@icthawkfan316
So, if I understand you, we agree that your anecdotal info was not proving anything, but that you think Kobe was not a great, or even good three point shooter in the NBA. I actually thought Kobe was a very good trey shooter relative to other starting 2s in the NBA. I thought that average three point percentages among starting 2s were not sharply higher than what Kobe had shot over the years, given his level of 3Pt attempts. But if you say that his trey average as a pro in comparison to other pros at the 2 position shooting the same amount as him puts him at average or less, well then of course I trust you. Is that what you are saying about Kobe?
Yeah, I was definitely thinking that anyone that drafts Selden to play the two in the NBA would need him to shoot outside much better than he has shown. I was thinking why would someone gamble on Selden at 34% in D1, and hope he would get better, when they could take a a guy coming out of D1 shooting 40%. I was thinking there surely must be 10 NBA bodied 2s in D1 shooting 40% from trey each year, so I was was asking myself, "why in the world would a team want to draft a 2 that would not be appreciably bigger and stronger and shot 34% in D1.
Similarly, I was looking at Wigs and thinking how many times Julian Wright had beasted for probably as many big games as Wigs has had, and the pros thought they were going to teach Julian to shoot a long ball and be a 3, or short 4, but he never could shoot a lick, and never got better shooting it. And Julian seemed more physically mature than Wigs and appeared about as mentally mature than Wigs, and so I thought, wow, how many guys there are that get in the NBA with Julian's and Wig's height and weight, and numbers, but without quite as much athleticism as Wigs has, and crash and burn. I mean, every year, guys 6-7, 6-8 come out like dimes out of a dime slot. They are called tweeners and most of them become journeymen, or just wash out. And the ones that do hang on and make all start teams tend to be able to drill the long ball in the NBA and are pretty damned mentally aggressive. I just kept looking at Wigs and thinking, "As much as I like this guy, he hasn't lived up to his billing in D1. This guy plays on a 25-8 team that really hasn't gotten it going very well whenever Embiid was out and Wigs has had to take over. What is this guy gonna do in the NBA without a trey if they lay off him this much in D1 with a 35% tray?" That is exactly what I was thinking, ict. When you wipe away the 40 point performance in the game that didn't matter, and the 30 point OT performance and the 29 point performance early, a supposedly great player has lead a team to a 25-8 record with what is supposedly Self's most talented team ever. When you wipe away the hype, Embiid, who had only played, what, three years of college ball, is more crucial to a college team than Wigs is. And I thought, "how is a guy that is basically a highly publicized tweener without a great outside shot, going to dominate at the NBA level?" I want him to. I want him to be great because he seems such a good person. Maybe because he seems such a good person I AM worried as much as I am about him.
Next, to address your very informative stats on trey shooting of national champions, if I understand you correctly, Wiggins and Selden being the teams starting outside trey shooters have lead this year's team to shoot better from trey than only one of Self's other teams, is that correct?
Hmmmm. This was a little worse than I expected. I had said when I asked you and others if any other Self team had shot worse from 3pt land, that surely there must be one and you proved there was. But just between you and me I thought there would be 2 or 3. Thanks for digging that out.
Amazing to think that two OADs could drive our trey percentage that low, relative to other Self teams. I wonder if going into this season that anyone thought to draw a comparison between this team and Self's first team? I don't recall that team's record. I wonder if it was similar to this ones?
Well, wait a second. I will look it up. I'll be darned, I just looked it up and they went 24-9. Alas, they only finished second in the conference, but they got to the Elite Eight. Pretty good for having no OADs and the first year under a new coach. Looking at Syracuse and Florida in KU's bracket makes me think an Elite Eight finish would be a pretty fair accomplishment for this year's team with these particular OADs, too. But maybe they can catch a break if Embiid bounces back.
Now the most interesting season average for trey shooting that you did not mention IMHO is that 39,7% figure for the '08 ring team, especially when you compare it with that team allowing opponents only 32.8%.
Hmmm. I wonder what this year's team with the OADs compares with the '08 ring team. Lemme see. Uh, ah ha, here it is. This year's team with Wiggins and Selden leading the charge is shooting 34.5% and allowing 35.9%. Very interesting.
Let's go back and check out the '11-12 runner up team. Bear with me. Let's see. The team without any OADs and without any Mickey Ds shot 34.5%, from trey, or just about the same as this years team with the OADs, but the '11-12 runner up team allowed 34%. So: if I get this correctly, the '11-12 runner up team with no OADs and no Mickey Ds gave up a slightly lower percentage of treys, and made about the same percentage.
Well, this is very fascinating.
Let's summarize.
With Wiggins and Selden leading the 3pt charge only one KU team, Self's first with no OADs, has shot worse from trey.
Next, with Wiggins and Selden leading the 3pt charge, the '08 ring team with no OADs shot way better than the Wiggins and Selden lead team and held the opponents to shoot a much lower percentage with no OADs. Hmmm.
Lastly, with the Wiggins and Selden led 3pt charge, the '11-12 runner up team with no OADs and no Mickey Ds shot about the same trey percentage, as the Wiggins-Selden lead team, and actually held opponents to slightly lower 3pt percentage shooting than did the Wiggins-Selden team.
Now, I am starting to be able to get a much better insight into the Wiggins-Selden lead 3pt shooting accomplishments vis a vis these three other exceptional KU teams.
Even though one might expect otherwise, the reputedly most talented team in Self's tenure, and the team with the most OADs (including two leading the three point shooting charge), only shoots treys better than one other of Self's teams, but shoots about as well as a ring team and a runner-up team, though this Wiggins-Selden lead team cannot guard the trey nearly as well as the ring team, or the runner up team, despite neither the ring team, nor the runner up team having a single true OAD.
And to put this in still more context, the '11-12 runner up team had a first time starter at the the 2, Elijah Johnson, that shot 34%, roughly the same as Selden, and Conner Teahan swinging 2-3 and putting up 150 3PTAs, as compared with about 125 a piece for Wiggins and Selden so far, was shooting about the same percentage, at 33.6, rounded to 34.
Now, I have to say that realizing that Wiggins and Selden are able to shoot the trey ball about as well as first time starter Elijah Johnson and the legendary Conner Teahan did puts into meaningful perspective about how well Wiggins and Selden have handled trey shooting chores. And what does it matter if the likes of EJ, Travis and Conner combined to guard the trey only a little bit better than Wiggins and Selden, right?
This has helped me get a lot more insight about this, ict, so thanks again.