3-pointers and the Big Man

Take a peek at the 3-point proficiency of players such as Damon Jones, Jason Williams, James Posey, Tim Thomas, and others when they're getting more open looks as defenses collapse inside or are disoriented in transition. These guys are shooting a fairly consistent 5 percentage points above their career averages. That's a big difference! The entire league is roughly plus or minus 3 percentage points from 36% on threes. The Pistons, Spurs and Suns are 1,2,4 in the league rankings of 3pt% differential--making these shots and keeping your opponent from sinking them makes a quick difference in the game score. If your big man can convert at a high percentage down low, the double team is leaving a guy open on the perimeter. Phoenix is the most efficient offense in the league at 1.08 points per attempt, versus a league average of about 1.06. That's less than one percentage point at an average FG value of a bit over 2 points (roughly 22% of league attempts are 3s, but if you hit them like the Suns, you might launch them at a 25 or 30% rate.) You can see how the efficiency of the basic inside-outside game can lead to a lot of wins!