Three Point Shooting

DX (Draft Express) criticizes the drafting of Tucker becasue he's not a three point shooter. The Suns trade Jones who is a good three point shooter and sign Hill who is not. At the same time, Banks shoots 4 of 5 for three on Monday after shooting only 5 of 29 last season.

If Tucker learns to shoot, he's considered a steal at #29. The question is whether the Weber and the Suns coaching staff can teach guys who are not long distance shooters to hit their threes. My guess is that it does not happen over night, but if Banks can be taught then anybody can be taught.

My impression is that three point shooting is like swinging a golf club. The first step is to get the right form and mechanics (which is why Marion doesn't improve). After that, it is repeated practice and maintaining focus.

A lot of defense oriented coaches do not like their team to shoot three pointers. The Magic for example took only 962 three point shots compared to 1965 by the Suns. Almost 30% of the Magic three point shots were by Turkoglu. Three point shootinw as not emphasized on the Magic and they certainly did not run an offense designed to creae opportunities to shoot the three. I doubt Hill worked on his three point shooting.

BTW, the Spurs shot 1561 three pointers. I'd guess that shooting threes is a function of both good three point shooters and a system that gets the shooters open shots. The Spurs have added shooters and have focused on kicking out when they are open.


Can Hill be taught to shoot the three? Tony Parker is a guy who was not considered a three point threat until this year when he raised his three point average from a carer 31.8% to 39.5%. Of course It was only 15 of 38, but it was enough to force opponents to come out to guard him. But his 4 of 7 in the finals was still pretty important.

Last season Hill took 12 three point shots, which is just under 1/3 the number Parker took. If he's going to shoot any, he needs to be more accurate and it would not take many more to make teams come out to defend him.