Morey on 610: Avoiding long 2s a bit overplayed, mid-range shots can be efficient

Luis Scola had plays run for him to get consistent wide open 2's during his tenure as a Rocket... why???.... because it was an efficient shot for him to be taking.

If the Rockets had Nick Young on their roster (which is something that would probably never happen to begin with) him taking a fade-away 2 would be an in-efficient shot. The offense would put him in positions to either get spot up 3's or setup back cuts to get him lanes to the bucket.

Efficiency has more to do with the players than it does the type of shots you take.

The only reason why Patrick Patterson and Marcus Morris were moved back to the 3 point like this year is because the coaching staff and front office knew they had to range to make those shots nearly as efficient as they made 2's if not more with Morris. It also added spacing for Lin/Harden, and 3 points are better than 2.

If Scola would have still been a Rocket last year, he would have been inside the arc on offense because he wouldn't be able to consistently hit the 3 like Morris and Patterson could.

 

Bolded for the truth!

What would MJ23 be without his mid-range pull-up jumpers? Imagine Dream without his mid-ranger jumpers? How else would the league leading in career points score without his mid-range skyhooks?

The most unstoppable shots in basketball are the mid-rangers.

How did teams stop Jordan's pullup jumpers, Kareem's skyhooks, or Dream's fadeaway? If they were on, there was absolutely nothing oppositions could do. Teams can easily stop dribble penetrations. They can draw up plans to contest 3's, but if you want to beat good defensive teams, you will have to beat them at the mid-range 2's. Without any good mid-range game, the gimmick offense will be fully exposed in the playoffs.

If Harden wants to become a true superstar or leads the league in scoring, he will NEED to develop his mid-range game.

 

I would think it's the other way around. Running a curl for Harden which results in him shooting an open jumper from the elbow is a pretty efficient play. I would imagine running an iso with Harden that results in him launching an 18 footer is a less efficient play. Simply meaning, running the play probably has a higher probability of resulting in an open shot.

 

3's are unreliable...

 

Running Harden off a screen to get an open 3 from the right wing would be a more efficient play than the elbow mid-range in any situation. Running a motion offense to get an open corner 3 would always be more efficient than getting an open baseline midrange shot. An open 3 at the top of the key is always more efficient than an open midrange shot from the freethrow line extended. In general, if you can run a play to get an open midrange shot, it's pretty much always possible to use basically the same play to get a better 3-pt shot.

 

3's are unreliable.... so shoot long 2s instead..?

Also, if one team shoots ten 3s at 35%, and another shoots ten 2s at 50%, the team that shoots 3s still lead in terms of aggregate points by 0.5. 3's don't need to be at a high FG% for it to be "reliable".

The only thing that is truly reliable is defense.

That's not the point. The point is why run a play to get Harden an 18 footer when you can run a play to get him a 3 pointer instead?

 

If you believe what your (lying) eyes tell you then you WILL look stupid.

Regular season playoff team averages FG% = 46.2 3PT% = 36.5
Playoff averages FG% = 44.1% 3PT% = 34.4

That is a difference of 1 extra missed shot per 50 between the playoffs and regular season.

 

Exactly the point! Small sample size but Rockets fell way below league average without their mid-range game.

Regular season:
FG% = 46.1
PTS/G = 106
Playoff:
FG% = 42.4
PTS/G = 100

That's a difference of almost TWO extra missed shots per 50. If they had faced Pacers or Grizzlies, it would be even worse. Yike!

Rockets were like a lottery (5-18) against top 5 teams. Rockets aren't going anywhere if they can't beat top teams with their gimmick offense.

 

It probably would have helped you when formulating your response if you had researched exactly what comprises the Rockets 2 point shots, or even easier yet, you could have read my previous threads. You do have to consider that one of two major Rockets assets for attacking the rim was useless during the playoffs because of injury. The Griz are a much weaker team than OKC if that team has Westbrook. Bev took him down.

 

What Morey said is being blown out of proportion. Of course a mid range jumper can be efficient but only under certain, very specific circumstances. Further, I will look at how the Rockets actually play, and not a quote that is being taken out of context.