Rockets need SOME midrange game

This should be the end of the discussion, so many people like to talk smack without knowing anything. Just because you saw a player make 2-3 mid-range shots in a row doesn't mean the Rox are suddenly dumbasses for taking out the mid range shot, they track this stuff as statistics and it shows mid-range shots are the least effective shots in basketball. This isn't people stating their opinion, these are facts already, meaning if you track all the mid-range and 3 pters NBA players take and make the 3's generate more points than the mid-range shot.

It's not just the Rox that are recognizing this, the entire NBA is cutting down on the mid-range and shooting more 3's, hell you just saw mid-range master Rudy Gay go from wanted commodity in Memphis get passed around like a hot potato before ending in Sactown. Do you think you're smarter than an entire league of people who study this sort of thing for a living?

DM has said that they don't ban mid-range shots because it can be a good shot in the right situation, in fact if you watch Rox games you can see Harden, Parsons and co. take them from time to time. However you leave shots like that to the player's judgement, considering it is the worst shot in b-ball if you're a coach you design plays which result in better shots, like an open 3 or a Howard dunk.

 

Everything has to be in it's context, nothing is black and white. Would you rather take a contested 3pt shot rather than pass it out for an uncontested midrange? Of course not.

But as you said, most of the plays will be drawn up for either an open 3pt shot or a cut/drive to the basket for a certain score to maximise pps on a possession, but players have to react on what the defense gives them and any scoring option has to be considered that will provide the best option at that moment.

 

It's highly exaggerated that we don't do any midrange. Harden shoots midrange all the time. I see Lin and Parsons shoot midrange a bunch too. Even Morey said that an open jumper is always an efficient thought and it's exaggerated how much importance the rockets place on 3s and layups.

 

Man get off the stats, have the 3 point shot been effective in our last 15 or so games. He&& no. I know scoring 2 from mid range is better than a missed 3 pointer all day everyday. The Rockets have been atrocious behind the ark so far this season especially in our last 15 games.

 

I don't love depending on the 3 point shot. Jordan, Kobe Bryant, HOF players may have shot them at times, but their bread and butter were mid-range jumpers. Even Duncan had his mid-range game to go along with a beautiful post-up game and part of a post-up game, that both Jordan and Bryant had/have were fadeaway and turnaround jump shots. There are guys like Ray Allen and Korver that can hit 3 pointers with consistency, but it is an inconsistent shot and you can get into a whole team basically not hitting them. It's also important for Lin and Harden, two guys that take a beating driving it to the hole, to not turn into D Wade level of wear and tear later in their careers and start to take more mid-range shots from the drive. Big scoring point guards like Parker, Kyrie Irving and Westbrook shoot a lot of mid-range jumpers. So it is really ridiculous to go on about stats because the game is played by humans with all of the inconsistencies that humans have and 3 pointers are another tool to use like any other way of getting the ball in the hoop. Calling 2 pointers inefficient doesn't change guys that can hit 2 pointers with regularity vs. 3 pointers and will get more points ultimately with their more 2 pointers to get there.

 

the only people who take a lot mid range jumpers are people who mediocre enough to not want to shoot 3's.

This team needs defense, they're not losing because they're not taking enough 18 footers. How many times do we see Parson/Caspi etc pump out of a 3, take a step or dribble and miss the shot? Plenty.

 

Michael Jordan was mediocre? He took more mid-range jumpers than 3s.

 

certain situations require a midrange shot...when the opposing defenders are out close to the 3pt shooters not letting them get a good look, thus the shooters need to drive past them to the paint and pull up for a jumper....also on the fast break at times, you need to pull up for a jumper in the paint to avoid a charge or getting your shot blocked.

 

Agreed. Mostly we go to it at the end of games when PPS on 1-2 possessions is less important than getting any points at all. In that case the midrange shot has a higher % chance of at least keeping the scoreboard moving.

 

I guess Clyde, Dominigue, Bird, Magic, Dumars, Stocton, Calvin Murphy, and several other great players who shot a lot of mid-range jumpers were mediocre too..LOL knickstorm is off the chains. bwhahahahaha

 

agreed 100 with ya pimpn

 

Harden has added the midrange to his game and is hitting them at 50% on the left side

 

A spot-up shooting roleplayer doesn't need a mid-range game. You can pick your roleplayers, so you can pick the ones that are most efficient (i.e. 3-point shooters).

If your bigs also have a big usage rate, then a fade-away can work well if incorporated into a postgame and used sparingly, but those are still poor shot choices. A big WANTS you to shoot over him. That's what post defense is all about. It's cool if you can still score while shooting over a center, but it's really not a shot you wanna go to often.

The only mid-range game a team should be actively encouraging is their ball-handler's ability to pull up off the dribble and create space for his own shot (stepback jumpers, fade-aways, spins/fakes etc). That's why Jordan, Kobe, Lebron etc incorporate a mid-range game. When you can shoot the three, can get to the rim and can also pull up off the dribble, you're incredibly hard to guard. A defender can't cover all 3 those possibilities. Kobe has talked about this so look it up if you want, but it's not a difficult concept to grasp. Our ball-handlers are Harden and Lin and they do shoot from mid range. Harden's incorporated a step-back jumper this year and Lin will sometimes fake a drive or shot, spin around and shoot it.

Our mid-range ability and usage is exactly where it needs to be.

 

I think mid range shots should be strongly encouraged during clutch time and during slumps in the game. Shooting at 45% on mid range for example is 0.9 pps, while 35% on 3 gives 1.05 pps, clearly 3 is better in terms of scoring, but mid range gives a higher percentage. When the momentum can be shifted with just a single shot, we should go with what's higher percentage. Sure making 3 is huge, but just making a 2 is big too when you are in slump or the game is at the line.

Often what we ended up was jacking up 3s because we don't have other options. Lack of a mid range game makes the whole team too predictable. Once we can't make 3s, we don't know what to do anymore. There is no consistent 2 pt plays we can run that gives high percentage shots.

 

You need to learn the definition of " expected"

 

I always think the same watching Rockets' games. I cringe at the players shooting 3s randomly even they got those shots in. So many great players had very good mid-range game.

 

was Michael Jordan great because of his jump shooting? No, it was because he could get to the rim and shoot 70%.

It's the same thing with Wade. His perimeter game is terrible, it's all about getting to the basket.

 

Michael Jordan played at the rim in his first say 6-7 seasons but also had a jump shot. As time moved on, he didn't go to the rim that much. Michael Jordan shot a bunch of mid-range jump shots, he was a jump-shooting 2 guard. That's what Kobe's game turned more into also. Kobe didn't drive to the rim as much when he got into his 30s and starting shooting mid-range jump shots mostly. But even when he did go to the rim earlier in his career he shot mid-range jump shots. 3s are worth more because they go in less for most players.

 

You obviously don't know anything about Wade if you consider his perimeter game terrible.