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Report: Markelle Fultz, Shooting Coach Drew Hanlen Part Ways Amid Struggles

Rob Goldberg

Philadelphia 76ers guard Markelle Fultz has seemingly taken a step back with his shooting, with his bad free-throw miss Monday night against the Miami Heat looking like a low point:

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These struggles could potentially be attributed to his split with trainer Drew Hanlen. According to Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype, the two are "no longer working together or on speaking terms."

Hanlen had worked with Fultz on his shot over the summer, but their relationship apparently went south about three weeks ago.

Prior to the separation, the trainer remained confident Fultz would get over his shooting struggles.

"He's going to figure it out," Hanlen said after the first game of the season, per Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports. "He's come a long way. Worked harder than anyone I've ever had before to get back. It'll come. Just takes time."

The guard was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2017 after a great freshman year at Washington where he shot 41.3 percent from three-point range. Unfortunately, he missed most of his first season because of a shoulder injury and hasn't been able to shoot since.

Fultz appeared in 17 regular-season and playoff games in 2017-18 and missed his only three-point attempt.

He had gotten more aggressive as a shooter to start this season, shooting 4-of-13 in eight October games, but hasn't attempted an outside shot yet in November. He has also shot just 60 percent from the free-throw line in his first 14 games of the year.

The 20-year-old is contributing in other ways—averaging 9.3 points and 3.4 assists per game entering Monday—but he clearly lacks confidence in his shot.

   

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