Road to stardom and the mid-range game

[OptimalOptimist]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...-who-master-it

Couldn't help but think of DD while reading this article. I know this forum tends to go the analytic way of 3pt/lay-up attempts.

What you guys think about this?

[007]

With DD, the thing that makes us hate the mid range is his contested twos.

If he's open, no problem.

[OptimalOptimist]

With DD, the thing that makes us hate the mid range is his contested twos.

If he's open, no problem.

It's just that when you look at the numbers, basically every good mid-range shooter is a star or a really good starter.

This season, the best mid-range shooters from 10 to 14 feet (with a minimum of 150 attempts) were Dirk Nowitzki (48.4 percent), Rudy Gay (46.5), Durant (45.7), Marc Gasol (45.6), Chris Paul (45.5), Carmelo Anthony (44.2), Marcin Gortat (43.0) and Kyrie Irving (42.2).

The best from 15 to 19 feet (with a minimum of 250 attempts) were David West (52.2 percent), Nowitzki (52.1), Anthony (46.0), Serge Ibaka (44.9), LaMarcus Aldridge (43.4), Durant (42.7), Carlos Boozer (41.0) and Gerald Henderson (40.6).

"There's only a unique group of guys in the league that have a mid-range game," Farr [nba scout] said. "They either can go all the way to the rim and get fouled, or stop on the dime and pull up."

[Letter N]

It's just that when you look at the numbers, basically every good mid-range shooter is a star or a really good starter.

Could it be a case of only stars being given the green light by the coach to take those shots or to even be in the position for those shots?

I'm sure there are very few plays that would have a Kawhi Leonard or Mike Miller standing 16' feet from the basket with the shot clock ticking down.

[imanshumpert]

One thing I've noticed is that a lot of secondary guys on championship teams had very good in-between/mid-range games.

- Wade and Bosh on the Heat
- Jason Terry with the Mavs (while known more for 3PT shooting, actually shot most of his shots from between 10ft and the 3)
- Pau Gasol with the Lakers
- Kevin Garnett with the Celtics
- Tony Parker with the Spurs (very similar to DeRozan in that 36% of his shots came from 16-23, ie. long twos, compared to 39%)
- Rip Hamilton with the Pistons
- Kobe with the 3-Peat Lakers

I think one of the reasons why Bosh added the 3 is because when you have 2 of these mid-range guys it can cause spacing issues, but having one is actually very beneficial to a championship team.