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Lost art

Hamilton exemplifies disappearing mid-range game


By John Hollinger, SI.com

 
Richard Hamilton is one of the few NBA players who is more comfortable shooting jumpers from inside the arc.
AP

Fans of offense must look at the NBA and yawn, remembering the halcyon days of two decades ago when teams like the Denver Nuggets and Kansas City Kings routinely scored 70 or even 80 points in a half. Now we're stuck watching postseason series like the one between Detroit and Indiana, where the teams struggled to hit 70 in a game.

What happened to make scoring as rare as an interview with O.J.? There are plenty of causes. Consider that the players are bigger and more athletic, thereby clogging the lane and making it harder to get easy baskets. Teams also scout their opponents so thoroughly that they know every play they will run. Most important, coaches such as Pat Riley and Chuck Daly have shown their peers the value of a tough defense. As a result, per-game scoring has decreased from 110.1 to a piddling 93.4 in the past 20 years.

But dig a little deeper and you'll uncover another culprit: The lost art of the mid-range jump shot. In the days prior to the 3-point line, the goal was to take shots as close to the basket as possible. Watch a game from the 1970s on NBA TV and you'll notice that nobody ventures near where the 3-point line is today. A player who took a shot from out there was yanked faster than Allen Iverson's rap album. Players needed to get themselves close to the basket, which often involved taking a dribble or two to the right or left and then pulling up for a 15-footer. The best -- guys like Dave Bing, Alex English, Andrew Toney and Rick Barry -- were nearly automatic from that range.

The 3-point line and cable TV has changed all that. Watch the highlights on SportsCenter and see how many times in a given night it shows a guy come off a screen, take a dribble to the foul line, and rise up for a short jumper. You can count it on one hand. Our eye is drawn to the spectacular dunks and the long-range bombs that get the extra point, and TV executives know it. That, in turn, motivates the younger players to practice those shots at the expense of the more important 15-footer.

Additionally, strategy has evolved to where coaches surround the 3-point line on offense to space the floor, placing more importance on the stand-still shot from downtown. "There's been such a big emphasis on the 3-point shot that not many players shoot the ball off the dribble anymore," said former player and coach Fred Carter. "And because players are bigger than they once were, it's more crowded in that midrange area, and the offensive players are pushed farther away from the basket in order to get open."

However, it's no accident that the most successful perimeter players remain the ones that learn the art of the midrange game. Look at that Detroit-Indiana series again. In the midst of a series where nobody could buy a basket, Hamilton was channeling 1984. He scored at least 20 points in each of the six games -- averaging 24.2 for the series -- with Orwellian consequences for the Pacers. It's not a coincidence that he has one of the best mid-range games in basketball. Good NBA defenses don't concede many open 3-pointers because they often don't need to double-team in the post, and they won't let you get all the way to the basket without taking a charge first. The only solution is in having a Hamilton of your own.

Unfortunately, much of the NBA is populated with guys such as Quentin Richardson and Gilbert Arenas. Each is capable of sensational, rim-rattling dunks and both love to shoot the 3. They also shoot mid-range jumpers about as well as William Hung sings.

Let's look at some concrete examples, which we have available thanks to the folks at 82games.com. We can figure out how each player fared on two-point jump shots this year and from this, we can determine the NBA's masters of the mid-range -- as well as those whose mid-range games need quite a bit of work. First, let's look at the masters. We want to focus on players whom defenses were trying to stop, rather than the ones who were left open and dared to shoot. Thus, we'll limit the discussion to perimeter players (guards and small forwards) who averaged at least 20 points per 48 minutes, and those who tried at least 50% of their shots from midrange.

As we can see, Hamilton might have had a worthy midrange adversary in the Finals had Sam Cassell not hurt his back. The Minnesota guard was both the best and most prolific mid-range shooter in the league, nailing 48.6 percent (most players shoot a lower percentage on these shots than their overall field-goal percentage, making up the difference on dunks and lay-ups). A few other players are keeping hope alive for fans of the middle distance game; however, half of them are on the wrong side of 30.

Masters of the midrange
Player
Team
Pts/48
2-pt. jumper %
Midrange FG%
Sam Cassell
Min
27.1
74.4
48.6
Glenn Robinson
Phi
25.0
71.7
45.1
Allan Houston
NY
24.7
70.1
44.8
Jason Terry
Atl
21.6
51.8
43.8
Earl Boykins
Den
21.8
62.7
43.0
Tim Thomas
NY
22.3
50.1
42.7
Michael Finley
Dal
23.2
55.1
42.5
Desmond Mason
Mil
22.4
56.5
41.7
Richard Hamilton
Det
23.8
65.2
40.9
Latrell Sprewell
Min
21.3
61.4
40.6

On the other hand, a few players have some fundamental problems with stepping inside the arc for a closer jump shot. Several guards hit below 30 percent on mid-range jumpers while making more than 30 percent on the longer 3-point shot. The reason is as clear as the 3-point line they so adore: They practice the 3-pointer but not the mid-range jumper. For this next chart, I limited the list to perimeter players who hit at least 30% of their 3-pointers in order to exclude guys like Ruben Patterson or Milt Palacio who simply can't shoot. We care more about the guys who haven't mastered the mid-range shot despite clearly having the ability. For comparison, I also put their marks on 3-pointers in the chart:

Midrange muddlers
Player
Team
2-pt. jumper %
3-pt FG%
Midrange FG%
Leandrinho Barbosa
Phx
17.3
39.5
21.0
Andrei Kirilenko
Uta
25.4
33.8
26.1
Rafer Alston
Mia
24.2
37.1
28.0
Fred Jones
Ind
38.4
30.3
28.0
Dion Glover
Atl-Tor
43.8
33.6
28.0
Quentin Richardson
LAC
30.1
35.2
28.3
Charlie Ward
NY-SA
28.2
40.8
29.8
Josh Howard
Dal
51.6
30.3
29.8
Casey Jacobsen
Phx
22.0
41.7
29.8
Gilbert Arenas
Was
40.6
37.5
29.9

As we can see, Richardson and Arenas averaged about two 3-pointers a game but couldn't hit the broad side of a barn once they moved closer. Richardson made 28.3 percent of his two-point jumpers, while Arenas was barely better at 29.9. Even some top 3-point shooters struggled. Miami's Rafer Alston had an impressive streak of 48 consecutive games with a trifecta, but was even worse than Richardson and Arenas in the mid-range, hitting just 28.0 percent.

Philadelphia's Glenn Robinson, who had the second-best midrange mark at 45.1 percent, knows why the mid-range game is becoming a lost art. "To young kids, running the floor and playing above the rim is more exciting," he said. "Jump shots are dull. But when those guys get older and aren't able to play that way anymore, that's when they'll realize how important it is to have a mid-range jumper in your arsenal."

Indeed, most of the players who struggle in the mid-range are under the age of 30, such as Richardson and Arenas. Their athleticism lets them get by without having a mid-range game -- for now. But as they lose the ability to get all the way to the basket, an inability to pull up from 15 will severely hamper their development. And that's one more reason that defenses continue to have the upper hand in today's NBA.

John Hollinger is an NBA producer for SI.com and author of Pro Basketball Prospectus