.
“So I’m covering every spot on the court beyond the three-point line. So in the game I’ve seen (that shot) before. I like to do three makes at each spot.”
Rowsey works his way back to the threepoint line facing the basket. From the top of the key, he does 10 one-dribble pull-ups from the elbows.
Then Rowsey does stationary shots from various spots around the three-point line. He makes nine out of 10 before moving on. He repeats the process from a step behind the arc; then again from NBA three-point distance. He finishes that part of his routine with five shots from even deeper – the corners of the “MU” logo at halfcourt.
It can be transfixing for observers to watch the non-stop procession of swishes from both players.
“After I do all my stationary stuff, I usually do off-the-ball screens,” Rowsey said. “Ten off the top going each way on each side. And then 10 middle ball-screens. So 30 made shots.”
Howard follows his three-point work with shots off the dribble to prepare for how defenses usually play him.
He often has a good feel for how his shot will be in the game.
“If I make three shots in a row (to start), I know it will be on for me,” Howard said. “That’s actually what happened in Providence (before he scored a school-record 52 points). Most of the good games I’ve had can be attributed to making consecutive shots right when I come out of the tunnel.”
It’s not the same for Rowsey. “When the stands are full and the game is going on, your shot feels completely different than in warmups,” he said. “I think that’s just adrenaline, just wanting to make the shot so bad and all the other factors from the game. You can make 20 in a row and then come out for the game and hit one off the side of the backboard.”
Rowsey is always the last player to head back into the locker room. He stays out on the court until he hits 10 straight threes from the top of the key before running in to be with his teammates.
After the team comes back on the court for layups, the routines get a little quirkier for each player before the player introductions.
“This has been my routine since last year,” Howard said. “Me and one of the managers, Ricky, he guards me on my left side and then I take a couple dribbles and shoot off one foot.
“I have to make it. I usually make it on the first try but at Providence I missed five times in a row. I was like ‘Oh no. I don’t know how today is going to go.’ Then what happened happened. Ever since then, whenever I miss on the first try, he thinks a huge game is coming.”
As the rest of the Golden Eagles gather near their bench, Rowsey is always the last one on the court.
“I’ve actually done that since high school,” Rowsey said. “I have to be the last one on my team to make a shot. I have to make three of them where it touches nothing but backboard and net. Three in a row.”
Then Rowsey and Howard are ready, and the real show is about to begin.