The Outside Jump Shot: Kryptonite to Your Favorite Player or Team

If there is one thing that can kill a player or a team, it is shooting too many jump shots. 

I cannot tell you how many times i have watched a Mavericks game and complained about them taking too many jumpers. 

It happens just about every game, especially in the fourth quarter.  Yes, it is good and necessary for a team to take a certain amount of jumpers in a game.  They are all professionals, and they should be able to make a decent percentage. 

However, the most reliable and clutch play is one where a player drives to the hole.  The potential positives far outweigh the negatives:

One, a player gets a more high percentage shot. 

Two, the player can draw a foul on the opposing team. 

Three, by driving to the basket, it creates more open outside shots. 

Four, they position their team in a better spot to grab an offensive rebound. 

For some reason, it seems as though more and more NBA stars are becoming lazy.  Instead of exerting more effort to drive the ball to the rim, they settle for outside jump shots.  There are two cases in which this becomes a huge problem. 

The first is when a player has an incredible talent for driving to the basket.  Then, for some reason he decides to consistently take more outside jumpers instead of going to the hole.  Two players that immediately come to mind are Vince Carter and Josh Howard. 

Vince Carter was perhaps the most gifted jumper this league has ever seen.  MJ floated through the air, but Carter simply stayed in the air.  Carter developed a name for himself with his uncanny ability to drive the ball and finish above the rim no matter who was in his path. 

However, over the last two-thirds of his career, he has settled for five times as many outside jump shots as he has drives to the bucket. 

Carter has a pretty good jumper, so i am not saying he should never shoot the ball—but when the strength of your game is driving, why not do it at least half the time?  This has hurt Carter's legacy.  He will be known as a guy who was an NBA All-Star, but he could have become a superstar. 

Josh Howard is currently suffering from the jump-shot disease.  Howard is one of the best players in the league when he attempts to drive to the bucket.  I would even go as far as saying he is in the top 10.  However, he chooses to shoot more outside jumpers than even Dirk Nowitzki.  This has become a problem, not only for Howard, but also for his team.

The second reason this is a huge problem is the team aspect.  For one, no team has ever won a title relying completely on outside shooting.  The obvious reason is that the field-goal percentage goes down the farther away you are from the basket. 

When your team relies mainly on the outside jumper, your putting yourself at the mercy of the defense.  The opposing team can simply sit back in a zone, and watch you jack up shots all night long. 

With long jump shots come long rebounds, which lead to fast breaks. 

With long jump shots also come more defensive rebounds for the opposing team. 

With long jump shots also come fewer free-throw attempts. 

There will be nights that the shots fall, and you win.  However, there will also be nights that your shots aren't falling, and you will lose big.  This trait is even more crucial in the fourth quarter of games.  The defenses get tighter, and open shots become harder to find. 

It is much easier to find open shots by driving to the basket and kicking it out than it is hoping that the outside jumper will open up the middle. 

We will use the Dallas Mavericks as the example.  The Dallas Mavericks have lived by the jump shot the past 10 years.  How many titles have they won?  Even more recently, how many times has the Dallas offense looked awkward and out of sync?  This is all because their main scoring threats all choose to shoot jump shots, instead of driving to the hole. 

In their last game against the San Antonio Spurs, the Mavs found one of those nights where the shots just happened to be falling at a very high percentage, which resulted in a win.  However, it also allowed a terrible and injured Spurs team to make a run at the end of the game. 

The Mavs attempted 60 jumpers, while they only had 15 drives to the basket.  This will not get it done consistently in the NBA.  Opposing defenses are too good amongst the elite teams.  That's why the Mavs are currently sitting at 2-2, with two big wins and two big losses.

Think to yourself—when are LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, D-Wade, Chris Paul, and Tony Parker most effective?  When they drive to the basket.  They are also among the best and most consistent players in the league.  That is not a coincidence. 

Think to yourself again—what kind of teams have won the championship the last few years?  All teams that generated their offense through an inside post presence, or by driving to the rim.  That is als not a coincidence. 

So when you're looking at teams to be potential contenders this year, make sure they don't rely on the outside jumper—because they will shoot themselves right out of a shot at a title.