thecandyman92
Prospect
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/kelly_dwyer/11/03/inside.nba/index.html
Tell me you're thoughts on this.
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Edited to add article (VF21)
Kelly Dwyer
Inside the NBA
Shooting spree - A two-time MVP tops my list of NBA's best shooters
You say shooting is a lost art. I say look at Bob Cousy's career mark of 38 percent from the field.
You say players have lost their touch from the perimeter. I say Oscar Robertson bulled his way to a series of 15-footers and rarely had to shoot from 23 feet, 9 inches.
When a litany of wannabe NBA aesthetes point to a spaced-out game that they swear used to be better, I'd like to point out that the 1986 leader in three-point field goals (Larry Bird, a good forward for the Boston Celtics) hit on 82 bombs over the course of that season.
There are many reasons to pick on the NBA, but decreased performance from the perimeter isn't one of them. Here's a list of the best shooters this league has to offer.
1. Steve Nash
Nash is known more for the drive-and-dish than the catch-and-shoot, but let's be clear here. What sets up the drive? Is it the dish? Hardly. It's Nash's superior range and touch from the perimeter. He isn't the fastest guy in the league, so he needs the threat of a well-placed long jumper to force defenders to play him tight.
2. Ray Allen
His stroke is fundamentally pure, honed by hours of practice both in games and out -- Allen's six 3-point attempts per contest is league mark. Able to rise above defenders with his athleticism, or sneak his way into open spaces with superior footwork, Allen is already second on the NBA's all-time list with more than 1,700 career 3-pointers.
3. Ben Gordon
His numbers may not blind you, but Gordon's ability with the ball cannot be called into question. The way he adds arc to a 20-footer is a throwback to a time when shooters couldn't rely on athleticism, or get away with shooting line-drive jumpers after hanging in the air for a day and a half.
4. Mike Miller
Miller's refined stroke is above reproach; it's the results in the clutch that we worry about. How can something so beautiful so often result in something so worrying? Still, Miller is just 26, he's a 40-percent career shooter from behind the arc, and he has plenty of time to work on that legacy.
5. Kevin Martin
Miller's polar opposite in terms of fluidity and aesthetics, Martin vaults ahead in this list for the pure production he provides. Martin is a money shooter from all angles, and though his unorthodox windup before release may confuse defenders now (some see traces of Hideo Nomo, I liken it to Rick Sutcliffe), he'll be shooting the high percentages for the bulk of his NBA career.
6. Chauncey Billups
Artistically, Billups isn't the best, but he can beat you from the outside. Not the purest stroke, but Billups is living proof that working around the fringes of the NBA with the burden of a "shoot-first point guard" tag can pay off. Billups has shot 38 percent or higher from long-range during the past six years, topping off with a 43.3 percent mark from deep last year. Don't hand-check the guy, either: his career average from the free-throw stripe is 88 percent.
7. Brent Barry
The last active practitioner of the Barry Brand of Basketball was regarded as an athletic curio upon entering the league in 1995, but all this did was mask that fact that Barry shot 42 percent from behind the then-22-foot arc. Barry is a career 40 percent shooter from deep, and his 2003-04 run with Seattle (hitting on half his shots from the floor, 45 percent from long range, and 83 percent from the charity stripe) was a sight to behold.
8. Wally Szczerbiak
Loses points for sometimes intercepting cross-court passes that aren't meant for him (that's the sort of thing that will get your locker broken into at the YMCA), Wally still manages a decisive touch from all over the court. Nobody can argue with Szczerbiak's career marks from the floor (40 percent long range, 86 percent from the line, 50 percent overall), but it's his release point that prevents him from getting more shots off. Wally has averaged 12 field-goal attempts a game in his seven-year career, but you know he'd like to double that.
9. Dirk Nowitzki
Blessed with an accurate and unblockable jump shot, Dirk has learned over the last two seasons that an uncontested 18-footer against an overmatched power forward is a better percentage shot than a runner in traffic, and that he doesn't mind the cries of "don't settle," when the results cannot be argued away: 47 percent from the floor, 40 percent from behind the arc, and 26.4 points per game over the last two campaigns.
10. Peja Stojakovic
For a while he was the game's top marksman, working with an odd right-to-left follow-through made right because of its unimpeachable results and benefit of a 6-9 frame. Peja has tailed off over the last two seasons, but his career numbers are sublime: 46 percent.
Tell me you're thoughts on this.
---------------------------------------------
Edited to add article (VF21)
Kelly Dwyer
Inside the NBA
Shooting spree - A two-time MVP tops my list of NBA's best shooters
You say shooting is a lost art. I say look at Bob Cousy's career mark of 38 percent from the field.
You say players have lost their touch from the perimeter. I say Oscar Robertson bulled his way to a series of 15-footers and rarely had to shoot from 23 feet, 9 inches.
When a litany of wannabe NBA aesthetes point to a spaced-out game that they swear used to be better, I'd like to point out that the 1986 leader in three-point field goals (Larry Bird, a good forward for the Boston Celtics) hit on 82 bombs over the course of that season.
There are many reasons to pick on the NBA, but decreased performance from the perimeter isn't one of them. Here's a list of the best shooters this league has to offer.
1. Steve Nash
Nash is known more for the drive-and-dish than the catch-and-shoot, but let's be clear here. What sets up the drive? Is it the dish? Hardly. It's Nash's superior range and touch from the perimeter. He isn't the fastest guy in the league, so he needs the threat of a well-placed long jumper to force defenders to play him tight.
2. Ray Allen
His stroke is fundamentally pure, honed by hours of practice both in games and out -- Allen's six 3-point attempts per contest is league mark. Able to rise above defenders with his athleticism, or sneak his way into open spaces with superior footwork, Allen is already second on the NBA's all-time list with more than 1,700 career 3-pointers.
3. Ben Gordon
His numbers may not blind you, but Gordon's ability with the ball cannot be called into question. The way he adds arc to a 20-footer is a throwback to a time when shooters couldn't rely on athleticism, or get away with shooting line-drive jumpers after hanging in the air for a day and a half.
4. Mike Miller
Miller's refined stroke is above reproach; it's the results in the clutch that we worry about. How can something so beautiful so often result in something so worrying? Still, Miller is just 26, he's a 40-percent career shooter from behind the arc, and he has plenty of time to work on that legacy.
5. Kevin Martin
Miller's polar opposite in terms of fluidity and aesthetics, Martin vaults ahead in this list for the pure production he provides. Martin is a money shooter from all angles, and though his unorthodox windup before release may confuse defenders now (some see traces of Hideo Nomo, I liken it to Rick Sutcliffe), he'll be shooting the high percentages for the bulk of his NBA career.
6. Chauncey Billups
Artistically, Billups isn't the best, but he can beat you from the outside. Not the purest stroke, but Billups is living proof that working around the fringes of the NBA with the burden of a "shoot-first point guard" tag can pay off. Billups has shot 38 percent or higher from long-range during the past six years, topping off with a 43.3 percent mark from deep last year. Don't hand-check the guy, either: his career average from the free-throw stripe is 88 percent.
7. Brent Barry
The last active practitioner of the Barry Brand of Basketball was regarded as an athletic curio upon entering the league in 1995, but all this did was mask that fact that Barry shot 42 percent from behind the then-22-foot arc. Barry is a career 40 percent shooter from deep, and his 2003-04 run with Seattle (hitting on half his shots from the floor, 45 percent from long range, and 83 percent from the charity stripe) was a sight to behold.
8. Wally Szczerbiak
Loses points for sometimes intercepting cross-court passes that aren't meant for him (that's the sort of thing that will get your locker broken into at the YMCA), Wally still manages a decisive touch from all over the court. Nobody can argue with Szczerbiak's career marks from the floor (40 percent long range, 86 percent from the line, 50 percent overall), but it's his release point that prevents him from getting more shots off. Wally has averaged 12 field-goal attempts a game in his seven-year career, but you know he'd like to double that.
9. Dirk Nowitzki
Blessed with an accurate and unblockable jump shot, Dirk has learned over the last two seasons that an uncontested 18-footer against an overmatched power forward is a better percentage shot than a runner in traffic, and that he doesn't mind the cries of "don't settle," when the results cannot be argued away: 47 percent from the floor, 40 percent from behind the arc, and 26.4 points per game over the last two campaigns.
10. Peja Stojakovic
For a while he was the game's top marksman, working with an odd right-to-left follow-through made right because of its unimpeachable results and benefit of a 6-9 frame. Peja has tailed off over the last two seasons, but his career numbers are sublime: 46 percent.
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