The mid-range jumper: Important for shot creators, not so important for spot up shooters

I posted a further analysis of shot selection at http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=243616. It may be pertinent to this discussion. It focuses in on the mid range shot as a 3-23 foot shot.

 

People are mistaking the philosophy of "You let star players do what they do best" (even if that's mid range 2's) with you need mid range 2's. The idea that Harden could get an open 2 rather than a contested 3 is ludicrous, the closer he gets to the ring, the more the defense becomes concerned that he's going to turn that into 3 feet from the rim, and there's basically one guy in the league who can truly threaten Harden without it being weakside, and Harden is likely to never play against him again.

 

A perfect summation of the facts. Who would want to make the roster sacrifices to pay LMA $16 million a year when his PPS is much less than the Rockets team PPS on 3 pointers. For $6 million sure. But that is his true value versus his $16 million perceived value.

 

This is the problem though, you CAN'T practice taking mid-range shots. Apart from mid-range being the worst shot in b-ball, this is one of the reasons why I don't think any NBA team should take it. I mean, take a look at Melo, all he really does is take mid-range shots his entire career. Has become a dead-eye shooter after 10 years or so of doing that?

Anyway I'm kinda' surprised a vet from CF is actually the one who created this thread, I thought everyone knew by now that midrange is the worst shot in bball and should not be taken except as a total last resort.

 

My thoughts exactly. If the point is to be the best player you can be,then having less holes in ur game makes you a lot better. Look at sam cassell as an example. That guy had a stretch of seasons where he should've been an all star. His mid range game was lethal. In houston, he was more of a spot of shooter. He could've stayed in that role for his career,but he want to be great. When I look at a guy like parsons,the mid range shot is the only thing keping him from being a consistent all star. With Howard being in the lane on the blocks, the 16ft er off the dribble is a money shot.

 

When you say u can't practice a mid range shot, I'm assuming you're playing,right?

 

The an efficient mid-range jumper can be critical.

If Asik had a mid-range shot, there wouldn't be any argument about whether the twin tower experiment would work. We're talking about the entire balance of a offense hinging on ONE shot.

Ask Michael Jordan how important it was to have an outlet pass to John Paxon who was deadly from the mid-range.

 

It's different for a PF, spacing is different when you're looking at players who move from the rim outwards, rather than from the perimeter inwards.

As for Chicago, they were better when he was replaced with Steve Kerr and his 3 pointers....

 

A mid range jump shot is crucial. Did anyone watch the finals? The spurs dared LBJ to hit that jumper and he kept missing and then when he started hitting it the heat won.

 

I always see this reasoning when it comes to "old school" posters here. Let me ask you something, do you need to be a master chef to know if a dish tastes good or bad? Do you have to be an F1 driver to know if a car is good or not?

If practicing mid-range shots work then you'll see so many people good at them, and yet players make very little of these mid-range shots. This is especially true when we're talking about the area between the 3 pt line and 16 ft away. Kobe and Melo are regarded as the "best" mid-range guys on the planet, and yet even them don't have a mid-range FG% greater than 0.45%.

Kobe's splits:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/bryanko01/shooting/2013/
Melo's splits:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/anthoca01/shooting/2013/

Now are you gonna be a badass and tell me you can do better than actual NBA players?

 

Let me ask this then, why didn't Delfino start over PPat?

 

Were they showcasing him for a trade to dump him?

 

"The mid-range jumper...not so important for spot up shooters" -the OP's claim

Steve Kerr shot the 3 at an all-time GREAT level. Having him on any team would make that team better.
The Bulls being better with Kerr is in no way a refutation of the importance of a mid-range spot up shooter (Paxon).

 

I highly doubt it. I think T-rob deal was just one of those unplanned deals like Harden's deal.

 

Maybe the mid-range shot is considered inefficient because modern players are not as good at them.

I can understand some sort of basic argument that a 3 pointer is better than a long 2 - but the entire argument against mid range shots would only seem to reinforce the theory (ie. only one guy is allowed to practice them).

Defenses will adjust rather easily if you never take mid-range shots. It's sort of like saying you should never rush the ball because you will always get more yards per play passing. While I accept that being passing-oriented is better, you still need a running game.