Who would you guess the Rockets' most accurate 3-PT shooter has been so far this year? The answer suprised the hell out of me: T-Mac, who's hitting at a clip nearly 100 percentage points higher than his career average. In fact, nearly all of our rotation guys are hitting 3s at career-best levels*: <TABLE> <TR><TH></TH><TH>2008</TH><TH>Career</TH></TR> <TR><TD>Tracy McGrady</TD><TD>.429</TD><TD>.339</TD></TR> <TR><TD>Shane Battier</TD><TD>.425</TD><TD>.390</TD></TR> <TR><TD>Ron Artest</TD><TD>.405</TD><TD>.334</TD></TR> <TR><TD>Aaron Brooks</TD><TD>.393</TD><TD>.359</TD></TR> <TR><TD>Rafer Alston</TD><TD>.371</TD><TD>.357</TD></TR> <TR><TD>Von Wafer</TD><TD>.364</TD><TD>.212</TD></TR> <TR><TD>Luther Head</TD><TD>.360</TD><TD>.392</TD></TR> <TR><TD>Brent Barry</TD><TD>.267</TD><TD>.405</TD></TR> </TABLE> Only Head and Barry have fallen off their career levels, and in both cases that could be due to lack of PT. If these performances are the result of Adelman's system, it bodes well for the future -- and since most of the averages are up, it sure seems like that's the likely culprit. The problem is that it's hard to imagine T-Mac or Artest continuing to hit their 3s at SO much higher a pace that they have historically. When they eventually come back down to earth, somebody will need to pick up the slack. * Yao, Landry, Scola haven't gotten brave enough yet this year to try one. <BR>
It did suprise me the moment I saw the stats. Brent injured his thumb the other day,which affected badly his shooting touch,I bet that's why his shooting percentage falls off his career level. On Head's case,I have no idea if he would make a comeback from that shooting slump,well,he did pretty good job last night against the lowly twolves and hit 2 3pters. Well,It bodes well for now,I don't really see it will last long along with the season going.
yes... it prob wont last, but the flip side is i dont see we shoot 2pt jumpers this bad all season long either, it' due to bounce back.
I've always said, If T-Mac cut out the heat check and iso 3's and shot only spot up wide open jumpers he could be a great 3 pt shooter. So far he has done that.
The good news to me is that TMac is still taking the ball to the rim. He can't finish like he used to, but he's going.
I was thinking about this over the past few weeks. Every one of our perimeter players is a capable 3pt shooter: Alston Brooks Francis* McGrady Barry Wafer Head Battier Artest Not many teams in the league can say that. Most teams have at least one PG or SF that couldn't reach 30% if their life depended on it. This bodes well for the inside-out game just like it did when JVG was here a few seasons ago where we had 4 players among the league leaders in 3PM (Alston, McGrady, Battier, Head). The problem then, and still now to an extent, is that we needed more slashers and players other than Yao finishing in the paint. Brooks, Artest, Landry and Scola help in that area but we need to improve our team FG%, i.e., become more efficient. For us to be in the cellar of the league in FG% despite shooting 3s so well means we are horribly inefficient inside the arc.
Yea i have noticed Tmac's 3 point shooting. Does he seem to be left wide open significantly more often then before? He is alone at the 3 point line quite often and seems to show signs of teams worrying of him less. I have noticed less double teams as well. It would make sense with his dropping overall numbers. I might be overreacting, i havnt been able to watch much basketball this year.
T-mac and Ron used to the go-to guys for their teams so it's hard for them to get any open look. Now they are 2 of the 3 go-to guys in the Rockets and opponents mostly can't afford going 1-on-1 with Yao. That leaves T-Mac and Ron open. When they are open they can hit these 3s. So I think they can keep this high % 3s if they stick with the inside-out game plan.
That did surprise me. I will say that when Yao gets the ball down low, we often have WIDE open three point opportunities.
i think adelman is realizing the way to off-set the double teams on yao and open things up in the paint is to become a reliable 3-point shooting team ala the Rudy-T days.
We iso Yao down low, when he gets doubled, kick the ball out and swing it around until we find a shooter that the defensive rotation hasn't got to yet. T-Mac is a pretty good standstill 3 pt. shooter. Aaron Brooks has so much range it's not funny. Artest is pretty good at standstill shooting too. Battier is consistent from that corner. Wafer can knock down the occasional 3. Head has been slumping but he's still a threat (last night). Oh and Rafer comes through in the clutch...
Nah you're not overreacting. T-mac is getting a lot more open shots and that is due to better ball movement. Really T-mac is just letting the game come to him instead of forcing things. Sure he heat checks and takes some bad shots at time but so does Kobe Bryant and a lot of other start perimeter players.
T-Mac isn't coming back down to earth, so don't hold your breath. There are specific reasons why his accuracy has gone sky high. - He is MUCH more selective about his shots. He shoots much fewer contested shots than he ever did, and he now has the luxury of doing that because there are so many more offensive weapons on the floor -- Artest, Brooks, Battier, Yao. He gets many more wide open shots. - He has adjusted his jumpshot, and it has helped remarkably. Previously he used to rely a lot on his athleticism to get elevation over defenders before release. He would jump clear over the defender and shoot a line-drive type shot that typically was released from a point higher than the rim. Now he doesn't jump nearly as high (actually he barely jumps), and he has a lot more arc in the shot ... a more traditional shooting form. It's the same type of shot you typically see him shooting the shootaround before the game that he hits at an extremely high clip. - There is plenty of evidence that he has really worked hard on his shooting motions. The improved free throws, for once. The arc on his jumpshot. He is a lot more consistent than he used to be. McGrady's shooting is just one reason why I think we really haven't seen how good this team can be, not at all. I think this team will be demolishing opponents left and right by the time the All Star Break rolls around.
I agree. At this point last year we were 13-14 and then went on a 31-3 tare starting Jan 4, with a 22 game winning streak embedded within it. What the hell is going to happen this year?
the scary thing is his mid-range game is nowhere back yet. last yr, his worst shooting yr, he still shot 46% from the 2pt range. this year, it's 40%. the 3pt shot is what keeping his fg% abvoe 40%. so when he gets more of his legs under him, look for his mid-range game to be explosive b/c he's one of the best mid-range players in the game. like i said, with this much talent on the team, tracy can take his time to regain his rhythm, timing, and explosiveness. right nwo, he just has to ease right in and he is.
McGrady is also shooting a little better near the basket, but he's been real off from midrange (4-27 from the left elbow... wow).
Go to the Hot Spots page at NBA.com and check out McGrady's hot spots for the past 5 seasons. He is actually a pretty solid mid-range shooter. It's the 3pt shot that has brought his percentages down more than anything in recent years. This season, it's backwards.
