I don't think I have ever thought about mid range shooters. Perhaps because it's not as exciting to watch compared to dunks, blocks, and ankle breakers leading up to an open layup.
Reggie Miller is a good mention, and yes, having him curl off a screen was as money as anybody. I guess most of us associate him and Ray Allen as bombers, but they both could/can hit mid-range shots all day long. Reggie's career wound up with 47% FG, and over a third of his shots came from 3-pt range. So bomber is fair, given his shot selection. But if you put him and Alex English in a mid-range game of HORSE, it would last for months. I thought of Maravich, but he was wowing people with his passes. Ultimately, he shot 44.1% for his career. And Kobe is a career 45% shooter, a volume shooter really. Great player, but I disagree he's an elite mid-range guy. That 45% includes a lot of attacking the rim too. I guess you can argue about defenses in different eras and all that. He's an amazing player, and people can just agree to disagree.
Pistol Pete's percentages suffered a bit because despite his incredible skills, his shot selection was just unconscionable, in an era without a 3PT line. He'd have been amazing in the mid-80s. That would actually be an interesting poll, who was the NBA's most shameless chucker? My nominees would probably be Maravich, Iverson, Young Jordan, mid-career Kobe, Elvin Hayes and maybe Antoine Walker. I'm sure I'm leaving some guys out.
When their careers are over, I would not be surprised if Lamarcus Aldridge and David West are considered as some of the best mid-range shooters, in terms of power forwards. I didn't know how clutch West was until NBA TV showed a graph related to game winners. He's close to some of the current greats...had no idea.
Don't forget Mr. 40.9% career fg% Jerry Stackhouse who had 29.9 ppg 00-01 along with a elite 40.2 fg%.
37% and 38%, respectively is above average, though both did have some bad 3 point shooting seasons. In Bird's case, he had 6 seasons over 40% from 3 point land, while he only shot under 38% once after 83-84 season. Another funny thing with Bird, his 3 point percentages were lower when he took less 3 point shots, yet his 3 point efficiency rose dramatically when he shot more 3 pointers. Moreover, you have to take into account defenses put more effort into stopping players, like Bird and Mullin vs. someone, like Kapono or Kerr. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/birdla01.html http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mullich01.html http://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/fg3_pct_career.html If you want to talk about relatively crappy 3 point shooter, look no further than Kobe Bryant. People always talk about him having really good range, but in reality, he's not a great 3 point shooter by any stretch of the imagination. Though, sometimes he does get hot and hit those shots, but not consistently.
Not really surprised with either one, especially West, who is pretty much a similar to Scola with more athleticism.
1. Yep, that should be included in being a great shooter, because typically the best shooters also have good shot selections and are very unselfish. 2. He was amazing in 70s, already, and amongst the best shooting guards, during that time period. Moreover, he had certain skills that would allow him to play in any era. If he had the right coach, then he could've easily been one of the greatest shooting/point guards ever (in the sense of being a top 10-13) player. Realistically, he had one of the rarest skill sets in NBA history, next to LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Hakeem Olajuwon. 3. More famous chuckers: Jamal Mashburn, Tom Chambers, Glenn Robinson, Carmelo Anthony,Stephon Marbury, Paul Pierce (earlier in his career), Derrick Rose, Elgin Baylor, Rudy Larusso ( I do not care what era of basketball you are in if you are shooting 43% and taking that many shots), and Steve Francis.
Sorry I wasn't more clear. That's a nice post but I didn't mean compared to other 3-pt shooters. I meant compared to normal FG%. Shooting 3-pointers so much did, in fact, drag their average way down. Some of the earlier guys we've mentioned didn't even have the temptation to shoot from a 38% area, or it was used much less often in any case. Cheers.
