The Ringer : The NBA’s 3s-and-Layups Cheat Code Is No More

Yes. You are the only fan that thinks that because it makes no sense.

Eric Gordon euro stepping was great against the 2021 Hornets that or whatever team it was, but you think he will do that against the team defense that featured Klay, Draymond, KD, Livingston, and Iguodala? Remember, they shoot 3s at an all-time great rate. The literal best in the history of the league. We played better defense against them than any team in the league, and even though we gave them fits, we couldn't stop them. We HAD to out shoot them.

 

CP3 right?

 

Yes CP3 is one of the players on that list

 

Harden always took midrange jumpers in Houston, it wasn’t until his 3-4th season with us that it basically became non-existent … his original stepback was midrange

 

midrange is above 3ft and below the arc. who else can shoot 55% above 3ft and below the arc?

 

I know some of that is true but Anthony was an issue because he wouldnt shoot threes he would step in and take midrange shots. Moreyball only allows midrange as a last resort but we had guys that couldve knocked them down at a good clip. The reasoning that needed us to trade Clint Capela was for spacing not for mid range but for close to the basket. My overall point is that mid range isnt a last resort on these teams that the OP is citing so it isnt moreyball regardless of who is on the roster.

 

Durant…Aldridge .. you can easily Google the info isn’t hard to find

 

League leaders from midrange (2021-22)
Player FGM FGA FG%
Kevin Durant 52 85 61.2
DeMar DeRozan 47 112 42.0
Paul George 38 79 48.1
Dejounte Murray 35 79 44.3
Tyler Herro 34 65 52.3
Trae Young 34 61 55.7
Devin Booker 33 79 41.8
LaMarcus Aldridge 32 49 65.3
Chris Paul 30 54 55.6
Brandon Ingram 29 67 43.3
Anthony Davis 28 72 38.9
Zach LaVine 28 63 44.4
Gary Trent Jr. 28 54 51.9

 

haha, that was a hyperbola about Dream, it wasn’t meant literally, I still get upset about it, sorry.
the point that I wanted to make and was missed on you is that GSW did not have good post defenders after Bogut left. But we were prisoners of a dogmatic, clueless BS artist, with no regard for basketball nuance and flexibility. Line up your specialists and chuck until you die. No nuance, no adjustments, no basketball intuition, no flexibility. that was just horrible to watch.

 

REEEEEEEE MoReY wAs StUpId

 

Who is this magical PF/C who 1) is skilled in the post 2) allows the spacing on offense for Harden and CP3 to create and 3) is at least Capela-level on defense? How would we acquire him? How would we afford him? It's so easy to say "oh if we just had this post guy to manhandle Draymond" without thinking of the other implications.

Also, you say we didn't have nuance/flexibility but you are ignoring the key premise. We were built FOR ONE THING (beating GSW). That ONE THING doesn't require nuance and flexibility. It required exactly what we were doing with a healthy CP3. We torched the league with that one system and almost beat the best team of all time when no one thought it was possible.

 

Kareem's Skyhook
Jokic for his career shoots 55% from 3-10 feet.
Hakeem probably had a season or two where he shot 55% from 3-10 feet.

Outside of post players with MVP level offense, nobody shoots 55%+ from midrange. Closest right now is Kevin Durant, who shoots 53% from 10-16 feet.

 

If anything, morey and tilman were.content having a 3 guard rotation knowing cp3 can get injured anytime especially in the playoffs. Would have been alot different if we had added an austin rivers type of player that year

 

For whatever reason Harden just never worked on it like other parts of his game....

I still remember the Spurs and Warriors series.... their defenses packed the paint and hounded the 3 point line which left all that space in between.

 

Hahahaha! Exactly the opposite! Exactly the opposite! Chucking 3 pointers doesnt work in a high intensity playoff game, when you have to expend a lot of energy on defense and the intensity affects your precision. You need to get closer to the basket. Simple as that. In that infamous Game 7 that same Eric Gordon was 7-10 from 2pt and 2-12 from 3pt!!
https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201805280HOU.html

What a weird bunch you Morey cultists are, so devoted to that scammer that you close your eyes to all evidence!

(On a side note, the game you reference this year was against Orlando, not against Charlotte. It's funny because when I talk about this issue I always say, " going 18-40 from 3 against Charlotte in December doesn't mean you can do it against GSW in the playoffs". It's always Charlotte when people want to reference a meaningless game, always. Quite funny.)

Quite simply Morey doesn't know basketball and doesn't know science. He's a business school grad whose main competence is self-promotion, which he is very good at, as evidenced by all of you who are buying so feverishly his BS. Basketball people know that relying so much on 3pt shooting doesn't work in the playoffs, that's like common knowledge. But the Morey brigades in their zeal made all these NBA lifers (like the TNT guys for example) look like cavemen morons because they don't use fancy words like "variance" and "ANALytics"

It's all BS, complete junk science. It is true that 3pt shot has higher variance, but the key is to figure out the factors for this variance and use them to maximize success. That's what basketball coaches do, that's the nuance between good 3 pt and bad 3 pt shots, but because it's mostly intuitive and based on experience not on fancy junk science lingo you guys thought you can discredit them. In fact you are the morons.

Let me give you an illustration. In California temperature variance in the inland desert is very high, with temps going up to 100 F during the day and down to below 70 at night. On the coast, say San Diego it's 75 F year-round, day and night. So if you want to catch some high heat, you have a better chance in the desert. Except if you are Morey and you're clueless about the sources of this variance you'd go to the desert in a winter night and freeze. And then you'll say, "that was our chance, but it didn't work out". Dumb as hell! But you get points for using the word "variance".

 

Lol @ all this he should have never eliminated the mid range as if that was the main culprit or only reason why he never got it done. Nobody ever complained about his midrange or lack thereof until the playoffs came and he starts struggling per usual. When he was averaging 30+ in the regular season everything was all good to his fans.

Then the playoffs come and it was always new year, same **** with the exception of CP3’s first year (Point God bless…covered for Harden so many times and helped him win MVP). Imagine trying to play Moreyball and win a Championship with your “superstar player” shooting 32% from 3 and having a pathetic 1.6 A : TO ratio. Yes, the bearded bum averaged 7.1 assists per game but gave it up a whopping 4.4 times. That’s turrible maaan. Usually came in critical moments just like yesterday when GMatt had 2 key steals off Harden in the 4th which directly led to points and sealed the game (Damn it feels good to see him making the same fukc ups for another team).

So… not only was your Superstar player a turnover machine but a chucker that shot way below league average from 3pt range and you surrounded him with a bunch of other average to barely above average 3pt shooters that were all given the green light to launch away as if they’re Splash bros or some shiit.

 

Eric Gordon is a special guy, I have watched him for 9 years.

I think he can go hot and cold in a couple months.

Do I trust him, no, not at all.