slasher is generally a higher % do to getting close to the rim shooters are always on an up or a down depending on the game slasher = wade avg'ing 20pts a game with 19 from FT's
Not necessarily, I think you guys are looking at this the wrong way. Basketball is a team sport, so offensively you need a healthy balance of slashers and shooters. One isn't better than the other, it depends on the chemistry within the team and how they interact with another. Lets take the Lakers starting 5 for example: Fisher=decent balance, but leans toward a shooter. Kobe=Both, but his greatness comes cause of his slashing. Radmonovic=Straight up shooter Odom=Slasher Gasol=post, neither Kobe creates because of his slashing. He gets fouls, points, and kicks it out to his shooters: Radmonovic and Fisher. But the reason he's so damn good is because when defenders start to play off him and give him space, he just lights them up. Once this happens the opposing coach will most likely move to zone to keep kobe from driving, but when this happens if your team has a good shooter (allen, radmonovic, Okur) they just let them fire away. So both types of players rely on each other to make themselves and the team better, there is really no one better than the other. The real answer is the one that can do both. Some will be glorified depending on the team situation, and of course the dumbass media gives the one person all the credit, but thats the reason team chemistry is so important. Who works well with who, and who makes who good. Basketball is like a science experiment. You have your hypothesis (starting 5), and then you test all the different variables against each other to try and get the perfect formula. Something Isaiah Thomas has miserably failed
Of course on any team you need shooters, slashers, and post play. And to be a good basketball player (for amateur level, of course), you probably need to have a jumpshot, some handles, some basketball IQ, and a little bit of athleticism. I think the game comes easier to you if you're an athlete, which favors slashers, but I think it's easier to teach someone to slash than it is to teach someone a jumpshot. Also, each has it's own X-factor. With a shooter, your shot is on or off, but the game is always called the same. If you get touched it's a foul. As a slasher, your "shot" (layup, floater, dunk, or otherwise) is always on, but the way the game can be called (in terms of fouls) varies greatly. Sometimes you get hacked and no call, sometimes they breathe on you and it's a foul. Where I play, I notice the shooters get a lot more attention than the athletic guys who can slash because if you clog up the paint, the slashers are *usually* neutralized. I also agree that as a shooter, you can affect the game positively just by standing out by your range. Even if you don't touch the ball, if you're a (good) shooter, your man won't dare leave you to double all the way down in the post if you're out by the 3 pt. line. I am able to blow by guys that I should have no chance of because they are always off balance while watching my jumper. If they jump on the pump fake, I'm gone. If they don't fall for it, I put up the shot immediately. When a shooter hits that shot, there's nothing you can do. I'd say that is a more likely scenario than a slasher being so good that he can just blow by everyone and get all the finishes he wants at the rim because of it. This is just coming from experience during HS ball, and at local parks, gyms, etc. Shooters need slashers to collapse the D. Slashers need shooters to spread the floor. They both need post players and post players need them both. All said, I would rather be a shooter.
How do we define a player a shooter or a slasher? I say check www.82games.com! dirk = 81% jumpers mcgrady = 80% jumpers paul = 76% jumpers kobe = 75% jumpers ginobili = 74% jumpers redd = 71% jumpers b.davis = 67% jumpers wade = 65% jumpers lebron = 62% jumpers Another thing, being able to catch and shoot or doing it off the dribble are very different skills. redd, manu and dirk are the only ones in the list very good at both.
shooters are more likely to kill their enemies instantly.. slashers have to go up close, a la rafer.. j/k
Shooter. You play longer thus more $$$ Slashers are washed up by 32 unless they become shooters. Finley and Stackhouse are not still in the league for going down the lane and dunking on people.
I agree with Dave, I cant Gerald Wallace rockin the rim at 38 like Ray Allen will be one day, but then again, old guys cant get the lift sometimes so longevity isnt a given
Flip Murray and Desmond Mason? or Eddie Johnson and John Barry? If you are really only a one tool player you will last a lot longer, and be a more valuable role player, by having that skill being a shooter (e.g., deadeye and quick release). Someone who can shoot always has to be accounted for by a defender, if you can drive but can't shoot a good team defense can often close you off despite not covering you at the perimeter. couple of cavouts I would say this is more true for SFs and guards, may not apply to Cs and PFs to the same degree (you have defense, rebounding and post-up ability being more important assets than driving or shooting--so the question is less meaningfull to them). Similarly, I would also say this is more true for the NBA. Lower levels of basketball you may not need to be a guard with a good to great shot to be effective. Maybe being a driver is more important because there won't be agile 7 footers around in a playground defense.
To get away in NBA with being just a slasher you need to be Wade/Lebron/Paul good and be allowed to have the ball in your hand a lot, otherwhise you're out pretty soon unless you bring up other assets. Guys like Kapono or Korver can have long careers just not being horrible on defence.
