Watch this video. Specifically, watch Ray Allen. Notice how he disappears from the screen for
a while? Rondo runs a fast break, and
you never see Ray – not until the ball is kicked out to him in the corner for a
sweet three. It’s important that you see
this. It’s important that you know that
instead of making a cut towards the basket for a layup (like most kids are
taught), Ray runs to the corner and spots up.
It’s important to note that Ray Allen would do this even if it weren’t a
fast break (he would run around screens until he popped open in that spot).
This is
important because this is how I play basketball. Pick-up, intramurals, in my backyard. I run to the three point line and cock my
wrist back, ready to pull the trigger. I
don’t mean to say I’m anywhere near as effective as Ray is at this strategy,
and due to my size people will occasionally confuse me for a point guard and
let me walk the ball up the court. But
make no mistake – half court, fast break, off a steal: I’m headed to the three
point line and not going any closer than that.
That’s how people get hurt!
Given this
style of play, my “shoot if I touch the ball near the three point line and
otherwise get rid of it asap” mentality, you will understand why I have such a
high appreciation for shooters. (This
also comes from playing with my dad, a former coach, and having free throw
contests in the backyard – I still haven’t won one of these.) There’s nothing I love more than a fluid
shooting motion releasing a deep ball that winds up swishing through the
net. Not only is a swish a great sound,
but the way the net clips up just looks so…sweet. So if you’re trying to decide whether or not
to watch an NBA game that’s on TV, take note of whether or not any of these
guys are in the game. They are, as far
as I’m concerned, the greatest players to watch shoot the three ball.
*Honorable
mentions: Carmelo (doesn’t always extend his arm all the way), Mike Miller (I
have a deep hatred for the Heat for no reason at all…and also he hobbles around
like Agassi did during his match with Baghdatis at the US Open. What? No one
understood that reference?), Lebron (same Heat issue, but also his sheer size
lends his form to be less fluent, which clearly isn’t an insult at all), and
the league’s current 3-point percentage leader…Brian Scalibraine Matt
Bonner!
Chris Paul
Kyle Korver
Kobe Bryant
Career 36,
42, and 34% three point shooters. In
retrospect, I probably should have snagged Korver for my intramural team.
The more I
watch Chris Paul the more I am simply head-over-heels for how well he plays the
game. Look, I would be hard pressed to
pick someone not named Lebron or Durant if you asked who I wanted on my team to
close a ball game. But if you were more
specific and said, “There’s two minutes left and you’re up/down two/three/four
points, who do you want on the floor to finish the game and get a win?”…I
probably say Chris Paul. And unlike
Rondo (no disrespect), Paul has a pretty jumper and plenty of range, and shoots the ball from
deep fairly well. Seriously, he may be
the best player in the league. I know, I know, I know – blasphemy. I said
maybe.
Korver’s past
four season averages from three: 53.6, 41.5, 43.5, 43.9. Are you serious?? 42% from three for his
career!? Just watch him splash shot after shot
in this three point contest – and watch Allen Iverson go nuts at the end.
Kobe’s
percentages are less favorable, but often his shots are much more fiercely
contested from this range. Plus, as I’ve
written before, it’s Kobe. His form is
awesome to watch: the way he rises, keeps his elbow square even as a defender
pokes a hand in his face, the way he finishes his shot. It’s all so pristine. And it doesn’t change if he is bothered or
off balance. (Check out this clip.
The first one is luck. You can’t ask Sefolosha to do anything better on defense
on the second one.) Look, I almost left Kobe off because there are plenty of
people I love watching shoot, and his percentages aren’t great (which probably
has something to do with volume of shots as well). But when he turns in the post or curls off a
screen, his form is always incredible. And for that, he makes this list.
Jason Kidd
Steve Novak
Stephen Curry
Check this
out: in Kidd’s first 10 seasons he averaged 33.0% from three, shooting above
40% a fat zero times. In his next 9, he
averaged 38.2% (if he finishes with the mark he has right now…which he probably
won’t but stop arguing) and two seasons over 40%. Talk about becoming a steady performer.
Obviously
Kidd and Novak are on here to increase the number of “token white shooters”
(also known as Jack Petersons) on this list.
(Side note – the Knicks have 3 of the top eight three point shooters so far this year??) But Novak also
shoots 43.6% for his career! Which is
about what Chris Bosh shoots on dunks.
(Heat burn! Get it? Wait…just flashed back to the time I got posterized in a
pick-up game. I take back that burn. Shudder.)
…
Would you be
surprised if I told you Steph was 3rd in 3-pointers attempted this
year? Would you be surprised if I told you he’s already taken 220 (a stunning
6.5 a game)? Would you be surprised if I told you the man in 2nd
(more like kid) was on his team? Would
you be surprised if I told you Ryan Anderson is first with two-hundred and sixty? Would you be surprised if I told you the
player in 4th had 180…and was Danny Green?
(No. Perhaps.
Yeah. Whoa. Who?)
Anyway, Steph
may have made it his mission to try and catch Ray Allen on the all-time 3s list.
Which will be tough to do both because of Steph’s ankles and because who knows
how long Ray will pretend he can keep playing and cash in on 60 threes a year.
But I had the pleasure of watching Steph in person at Davidson, and boy oh boy
is it pretty. He’s also having a career
year. It is only out of respect for the
next two players that he isn’t #1 on this list. Believe me, it was a tough set
of decisions. (Steph clip 1
and Steph clip 2 – start at
around 0:16.)
Kevin Durant
Ray Allen
Of course Ray
is number one. He’s the all-time leader in my favorite shot (maybe second
favorite shot to the floater-in-the-lane-while-avoiding-contact, a category in
which Nash is the leader…and he should probably have made this list as well). And now Ray gets to play on the Miami
Lebron-and-shooters. Which means his
looks are much easier to come by than they were last season (and he is relied
on a little less). His catch and shoot
in the corner…sometimes fading out of bounds, sometimes not even looking…is
just so awesome. He’s so smooth curling
off a double screen. And he was in He Got Game.
Durant,
meanwhile, is on pace to join the 50% from the field/40% from three/90% from
the free throw line in a single season club. (For reference, the stat he’s
closest to missing right now is the 90.)
And like Chris Paul, every time I watch him my respect and admiration
grows. The number of times he releases
and the ball just rips straight through the net is so many and so pretty it
boggles my mind. Some might say his shot
looks awkward. I think it’s because his arms are so long. His form is actually
gorgeous (even under pressure, sorry
Mavs fans), and he is so consistent, and I would love to see him and his
Thunder-brethren work their way through a tough Western Conference and back to
the finals. I’m going to stop before you
think I’m actually in love.
But
seriously, CP3 and KD in the Western Conference finals duking it out to play a
rejuvenated Bulls team with Derrick Rose doing his best Adrian Peterson
imitation? Wow would that be fun.
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