Greatest Shooters of All Time (Hollinger)

when Nash has to carry the Suns offense and he is made the primary scorer Nash doesn’t do well especially if teams force him too shoot the ball

?

We’re talking about a guy that year in and year out shoots over 50% from the field, over 40% from 3 and over 90% from the line since joining Phoenix (well over 60% TS% each year). That’s been with Amare, without Amare, with Shaq, without Shaq, with Marion, without Marion….Nash has been the constant, and he’s been the focal point of that offense since he’s arrived, and he’s still an unbelievably efficient/accurate scorer and shooter. I don’t see how you can say he doesn’t do well at anything offensively (except for turnovers, but that’s just because he’s such a big part of the offense)…..

why would you not?

Well, they don’t shoot them in equal proportions, they don’t count for the same number of points, and some are more difficult than others, plus if we’re just going for “shooter”, many 2 point shots aren’t outside shots….I can see a lot of reasons.

Sure, like OPS, this type of thing can be a quick glance type guide, and obviously the guys it rates highly will all be great shooters, but that doesn’t make it a good stat. In real evaluation, though, OPS is garbage (we only still use it because people are accustomed to it and it came about before fans had access to anything better), just like this stat, and one of the biggest problems I see is that Hollinger presents it as real analysis, just more evidence Hollinger doesn’t do good work….

I think there isn’t a big different between the players that would be mentioned in these categories
Best scorers (this could be where AI and Kobe and maybe Lebron could be mentioned)
Efficient scorers (This is where Wilt and Shaq would be)
Best/Efficient shooters (This is where Morrow, Reggie, and the players on the list above would be)

…really?

It’s such a deeper issue for one word. I’m trying to have well thought out conversations here. Is a player who finishes his career 1/1 the best shooter ever? Obviously not. Volume has to matter, right? If one guy is taking more shots and thus a higher percentage of more difficult shots (it stands to reason that every shot you add is probably a more difficult shot because a good shooter is already going to take every open opportunity he gets), his percentage will go down, but does that make him a worse shooter? If a guy like Reggie Miller is running off screens and shooting tough shots but still hitting a high percentage all over the place, scoring tons of points, helping his team….but overall doesn’t shoot as high a percentage as a guy like Steve Kerr who stands there and waits for Duncan or MJ to get him open, and then only takes open set shots…..who’s the better shooter? Do we care how much their shooting helps their team win? Or do we just care who would win a hypothetical shoot off? There’s so much more to it, responding with “yes”…….ugh. If you want that kind of low level banter go to the ESPN message board. I prefer intelligent, well thought out discussions myself.

And I made the point in another post that I’d like to keep Morrow around as opposed to someone like Watson, not because Morrow is so much better than Watson, but because Morrow’s skill that makes him useful is so elite, I think a quality team could take advantage of his strengths and cover up his weaknesses well enough to really make him a more useful player than someone like Watson. Since Morrow’s strength is so good (shooting)….he can really contribute a lot in that way.

 Kobe is great, no denying that, but i often find him the downfall of lakers too when they r in a bad patch. He gets overly selfish to lift them and leaves the offense. When you have Gasol, Odom, Bynum and co you should never leave your offense even if you have a bad 5 min run. The whole Lebron/Kobe debate is a joke. Put Lebron on the lakers and you have 70 wins and title after title…

On the Morrow point. It’s hard to say. Present day Morrow yes. But rookie Morrow would get cut from almost every team. Still you see Cleveland with anthony Parker, Boobie Gibson and co leading league in 3pt percentage, and I wonder, just what Morrow would do in context of there offense with Lebron getting him open looks. 55%? Not unfeasible

Obviously, but I’ve been enjoying his quips lately, so I’m letting it slide. I did honestly like that description, though.