RealGM

Goldtop wrote:lol at first glance I thought the thread was called "shooting big ben"

Rip Lorenzen

tsherkin wrote:Dave Cowens and Bob McAdoo come to mind as early trend setters. Lanier had some range. Simms, Uncle Cliffy, Perkins...

McAdoo was the first guy in his size range (6-10 +) who I remember could shoot like small guys from distance. Jim McDaniel was another one. If McAdoo was playing today, he'd be a terror. He could really hit that corner shot. One of the usually overlooked great scorers from that era.

Catchall wrote:Dan Issle and Bill Laimbeer.

Could Bill Walton shoot from range?

No, Walton could hit a jump shot out to the foul line, but that was about it. He had a poor grip on the ball. He put his off hand (left) directly under the ball which threw the ball off. He actually had a good touch on his bank shots from out to 12 feet, but if someone had shown him how to balance the ball correctly, he could have shot from further out. As it was, he was an excellent scorer who could have easily averaged more points (20-25) if wanted to. He was more interested in passing and a team game.

rawshard lewis, jamison , and Manute Bol he was bad at 3s but he did jack quite a few during the run tmc days lol

No mention of Sheed? I am disappoint.

tsherkin wrote:Dave Cowens and Bob McAdoo come to mind as early trend setters. Lanier had some range. Simms, Uncle Cliffy, Perkins...

Surprised you left out Jerry Lucas. Great outside shooter with range out the 3 pt line (even though one didn't exist).

Dirk, Keith Van Horn and Raef Lafrentz immediately came to mind

Led Zeppelin wrote:Valanciunas has close to 3 point range as a 20 year old rookie. Great free throw shooter too so the potential is there. He's known more for his inside presence on the glass and defensively so he sounds like what you're looking for.

He shoots midrange jump shots, no where near the 3pt line.

Manute Bol, Mehmet Okur.

6'10 ersan ilyasova shooting 44% from downtown this season

nakiki wrote:6'10 ersan ilyasova shooting 44% from downtown this season

He was drafted as a small foward

engelbert321 wrote:No mention of Sheed? I am disappoint.

Lol how did Sheed only get mentioned once?

kasino wrote:We've had plenty of shooting bigs, few have been stars, but what I would want more is physical bigs that can hit the three. Be able to guard the post and stretch the floor on the other end.

Side note as the league goes more to the perimeter the better chances to have a Russell or Wilt imo

Rasheed Wallace ?

Use a Big Gun?

Clyde Frazier wrote:

tsherkin wrote:Dave Cowens and Bob McAdoo come to mind as early trend setters. Lanier had some range. Simms, Uncle Cliffy, Perkins...

Surprised you left out Jerry Lucas. Great outside shooter with range out the 3 pt line (even though one didn't exist).

It would have been interesting to see how the Knicks would have used a three point shot with Lucas, Bradley, and Debusschere on the floor at the same time. They all took 20 footers...especially the corner shot which would have given them a lot of three pointers. The ABA had the 3 when they started in 1967, but I don't know how many three balls their teams shot on average. The first year the NBA implemented the 3 ball, 1979-80, teams only took 3 or 4 a game. Now some teams take around 30 a game.

Bill Laimbeer was probably the best outside shooting true big man, that I believe helped pioneer the big stretch 4 and 5's. (out to 3 range)

He and Isiah gave birth to the pick and pop, and they ran that play to perfection. Plus the fact that the Pistons were on National TV all the time, so everyone was able to watch them.

Laimbeer hit 6 3's in an NBA finals (1990 I believe) and nearly won a game with his shooting ability. But he played like a big man on defense and was a very good rebounder while doing that.

Dan Issel could really stroke it.

Bob Pettit could too.

But Issel could REALLY shoot--he could pretty much hit from anywhere on the court. He was good out to 20 feet.

I am really surprised no one mentions Issel--his name really doesn't come up often at all. But he was amazingly fluid on the offensive end.

Big men that could shoot really became popular in the late 80's but there were a few big men that were known for being able to make shots in the 20+ foot range. One of the early ones was Jerry Lucas who was in his prime in the mid to late 60's. Known more for his rebounding ability averaged 20+ rpg per game several seasons and had a few 19rpg seasons Lucas could regularly hit from 20-25 foot range. So unusual it was (for a big burly rebounder to shoot that well from deep) that local reporters dubbed his long range jumpers the "Lucas Layup".

As folks have said guys like Bob McAdoo carried the mantle in the 70's but Larry Bird IMO was without a doubt the best shooting big man ever...especially in the clutch with the game on the line and when it counted most. If there was one guy that you absolutely did not want taking a jumpshot from deep in crunch time it was Bird.

Clyde Frazier wrote:

tsherkin wrote:Dave Cowens and Bob McAdoo come to mind as early trend setters. Lanier had some range. Simms, Uncle Cliffy, Perkins...

Surprised you left out Jerry Lucas. Great outside shooter with range out the 3 pt line (even though one didn't exist).

lol yeah, just mentioned Lucas.