>>... are people on this board still resisting the idea that
>>mid-range jumpers deplete a possession's value?
>>
>>It's not too hard to see that most of the best offenses in
>the
>>league (Denver, San Antonio, Houston, the Lakers) put a
>>premium on shots at the rim and 3 pointers.
>>
>>Percentage of shots from the rim and from beyond 3:
>>Houston: 73%
>>Denver: 66.9%
>>New York: 65%
>>Lakers: 62.8%
>>San Antonio: 61.5%
>>OKC: 58.7%
>>Miami: 58.5%
>>LAC: 58.4%
>>
>>8 of the top 10 teams in the NBA at this are
>(coincidentally!)
>>8 of the 10 best offenses in the league.
>Outside of Denver, they all have superstars/franchise players
>on those teams.
>One of the best teams in the league is the Pacers, and they
>aren't a great 3 shooting team.

The Pacers have one of the worst offenses in the league. This is a post about offensive efficiency. Indiana wins games due to having the best defense in the league, not because of their offense. Seeing as how Memphis, Chicago, and Indiana are the only teams able to hold opponents under 93.5 points per game... and they do it by notable points fewer than that... they're the outlier for team success. Offensive efficiency is far more likely to net you that coveted playoff spot.

>>The worst offense in the league, Washington, takes only
>48.9%
>>of their shots from the rim or from beyond 3, the least in
>the
>>league.
>Dude, Washington doesn't make the point for you

No, but it's also not a coincidence that the team shooting the most mid-range shots in the league scores the fewest points.

>>Yes, there are outliers. Yes, you can argue that those
>>percentages don't directly correlate to points in a firm and
>>precise manner (Houston doesn't score as many more points
>per
>>game than, say, the Spurs as it does take more shots from
>the
>>rim and 3 than the Spurs, etc).
>>
>>But the general results are pretty clear. Take a lower
>>percentage of mid-range shots, focus on 3s and the rim, and
>>your offense is statistically more likely to be strong.
>No, build around great talent, and then watch the game open
>up. Take good shots, and asking EVERY coach and player, the
>players with the mid-range game make the game easier for other
>players because the defense has to focus on them, and with
>ball movement, lead to someone being open.
>
>>No, a good offense doesn't win you games by itself... but
>>since 8 of the top 10 offenses are in position to make the
>>playoffs (maybe even 9, if the Lakers pull it together), it
>>certainly doesn't hurt.
>You gotta have the personnel to do that. You can't just say
>that certain teams should focus on shooting 3's if their
>players aren't good or even decent 3 point shooters. It's easy
>to say that LAC/OKC/MIA should be shooting 3's because they
>have 3 point shooters. Should Memphis/Indiana/Chicago start
>shooting more 3's?

Funny you should mention LAC. They shoot 35% from three. Indiana shoots 35.1%, Chicago shoots the same. Memphis shoots 34.3% from 3, and that's still more than Denver, who shoots 33.8%. So, yes, they would benefit from shooting more 3s. I think that's a given.

Chicago and Indiana are middle of the pack in raw percentage from 3 (16th and 17th out of 30 teams). They'd clearly benefit, not much argument against it. Memphis doesn't shoot well from 3, but it jacks up nearly 8 more shots per game from 16-23 feet, despite shooting under 40 percent from there as well. Since Memphis' eFG% is above 50% from 3, gunning for that extra point is worth the risk.

Denver's low 3 point percentage is offset by the opportunities spreading the floor creates at the rim-- they shoot more at the rim than any other team in the league, nearly ten shots at the rim more per game than Lob City.




>>When you consider that the average 3-point percentage for
>the
>>league is 35.6%, and the average percentage between 3 feet
>and
>>23 feet for the league is 38.8%... but one of those
>>percentages results in an additional point with every
>shot...
>>it's common sense.
>I can't disagree with that, but to say that everyone should
>start backing up and jacking 3's doesn't make a lot of sense
>either.

I'm not talking about jacking nothing but 3s. I'm talking about minimizing low-percentage 2s. If you wanna spread the offense, make it a 3 attempt. Otherwise, attack the rim.