Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Mike Prada's "Spaced Out" 3-Point Revolution

A new book arrived today, Spaced Out, by Mike Prada about the NBA's three point revolution.

The 'whys' are numerous, including the force of physicality previously played within the 23-foot arc. That led to unacceptable holding and grabbing and violence, including the Kermit Washington 1977 punch that nearly ended Rudy Tomjanovich's life. The author argues that incident was part of the springboard expanding the NBA perimeter shooting landscape. 

I've only started it but there's much to like. Mavens like Cotton Fitzsimmons said about its arrival that it wouldn't change the game that much.

When the vote barely eclipsed a two-thirds majority vote in 1979, Warriors owner Frank Mieuli voted against it. Guess he did not see the future coming.

Red Auerbach called it a "carnival act" and Trail Blazers coach Jack Ramsay called it "a gimmick."

Others acknowledged that they didn't like it because it was an ABA Thing.

From 1979 to 1982 only 4.71% of NBA shots were three-pointers. 

Maybe the most incredible stat of all was that the 1981-1982 NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers made a total of THIRTEEN threes that entire season. Klay Thompson made FOURTEEN in a game. 

Mike D'Antoni and his 2004 Suns parlayed a diversity of three-point shooters into more layups by emptying the paint of defenders forced to cover the perimeter. 


In the mid 20-teens, the Rockets extended the cult of the three and played "Moreyball," favoring layups, free throws, and threes and averaging over 40 threes a game. Their lead minister was James Harden and his maddening arrays of drives, drawing fouls, and long-range shooting. But the Spurs nullified them in the playoffs, protecting the paint and sticking to the perimeter shooters. 

Separate high quality from high value shots. An open layup will be close to 2 points (still there are misses). A highly contested layup may be less than 1 point on average. For our middle school girls, three-pointers scored at less than fifteen percent, despite having a higher volume thirty percent shooter. That meant most players were shooting not making. An open three-pointer for a non-shooter is a non-starter at any level.  

NBA Statistics don't apply to high school players!


If you watch a lot of high school games, you know that. Scores in the forties often feature high volumes of missed threes. Frankly, that's foolish. In 1973, pre-3 and pre-shot clock, three teams in our Massachusetts league averaged at least 65 points/game. 

I have far more to read in the book. But for NBA aficionados, there's a lot to like in this work. 

Lagniappe. Naturally, after extolling the three, I share a video on midrange shooting. 

Lagniappe 2. Geno, "great players don't get tired." 

Lagniappe 3. Trading and basketball...a lot of overlap, not all. 




 

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