3-Point shooting

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Let's talk about the Wolves and 3-point shooting in one thread. We have all noted the trend in the NBA...the most productive offensive teams have increased their 3-point volume. Unfortunately the Wolves have not participated in this trend, and finished dead last in 3-point attempts last season...and substantially so. I would like to hear opinions for why we ranked last, and whether we think this can change as we move forward. The good news is that the Wolves actually finished in the middle of the pack last year in effective FG%, probably due to the 2-point accuracy of KAT and Dieng and the ability of many of our players to get to the free throw line. But still, effective use of the 3-point shot could significantly improve our EFG%. So why have we been so bad in this area?

Is it Rubio? Ricky has not been an effective 3-point shooter during his career, but has he also been ineffective in directing a 3-point shooting offense? I don't think this is necessarily so, because we actually ranked in the middle of the pack in attempts in 2013-4. But perhaps Teague can be instrumental in increasing our attempts. For one thing, he is a better shooter than Ricky...as others have pointed out, we now have 5 starters who make better than the league average in threes if we start Gorgui. But does anyone have any data that supports Teague as a very good 3-point facilitator too (too lazy to research myself)? I hope so...it would make me feel better about the addition of Teague, because he has guys around him that can hit the three if he can find them.

Is it coaching? Many of us were dissatisfied with both Saunders' and Mitchell's love affair with the 2-point game. But is Thibs also an issue? I note that in 2013 and 2014, the Bulls ranked second to last in 3-point attempts. Did those teams simply lack the personnel to have an effective 3-point offense, or has Glen hired a 3rd consecutive coach who doesn't fully embrace the 3? I hope it's the former, and Thibs can adjust to the new NBA.

Anyway, I think we have the personnel to be a much better 3-point team (although we are admittedly thin off the bench). I hope Thibs and Teague direct the offense differently this year, and we have a goal to at least be middle of the pack in attempts. I think that could make an already good offense even better.

[Monster]

LST you asked about Teague's possible effect on 3 point shooting. Here are some basic numbers to consider.

Indiana basically shot the same amount of 3's with Teague as they did the previous year with George Hill which put them near the bottom of the league in attempts. However they did go from around middle of the pack the previous year percentage wise 13th to 4th in the entire league and looking at the rosters its not like there is any significant changes that make you think this team should have taken significantly more or less and/or shot a better percentage. With Teague as the PG several Pacers players shot career highs or above their career averages which is something. Meanwhile Atlanta dropped from 5th in attempts to 15th and from 17th in 3 point percentage to 24th. Now the Hawks had some roster turnover that surely could have effected those numbers but generally they still had plenty of 3 point shooting with various guys stepping in when another player moved on.

Here are the rankings for the team's Teague was the PG of the last 5 years.

2016-2017 Indiana 27th
2015-2016 Atlanta 5th
2014-2015 Atlanta 6th
2013-2014 Atlanta 2nd
2012-2013 Atlanta 5th

So yes Teague has been a part of teams that have been top 3 point shooting team. How much of that was Teague? idk that would take a much deeper dive but it certainly does hurt that he was at least a part of that.

[60WinTim]

Thibs preaches the importance of the 3, and I don't think it's just Lip service... ;-)

I have already stated my perspective on our lack of 3-point shooting: Wiggins and Towns have not matured enough to realize their role in creating 3-point shots for other players. They are high usage players that do a poor-to-shitty job of creating shots for others. Thus we don't see enough 3-points shots.

I am counting on them to "grow up" . With Thibs barking at them, and Butler leading the way to show them how to create shots for teammates, I am opTIMistic it can happen.

[BloopOracle]

Can we make more than we give up? I remember Thibs would mention something along those lines when he talked about how important 3 point shooting in today game in the immediate interviews after he was first hired. He seems to be taking that to the extreme as he's set us up to potentially be a very good perimeter defensive team.

[Lipoli390]

Can we make more than we give up? I remember Thibs would mention something along those lines when he talked about how important 3 point shooting in today game in the immediate interviews after he was first hired. He seems to be taking that to the extreme as he's set us up to potentially be a very good perimeter defensive team.

It's really hard to stop good three-point shooters in today's NBA. The good shooters have become so adept at getting shots off quickly and accurately with a lot of range. Combine that with the rule against handchecking. The result is a league that's all about offense, especially 3-point shooting. Even the playoffs, which have tended to be more defense-oriented, have morphed into an offensive showcase. Long gone are the days when teams won playoff games 92-85. In most of the playoff games this past season, the winning team scored well into the 100s. So I appreciate that defense matters and that guarding the three is part of it. But my view is that any organization or coach banking on defense generally and defending the three in particular as the key to NBA success will end up disappointed. As Thibs says, you need to be strong on both sides of the ball. I agree. But I believe the League has shifted to the point where offensive prowess, especially 3-point shooting, trumps defense as the key to NBA success.

[BloopOracle]

Can we make more than we give up? I remember Thibs would mention something along those lines when he talked about how important 3 point shooting in today game in the immediate interviews after he was first hired. He seems to be taking that to the extreme as he's set us up to potentially be a very good perimeter defensive team.

It's really hard to stop good three-point shooters in today's NBA. The good shooters have become so adept at getting shots off quickly and accurately with a lot of range. Combine that with the rule against handchecking. The result is a league that's all about offense, especially 3-point shooting. Even the playoffs, which have tended to be more defense-oriented, have morphed into an offensive showcase. Long gone are the days when teams won playoff games 92-85. In most of the playoff games this past season, the winning team scored well into the 100s. So I appreciate that defense matters and that guarding the three is part of it. But my view is that any organization or coach banking on defense generally and defending the three in particular as the key to NBA success will end up disappointed. As Thibs says, you need to be strong on both sides of the ball. I agree. But I believe the League has shifted to the point where offensive prowess, especially 3-point shooting, trumps defense as the key to NBA success.

I agree, which is why I'm glad we have at least a bunch of league average 3 point shooters instead of poor... but will it be enough to off set? He's gotta be banking on big improvements from Towns and Wiggins combined with our PG not having their man sag practically into their laps for better looks.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Can we make more than we give up? I remember Thibs would mention something along those lines when he talked about how important 3 point shooting in today game in the immediate interviews after he was first hired. He seems to be taking that to the extreme as he's set us up to potentially be a very good perimeter defensive team.

I agree, bloop...and I was happy when Thibs said making more than we give up was a season goal during preseason. And I actually think we got off to a fairly good start in this metric (despite the horrible overall start to the season)...but then things begin to fizzle as the season progressed, and we ended up with a 6-shot gap for the season. That is not a winning formula. I know I'm hard on coach Thibs...I was really disappointed in his first year...and I believe a coach has a lot to do with the rate of threes taken and threes given up. So I chalk the 6-shot gap up to another coaching shortcoming last year. Sure, personnel have a role in this metric too, but I put more stock in coaching philosophy and leadership in this area. Now that Thibs has replaced players I don't think he ever had much confidence in (Rubio and Zach) with his guys (Butler, Gibson and Teague) perhaps we will see the real coach Thibs emerge. Narrowing or even winning the 3-point gap is one of the keys to the coming year's success, and whether we think Thibs was a good coach last year or not, I think we can all agree that any excuses he has for the 3-point attempts gap are now gone, and we can hold him accountable without question. I'm an optimist in this area, and expect great improvement in the gap next year.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Thibs wants to run an inside-out offensive system that results in more open 3's. He spends A LOT of time emphasizing the need for guys to put pressure on the rim ("Roll! Roll! Roll!") because if the PG can turn the corner and get into the paint or hit a rolling big in the paint, someone has to sag in to help protect the rim. That leaves someone open for a corner 3.

I suspect Thibs felt Rubio, while a wonderful passer to rolling bigs, didn't create enough pressure on the defense to pull someone off the corner man. His hope is that Teague is more of a threat to get into the paint. He also lauded Gibson's ability to roll to the hoop. He made that a big deal when talking about Patton too.

We don't have to be a top notch 3-point shooting team considering how much these guys can get to the line (also very efficient way to score), but we can't be at or near the bottom again either. We'll see....somehow his offensive sets need to create more volume because we don't have any natural gunners of even LaVine's caliber on the roster.

Personally, I see a team that holds serve as a top 10 or 12 offensive team, but probably won't sniff top 5 unless we see a major leap in efficiency from Wiggins. He could be a game-changer if he figures out how to stop taking long, contested 2's and somehow starts getting more open 3's and interior looks at the rim.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I think people are gonna be amazed what having 2 guys who can get to the basket and score or pass will do for our 3pt shooting. A large part of volume 3pt shooting is really just spot up shooters benefitting from drive a kick players. Teams like the Warriors are elite because of guys who can make 3's efficiently off the dribble, but typical 3pt prowess comes from driving and kicking to spot up guys. We have two guys who are very good at that in Butler and Teague and I think Townd and Wiggins will see huge bumps in volume and will shoot good percentages and we'll be fine. The less you have to shoot off the dribble the better and having legit scoring penetrators is gonna do wonders for our offense. Will we be top 5? No, but I think our combination of offense and defense could land us in the top 10 in both which will lead to a lot of winning.