Onuaku's underhand free-throws bring back Rick Barry memories 

HERAKLION (2015 FIBA U19 World Championship) - Basketball fans watching the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship couldn't help getting flashbacks to grainy old black-and-white footage of Rick Barry. The NBA legend is still well known for his distinctive underhand free throw shooting.

Fast-forward to the flashy age of 2015 with Twitter and Vine, and the world's social media were abuzz early on at the U19 Worlds as videos of Chinanu Onuaku taking free throws were shared. 

While he lacked Barry's short shorts, Onuaku was there at the free-throw line at Heraklion Arena shooting free throws the same way Barry did - underhanded, or granny style as some call it. 

I didn't really care how it looked. I'm just trying. - Onuaku

After watching the United States power forward make just 14 of 30 free throws (47 percent) this past season for the University of Louisville, the Cardinals' legendary coach Rick Pitino asked his big man to sit down with him and watch some old black-and-white videos. 

"No, I didn't know him," Onuaku said of the man he saw on the old footage. 

Of course, it was the NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry. The man known as "The Miami Greyhound" was one of the greatest free-throw shooters of all time with a career 89.3 percentage in 1,020 games played in the ABA and NBA between 1965 and 1980. Barry led the league in free-throw shooting percentage seven times and converted at least 89.9 percent of his foul shots in each the last eight seasons of his career. 

All of that while shooting his free-throws underhanded. 

In this age of Hack-a-[Dwight] Howard or Hack-a-[DeAndre] Jordan, Pitino figured his big man could possibly avoid that same fate if he could just convert a higher percentage of his freebies. So, why not go granny style, Pitino asked Onuaku, who made 61.6 percent of his field goal attempts in his freshman season with Louisville. 

Coach Pitino showed me a video of Rick Barry and he thought my percentage would be better shooting that way, so I changed it. - Onauku

Onuaku arrived in Colorado Springs at USA Basketball headquarters trying to both make the United States team for the U19 Worlds and also try his new free-throw style. 

When asked what his teammates thought about it, he said: "They were all surprised because nobody really ever does it anymore."

In the two U.S. warm-up games ahead of the U19 Worlds, Onuaku made 1-of-4 versus Greece and then 3-of-4 against Argentina.

"It's fine. I feel like I'm getting better," he said after making two of four foul shots for his two points in the USA's opening win versus Iran at the 2015 U19 Worlds.

The video of his free-throws on Saturday in Heraklion has gone viral and was even re-tweeted by Brazil international Leandro Barbosa among others.

Onuaku though is not thinking about being a trend-setter. His goal is the NBA.

"In order for me to get better and make it to the NBA I have to make free-throws."

Nobody's saying Onuaku will challenge Barry's free-throw marks, but it's all about getting better - one underhand free-throw at a time. 

FIBA