tkb wrote:milesfides wrote:and his shooting blows Rice's out of the water
Woah, I'd wait a bit until I start going that far, especially if you're talking about Rice's entire career.
I meant as a Laker. Rice shot around 43% overall, and 38% from three as a veteran who averaged more than 30 mpg. Those are below his career averages. On the other hand, Sasha last year shot 45% overall and 44% from three last season, as a developing player who has just begun to establish a key role and see consistent minutes. Imo, that does blow Rice's shooting out of the water.
He shot 40+% from 3 several season while jacking up 5 3s a game AND being the clear cut first option on his team, meaning he got a lot more defensive attention than Sasha does at this point of his career. It's a lot harder for Kobe to shoot 40+% from 3 than it is for Sasha on this team because of that defensive attention for instance. Let's see Sasha be as efficient as he is when he isn't a mere role player compared to a 20+ ppg player.
But that's irrelevant, since we're talking about who the best shooter is in Laker history. It's safe to say that Vujacic will never be the first option on any team, but again, that's irrelevant.
Sasha might turn out to be one of those epic shooters, but he's only done it for a couple of years while Rice shot 40% over 15 years and nearly 4000 attempts.
But Rice was merely very good with the Lakers. While Sasha was elite last year.
milesfides wrote:I think he'll challenge Kapono as the best spot-up shooter in the league. He's got too much passion, man.
Could happen, but he's going to have to improve a LOT to get there. Kapono is the most efficient 3p shooter in the history of the NBA. We all think Sasha's 43.7% from behind the arc last year was extremely impressive, but now we're talking about a guy who shoots 46.4% from 3
for his career.
Sure, but the fact that Sasha shot 44% last season shows that he's approaching Kapono's level - if only for a season (Kapono's career shooting is 46%). But considering he's 3 years younger, considering last year was the first time Vujacic was given a consistent role and minutes, considering that Sasha's role will undoubtedly expand considering the need for another shooter with Bynum back, I would say Vujacic is in great position for continued success.
I don't think any other shooter would have it so easy. Bynum in the low post, Gasol in the high post, Kobe handling the ball, everybody a willing passer...
The stars are aligned for Vujacic to do some special things.
“OH! Caruso parachutes in! You cannot stop him - you can only hope to contain him!” -Kevin Harlan, LAL-GSW 4/4/19
