Three Point Facts Over Fantasy

THREE POINT FACTS OVER FANTASY

Former Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen was asked if today's players are better than in his era while watching his son play in the NBA summer league. Pippen's reply was "Yes. The game is less physical, but shooting from three point range is much better". I had issues with Scottie Pippen's reply. For a few seasons I have been calling the increase of three point shooting a "brickfest" as opposed to a "basketball epiphany". I decided to actually check the truthfulness of Pippen's comment. Here are the results.

In the 1999-2000 season the average number of three point shots taken per NBA team was 13.7 shot attempts per game. In the 2021-2022 season the number of three point attempts per game had increased to 34.6 each contest. This is an average increase of 20.9 three point attempts per game per team.

With this information gathered, I then checked the team shooting percentages to see how much they had improved over 22 NBA seasons. In the 2000 season the NBA team three point shooting percentage was 35.3 percent. In the 2022 season the average three point shooting percentage was 34.2 percent. Therefore, after 22 seasons the NBA three point shooting percentages actually went down, not up as Scottie Pippen and countless "basketball gurus" erroneously claim.

Let's recap the facts. NBA teams are shooting 20.9 more three point shots per game despite their lower shooting percentage. Consequently, the number of misses has increased significantly as well. In 2000 each team averaged 8.9 (4.8 makes) three point misses per game. Currently, NBA teams miss 13.76 (7.1 makes). For the record, attempting and missing difficult shots more often is a recipe for failure. In fact, Albert Einstein once said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result".

When Steph Curry began shooting, and making three pointers at a high volume the NBA took notice. When Klay Thompson began to do the same thing, and the "Splash Brothers" started winning championships EVERYONE began to imitate their style of play. Unfortunately, these imitators do not put in the necessary work required to be as good as the Splash Brothers, and it shows.?

In order to become a great shooter, players must practice good form and put up hundreds of shots per day. George "Iceman" Gervin admitted that he took over 600 shots per day in order to develop his deadly shooting stroke. The Iceman was also a scoring champion on multiple occasions and he is one of the few NBA shooting guards to be a career 50% field goal shooter. Becoming an excellent shooter does not just happen.

Furthermore, Steph Curry performs a pregame shooting routine where he shoots until he MAKES 200-300 shots. Furrhermore, during the summer Curry shoots until he makes 500 shots each workout. Steph Curry's shooting ability is no accident, it is a result of hard work and attention to detail. This is also the reason that he is the NBA's All-time three point leader, and a +40% shooter from beyond the arc.

In conclusion, Scottie Pippen was wrong. In addition,?every coach that insists on players launching three pointers is wrong as well. Players that do not put in the work to become great shooters simply should not be given the "green light" to take them whenever they want. The "yellow light" and in many cases a "red light" would be more appropriate. As the great coach Dick Devenzio (Stuff Good Players Should Know) once said "Basketball, like life, is not "fair". The best shooters should shoot the most". Players that do not shoot over 40% from beyond the arc should be given the "yellow light. The shooters who make less than 35% from deep deserve to see the "red light". If not, then the NBA will continue to be a "brickfest" just like I have been saying for years.

* In one NBA game (Sixers vs. Knicks) there were a total of 53 missed three point shots accumulated between both teams. James Harden has missed 16 three point shots on seven occasions during his career.

** I am confident that I could coach NBA players to be MUCH BETTER shooters. All haters can go to YouTube, watch the video "Coach Ice Shooting Challenge", and then come holla at me with their video responses. I will wait. They won't respond because shooters have to be ELITE to do it!!! Not many are.

*** There has been one and only one person to defeat my challenge - James Pauley. James surpassed my mark on his first try, and sent me the video as proof. James may shoot with more accuracy than Steph Curry himself. Any NBA team that hires him will be "blessed". In a matter of fact, James Pauley just set a personal record of 3623 straight foul shots without a miss. ??