Paige Bueckers Says Teams 'Don't Know How to Guard' Mid-Range After 44-Point Game

As the mid-range jumper has fallen out of favor in modern basketball, Dallas Wings star Paige Bueckers sees a clear opportunity to gain a competitive edge.

The rookie guard went off for 44 points in Wednesday's 81-80 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks.

Bueckers shot 17-of-21 from the field, and only four of her shot attempts were from beyond the arc. Eight of her made field goals were between the three-point line and the restricted area.

"I truly think basketball has gotten away from it — it's mostly layups and threes," she said of the mid-range, per ESPN's Michael Voepel. "Teams don't know how to guard it. So I think it's an advantage when you can score in the mid-range."

The "Moreyball" approach has dominated NBA tactics for around a decade, and it steadily became the primary offensive style in the WNBA as well. For years, some fans have lamented the steady demise of the mid-range shot, deemed an inefficient way of scoring.

Strategies always evolve, though, and we might be reaching a point to where pulling up from mid-range is in vogue again.

As Bueckers referenced, younger players and even head coaches are focusing so much of their time in figuring out how to generate open three-pointers and shots around the basket. Some of the knowledge and muscle memory with guarding against mid-range offense may have fatigued or doesn't exist altogether.

Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Steve Nash also made the point in July on Mind the Game that star players need to have a reliable mid-range jumper precisely because defenses are flooding the perimeter and packing the paint.

It's not like "Moreyball" is going anywhere, in part because it's so straightforwardly simple. Prioritizing the shot that's worth an additional point along with attempts as close to the basket as possible makes too much sense.

The pendulum may at least shift to where even the analytically inclined set recognizes there's a lot of space on the court for good scorers to exploit.