I also think that Roy has adapted his game a bit, with more catch-and-shoot situations and more moving without the ball. That's really helped their on-court chemistry.
I wonder if Miller wants to re-sign here at the end of the year. Especially if Armon is our starter by then. Damn. I can't believe I actually typed that, but jesus, Armon really could take the starting job away some time this year from Miller. Especially if that three point shot he's shown glimpses of is really legit.
You have to take into account the extenuating circumstances: For the first month and a half of the season he was either playing with the second unit, where he was usually the number 1 or number 2 scoring option, or starting out of position at SG in Nates crazy 3-guard line-up. Both = more shots and fewer assists. Then, he played over half the season with Juwan Howard as our starting center. He's not going to rack up a lot of assists feeding Juwan in the low post. Having a legitimate scoring option at starting center would have meant fewer shots and more assists for Miller. Then Roy goes down for a month and a half. Again, more shots and fewer assists for Miller. I didn't get the criticsm of Miller last year and I don't get it now. He constantly had to adapt to changing conditions due to a coach misusing him and then a litany of injuries. In spite of it all, he posted a PER = 18.1 in 2500 minutes of playing time. The team would not have won 50 games without him, and I don't even think they would have made the play-offs last season if they wouldn't have signed Andre Miller. Blake was sucking big time last year and needs to play beside a player like Roy or Kobe to get wide open 3s to be effective. With Blake shooting poorly when Roy was healthy, image how bad he would have been starting next to Bayless or Rudy in the backcourt when Roy was injured. This season, so far, Miller is surrounded by quality starters at every position. Marcus Camby isn't a offensive juggernaut, but he's better than Juwan Howard, and Nicolas Batum is a better offensive player than Martell Webster. Roy is healthy and playing well and Miller has a clearly defined role from day 1 of training camp (which he SHOULD have had last season). He's surrounded by better players to pass to. So, he's naturally shooting less and passing more. It's not rocket science. BNM
dude shot 29% from the college 3 while @ Nevada http://www.nevadawolfpack.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10000&ATCLID=1179437 STOMP
After last night I'm wondering how much of that 3pt shooting in college was catch and shoot vs pull up 3pters, I didn't see Nevada play at all last year but I've heard it said that most of their offense was ISOing Armon or Babbitt without much movement. So if that's true and lot of Armon's attempts were him pulling up with a defender in his face ala Roy's end of the quarter ISO 3s I can see him having a lot more success from deep with us as a catch and shoot 3pt shooter off the penetration from Roy/Matthews or the ball movement off LMA posting up and drawing a double. His form looked good when he wasn't being rushed last night so I'll be interested to see how he performs on the year.
You know what's funny.... I watched Sebastian Telfair shoot thousands of threes. He was always the first guy out on the court before a game shooting, and the last guy to leave during practice. It's practically all I ever saw him doing. The guy shot and shot and shot and shot. How much did it help? Not much. He was never a very good three point shooter in games, and the only reason I can attribute it to was confidence. Maybe it's different for Armon, I just know that working hard on your game doesn't always translate into successful results.
I agree, its a whole different ball game during the actual game. I'd say for most though, you aren't going to get better unless you practice. Shit, I watched Sergio nail about 20 three's in a row during warmups without missing. A couple of the shot were several feet behind the 3 point line. We all know how horrible Sergio was from distance. I think with a lot of guys its shot selection. Armon looks pretty good when he's in rythem and not forcing it.
I wonder if it's a confidence issue, or if they lose their form, or what.... It just never makes sense to me.
It just goes to show why contesting shots matters--it truly changes shooting skill. Players who can nail one long-range shot after another in an empty gym become 25-35% three-point shooters against defensive pressure (or 40% at the high end).
I wonder why nobody has invented a device like this. Just a metal and spring dummy with a motor underneath to cause vibratory movement, driven by a battery (so there are no cables). Seems like if you put 5 or 6 of these around the three point line at practice you'd have a much closer approximation of real game-time experience. (I just mocked that up in about 2 minutes in Illustrator.)
