The Best Shooters in the NBA

[RollWithEm]

There's an interesting (albeit very short) article on NBA shooting today over at Grantland.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...hooters-so-far

Here are the position specific NBA average FG%'s for this season so far.



And here are the best players from each spot on the floor along with their percentages.



Read the article for more on the diminishing returns of the midrange shot.

[Marcus13]

Where ya at Wade? All of your boys are leading the league from somewhere on the floor

[Basel]

Very surprised not to see Steph Curry somewhere there.

[Mattsanity]

Vince Carter is one of the most underrated shooters ever, especially in crunch time. He went from shooting 28% from 3's to 40% in his 2nd season. That says a lot.

[XxIrvingxX]

WOOOOO yeeaaa Irving's here. Don't know why this makes me so excited.

[jaw2929]

Surprise Jamal Crawford or Steve Nash also aren't on there....

[Jamel Irief]

What's their eFG% from those spots though? That's what matters.

[XxIrvingxX]

Originally Posted by jaw2929

Surprise Jamal Crawford or Steve Nash also aren't on there....

I'm not, at least regarding Nash anyways.

[Dee-Zy]

Originally Posted by Jamel Irief

What's their eFG% from those spots though? That's what matters.

LOL

[doctordrizzay]

Lebron 72% at the rim. Christ Almighty.

[FSH]

Originally Posted by Mattsanity

Vince Carter is one of the most underrated shooters ever, especially in crunch time. He went from shooting 28% from 3's to 40% in his 2nd season. That says a lot.

it called having to change his game as he got older. Vince is very underrated imo now

[ChrisWoj]

Some of the names you're all surprised to see omitted from that list were for a reason - although not "the best in the league" from any of those spots, some of those guys are better from the rest of the spots than the guys on that list. Keep in mind - the ones with a reputation for being the very best shooters light it up from all over the place.

[JBKB]

Nice article, but not something to take too seriously. Those are not the best shooters; they are just shooting the highest percentage in that specific area on the court. It's really difficult to determine the league's best shooters.

Lebron James' 72% is actually an inflated stat when you take into account how often referees let superstars go to the line versus non-superstars. Kobe is the perfect example; how many times have we seen NO CONTACT on Kobe Bryant, yet he goes to the line anyway!

I do like how the author brought the point about BIG MEN like Dwight Howard and Shaq who have yielded high percentages due to making easy shots right next to the basket.

I'm not sure if there is a way to determine the best shooters. Even Kevin Durant lost a 3-point round to Kevin Love when Kevin Love only had 7 measley points. : ) lol

Better example:

Ray Allen who is regarded as one of the best shooters ever is 40.1% behind the three-point line, while Nate Robinson who is considered an impatient shooter is 35.7% behind the line. Well guess what... Ray takes a numerous amount of wide open shots, while Nate Robinson takes a numerous amount of forced and contested three-point shots.

Perhaps a 35.7% 3-point shooter who takes many forced and contested shots is a better shooter than an often wide open 40.1% 3-point shooter.

SWITCH ROLES: Have Nate shoot wide open threes, and Ray Allen shoot forced and contested shots. Then see who has the higher 3-point percentage. I've seen Ray miss many shots under pressure. Ray loves to shoot threes the same way he practices them: WIDE OPEN! : ) lol

[Marcus13]

Originally Posted by JBKB

Nice article, but not something to take too seriously. Those are not the best shooters; they are just shooting the highest percentage in that specific area on the court. It's really difficult to determine the league's best shooters.

Lebron James' 72% is actually an inflated stat when you take into account how often referees let superstars go to the line versus non-superstars. Kobe is the perfect example; how many times have we seen NO CONTACT on Kobe Bryant, yet he goes to the line anyway!

I do like how the author brought the point about BIG MEN like Dwight Howard and Shaq who have yielded high percentages due to making easy shots right next to the basket.

I'm not sure if there is a way to determine the best shooters. Even Kevin Durant lost a 3-point round to Kevin Love when Kevin Love only had 7 measley points. : ) lol

Better example:

Ray Allen who is regarded as one of the best shooters ever is 40.1% behind the three-point line, while Nate Robinson who is considered an impatient shooter is 35.7% behind the line. Well guess what... Ray takes a numerous amount of wide open shots, while Nate Robinson takes a numerous amount of forced and contested three-point shots.

Perhaps a 35.7% 3-point shooter who takes many forced and contested shots is a better shooter than an often wide open 40.1% 3-point shooter.

SWITCH ROLES: Have Nate shoot wide open threes, and Ray Allen shoot forced and contested shots. Then see who has the higher 3-point percentage. I've seen Ray miss many shots under pressure. Ray loves to shoot threes the same way he practices them: WIDE OPEN! : ) lol

That has nothing to do with him being a better shooter - it's called having a better basketball IQ. Why would you take a contested 3-pointer if the clock isn't winding down? That's just bad basketball.

[JBKB]

Originally Posted by Marcus13

That has nothing to do with him being a better shooter - it's called having a better basketball IQ. Why would you take a contested 3-pointer if the clock isn't winding down? That's just bad basketball.

Oh, I totally agree that Ray has the higher IQ when it comes to shot selection, although it could be argued that Ray has had the benefit of playing on teams in which he is guaranteed to be wide open because of his superstar teammates being double-teamed. Also Nate often plays point guard, so he may feel the need to take those bad shots at times.

Anyway, since the thread is about "best shooters in the NBA," I just wanted to point out that it is very difficult to determine that.

If by "best shooters" we mean who can shoot and score the best, then it's quite possible Nate Robinson is better than Ray Allen in shooting. However if "best shooters" refer to high basketball IQ, then I may give that to Ray Allen.

It all depends on how the author of that article defines "best shooters."