WHo is the best 3 point shooter? I really think that Shane will be a more consistent 3 point shooter in the long run, but only if he takes the time to get into the shot. 3 pt shooters like Dirk and Shane and Brent Barry have a a good solid base when they shoot (I am not putting Shane in that category yet). Neither of them jumps much if any from the ground so their shot always has the same release point and they use their legs to shoot. Luther is more of a rhythm/feel shooter because he has to jump very high to get a good release and the release point may be inconsistent form shot to shot. Ben Gordon has a similar stroke to Luther, but his foundation (his lower body) is stronger. On the other hand, Luther has a lightning quick release and Shane has to really set his feet before he shoots. Tmac is also a player that jumps high to release the ball and I firmly believe that when he is not playing energetically his shot fails him, because he's not consistently getting into the shot with the same routine and it throws him off. What happens with an inconsistent realease point, is that you compensate with your arm and Tmac's shots last night were ALL ARM. Same thing with the free throw line. He doesn't bend his knees and if you watch closely, he uses a lot of arm and 80% of his misses are long. His routine from the free throw line is never the same and he can't copy the same stroke. I don't think it's because of lack of practice, it's a lack of concentration and mental block at this point.
If Shane continues to hit that baseline three he's been money with throughout his career, the one he was struggling with earlier in the year,this team will be a legit championship contender.
If the game is on the line, and it's a catch and shoot situation, I feel most confident if it's Battier taking that shot. But perhaps T-Mac's and Luther's recent shooting slump has something to do with that.
Well, one difference between Shane and a player like Dirk is that Shane only has a couple spots on the floor where he's reliable at three, and Dirk can shoot from anywhere on the floor. I'm much more comfortable with TMac and Luther shooting from spots outside their comfort zone than Shane, even though Shane is nearly automatic from his spots.
lol. I'd rather ball like T-Mac. Rise up over people. Can't do a thing about that when he's on fire. But i'm more like Shane. Use all legs. That's why I have NBA 3 pt. range in my shot...too bad I don't have anything else NBA in me. I don't need my feet set like Battier, though. As for T-Mac, i've always pondered why he's so bad at FT shooting and I was guessing since you can't jump on a FT he doesn't get the elevation he usually gets for his shot and therefore it's hard for him to shoot FT's. That's probably wrong because the guy is an NBA player, how many FTs do you think he practices? He would have found away around it. He just didn't seem to have any passion, any energy the Denver game. Even when he was struggling in the Lakers game he took his shots aggressively and he threw it down once and he set up his teamates. This game, all he did was set up his teamates. In fact it looked like he got bullied around by Diawara. I'm 100% he won't be like that in the playoffs but it's pretty sad to watch now. What do you think was wrong with him last night? He seemed REALLY slow.
I like Luther Heads shot. Its almost like a little mini Ray Allen the way his whole body goes through the motion. So i think he has the best potential out of the three. But the thing is he can't get super super hot for a whole game for some reason. He's like "I shouldn't dunk on his face like that.. I shouldn't get too hot.. I've made too many 3's.. I need to calm down and miss a few before people think I'm a badasss" He needs to get over that hurdle of "im just luther head from a small town in illinois" and get to the "I'm a badmuthafcka and i'm gonna destroy you and keep destroying you" I'd love for him to do that to Ricky Davis punk ass.
That's what I noticed as well last night. Looks like he's emotionally and mentally disturbed. Probably about trade rumors sorrounding rockets.
I think its his back, but according to Jonathan: "He and his back do hate the cold. He said he felt as if he had no quickness, no explosion, but his back was fine. "
We have the comfort of having two very high percentage and clutch shooters at our disposal in Battier and Head. When everyone is healthy, this means we have a multitude of options in any clutch situation with the automatic double teams T-Mac and Yao warrant. The harsh reality for our opponents is if your goal is to double T-Mac or Yao then you are basically daring a 40%+ 3-pt shooter to hit a wide open shot.
He looked SLOW man. He was being bullied around by Dia-frickin'-wara. Something was wrong with him. Maybe his back? Maybe something mental. It's been two games now, let's see what happens tonight against the Kings. Maybe he's just in a funk. I don't think it's about the trade rumors, i'm sure he knows 100% he's not involved in any no matter how many fans suggest it.
McGrady has gone 0 for 11 from three and 2 for 11 from the free throw line the last two games. Yikes.
This used to be true, like last year and earlier from this year. Shane strictly was a low volume corner 3 man. He started off smokin from the corners at high volume, but suckass every where else. Then he started sucking everywhere going through a 10 game slump of 20% 3pt shooting (and the Rockets were winning despite Battier's terrible shooting, TMac's terrible shooting, and Rafer's terrible shooting from 2pt land cause he was still hot from 3...all because Yao was dominant-people forget this too easily). But since Battier has busted out of his slump, he's been on fire from EVERYWHERE. Yes, he's a set shooter and needs time to get his shot off...but if he can get his shot off, it's going in like the best shooters out there. Here are the stats: Battier started off 3/21 from the elbow 3's. That's a disgusting 14.3% shooting from behind the arc at the elbow spots. Out of necessity (this is my opinion) Battier was kept at the elbows and top of the 3pt line much because of his fast break defense. I've shown in the past that while the Rockets half court D is great, their transition D is no good compared to other contenders. That's because Rafer and Head have too hard a time holding down quick/big/athletic guards going one-on-one in transition when there's no help behind from Yao and Co. Shane Battier is just a smart transition D stud...blocks shots, gets steals, draws charges. Anyhow, I was totally pissed at JVG for sacrificing so much offense with Shane's terrible shooting from any 3pt spot other than the corners. At the same time, JVG kept rotating Rafer to the corners. While Rafer shot great from the corners last year, he's been horrible this year. This year Rafer has been great from the elbow 3's and up top, a total reversal of last year. But back to my point. I was pissed off at JVG and mad that Shane Battier kept firing up from spots that were not in his range...14.3%!!!!!! He was 22.6% from the elbows for all of last season, so it's not like Shane was off to a rusty start...he was true to form and JVG sacrificed made shots for transition D. Personally I would have just benched Rafer and played Big Ball (they did that in the Miami game)...but that's besides the point. Well, since 12/14, Battier has made me look like an idiot. He's been on a tear shooting out of this world from every 3pt spot on the floor, and in high volume too. Superman ain't got nothing on Battier. Here's his numbers since 12/14 on 3pt shooting: from the 3pt corners: 20/46 for 43.5% from the 3pt top: 4/9 for 44.4% from the 3pt elbows: 20/39 for 51.3% I am totally amazed. He's never been a high volume 3pt shooter. And he' was a disgusting elbow 3pt shooter for over a year. Yet he kept jacking up open shots and just wow. He's on fire from EVERYWHERE. All hail Shane Battier. Props to Luther Head too. His 3pt shooting "slump" was like 6 games of 31% shooting or something like that. LOLOL Head's been so good that we think something is wrong when he's not hitting 50% of his 3's every game.
Kim, I think it was the recent Laker game when Shane shot a couple of 27 foot 3 pointers from the elbow and drilled them both. I was very surprised he was aggressive enough to take them.
Luther's shot is more conducive to catch & shoots. He needs to look at Sam Cassell who is about his height to learn to shoot off the dribble. Sam's shot doesn't get blocked. When he picks up the dribble the ball it is already at head level. Luther Head goes through a lot of motion before his release. I think his shot got blocked by Iverson last night... Tmac can do it all...line drive, rainbow, double clutch, wrist flick shot...catch & shoot, off the dribble... Battier is doing exactly what we need him to do. Anybody watching his game knows it's like a meal that just tastes right even when he's not shooting well. His shot selection is impeccable. Rafer's game has the potential to taste right...but when he's off, he takes 2,3-4 ill-advised shots out of 17-18...Everyone is saying he shoots those he has to take, but the last 10 games I have watched, this isn't necessarily true.
I've made strong arguments that while Rafer's shooting sucks, his selection is good because he's put in that position by his teammates. That being said, you are correct when he takes 2 to 4 bad shots a game (early in the shot clock to somewhat forced). But 2-4 out of 18 isn't that bad. Those games with 2 bad shots I can live with, but sometimes it's up to 5 bad shots, and that's when I want to kill him.
