Thanks Yeah they have frequency. So 3pt% depending on defender distance. 0-2 ft --- 0.9% frequency (9th) 2-4 ft ---8.1% frequency (1st) 4-6 ft --- 19.2% frequency (leads league by huge margin) 6 + ft --- 17.8% (2nd to bkn again) Random thought: Brooklyn takes the most extremely wide open shots, while taking the highest majority and frequency of these. Yet, they only convert at a 35.3% rate. What I decipher, they have an efficient offense but no shooters able to exploit it.
Check out our frequency last year. We also had a high level of wide open threes, and few shooters to exploit it. Another decipher is defenses leave you open, and in our case last year, to guard Harden more and prevent his drives
We led at 4-6 and we were high end in other catagories but nothing extreme like bkn is with the 6+ this year. But I agree with your other deciphers
In my simplified view, I see 2 ways to basically get open shots. 1) Defender is drawn off the shooter, i.e. Spacing - you have players spread out. Drawn off due to something like a double team. 2) Shooter escapes the defender - Movement/Picks What I was saying was Harden's penetrations usually get our guys open shots through the first method - Spacing. So, my argument was I preferred Harden driving & getting an open shot for a teammate, a layup, or free throws - rather than a difficult, covered three. Harden is a better shooter than Westbrook, but I still say a drive from either of them is better than a covered three. In my eye test, I observe what seems like high usage guys bailing the defense out a lot by settling for jumpers. The question I've had for a long, long time is.....Does a defender really have to respect a star's jumper to guard him with the rules of today? If so, could the star not jack up as many threes as they do and still be as effective driving (esp. Westbrook)?
midrange is underrated...its a healthier shot and more efficient energy wise... people get tired and injured trying for layups
That would be a tricky question Oakdogg as much depends on each player & the teammates surrounding them. IMO....Westbrook needs to drive to the basket first; which tends to make his outside shot look much better. Olapido is the same type of player. It kinda makes it tough for both players to share the ball. The situation with Harden is better. Harden can start the game shooting 3's & make them. Gordon & Beverley have become good spot up shooters that can play off of Harden's facilitating. Gordon has proven to be adequate in facilitating when Harden sits. Beverley to a lesser extent. Harden is in a read & react scheme (D'Antoni system) now. Pick n Roll...Harden reads the help defense...react. Can the defender of Harden/Capela defend the rim by themselves in the paint so that the other defenders can stay at home close to the kick out shooters? Most teams can't. If the Rockets don't hit 3's (Brewer/KJ/Ennis)....teams will sag into the paint as a means of clogging the paint. So you can see that Nene/Harrell/Capela don't need to shoot 3's playing center, as PnR is a main staple to the offense. Of course the PnR works better with spacing for the Rockets while using Ryno & Dekker at PF (allows for 3 to 4 three-pt shooters on the court at one time). Harden shooting about 5 three-pt shots forces the defender to fight to get over the screen....otherwise they sag off into the paint as a means of defending the Roll part of the PnR. Westbrook in theory is easy to defend; clog the paint because his outside shooters lack a lot to be desired. Problem all year is Westbrook is racing teams down the court before the defense is set. If Westbrook crosses mid-court & only 2 or 3 guys are spread out near the paint...Advantage Westbrook. You don't want Westbrook with his ears pinned back looking like he is going downhill with guys lallygagging & not paying attention to the ball (Westbrook). He will get baskets & the fouls. He follows up his own shots & gets credit for extra rebounds. IMO. After shooting some FT's, his outside shot looks much better. Teams that interrupt the Rockets offense are the teams that can handle the Rockets PnR with the mobile or good defensive center with a player that tends to give Harden trouble one-on-one. GSW (Thompson/Draymond), Cavs (Shumpert/Tristan), Spurs (Leonard/LMA)....to name a few. I started seeing the Rockets use the elevator doors play more and some double picks together outside the "Horns Play". Rockets will need to set good picks vs the elite teams to get more open shots in the playoffs.
Yeah, there are a number of ways to get the defense to collapse and leave open shooters - pick and roll is a main way we do it now. My point is it's better to do whatever you do to get the defense to collapse before jacking up threes. Related, I question whether it's so vital to shoot threes as an initiator to open up drives later - as guys have gotten in the paint without shooting many threes in the past under much less favorable perimeter defense rules (Rod Strickland among tons of others). It doesn't make much sense to me for initiators like Westbrook, Harden, etc. to be towards the top in 3PT attempts esp. if their 3PT% isn't so great that season. I understand that tunnel vision on driving in the regular season can lead to injuries, but I would hope the great ones don't settle for jumpers in the playoffs when it counts.
I see what you are saying. Before the season I predicted on another forum that the Rockets would up their 3P shooting attempts from the 30 per game last yr to an area btw 30-40 per game. I had Ariza/Gordon/Ryno jacking up 8 attempts per game I wanted Bev at 6 attempts per game (shot 40% at about 4 attempts per game last yr) Dekker/Harden near 4 per game. I saw Dekker video this summer shooting 3's & 360 dunks. But then it came to mind that the threat of 3's from Harden keeps the defenders honest & forces them to stay close to Harden before he gets to the 3-pt line. Creates better space for him & others in the form of back cuts (which we may see more as we near the playoffs). Yes, it can be annoying to see the players run down the floor & set up the offense only to have Harden rise & shoot without any ball movement...but sometimes it's meant to set up a play later. If you always jab..jab..power punch; The defenses pick up those tendencies. Sometimes leading with a power punch is not always a bad idea to mix things up. But, I'm with you that maybe it's being done too much. It appears to contribute to cold spells during the game. I would prefer Harden shoots 6 attempts/game.....but he sometimes has to go with the flow of the game.....as a means of keeping the team in the game. There is some give & take in different areas of the game as Harden is basically still learning to lead as "The Point."
I appreciate your analysis. I think that answers my question as to why initiators shoot a good number of threes. Thanks.
