What's so great about Big Men who can shoot?

[kflo]

team makeup is important. having a post presence helps spacing. so does 3 point shooting. but neither has to come from any specific position. a benefit of having a 3 pt shooting big man is pulling a big defender away from the basket for both interior d and defensive rebounding.

[tsherkin]

Which is why I never understand people who criticize Shaq because "all he does is dunk."

In other words, all he does is take high-percentage shots that demoralize the opposition.

So that's a bad thing?

And in support of your point, that phrase is totally ridiculous anyway; Shaq's dunked about 25% of his career shots, 25-30% tops. The VAST majority of his points come from jump hooks from 10 feet and in.

[TheRaptor!]

In Europe the need of good shooting/offense from bigs started mainly with the develop of the zone defense.

The more you have good shooting players, the more you have chances to beat the zone.

Think about a zone played against a team like

PG Andre Miller
SG Monta Ellis
SF Darius Miles
PF Al Jefferson
C Howard

They wouldn't score AT ALL.

Nopw try to play zone with a team like

PG Nash
SG Anthony Parker
SF Kapono
PF Nowitzki
C Bargnani

Self-suicide ...

IMHO if a big can shot well from outside it's a great toll and can improve your offence and put big pressure and lot of problems on the opposite defense.

The more a player is complete and versatile, the more I like him.

No need to say that I don't want to see a center shooting 2-12 from 3 ... but if he can make 3-5, 2-4, 3-7 or so it's perfect.

I'm pretty sure he meant the Raptor's starting lineup.

Calderon > Nash in every shooting percentage. Bargnani is a better 3pt shooter then Dirk and Bosh is better then Bargs.

[tsherkin]

-= original quote snipped =-



I'm pretty sure he meant the Raptor's starting lineup.

Calderon > Nash in every shooting percentage. Bargnani is a better 3pt shooter then Dirk and Bosh is better then Bargs.

Ah, but Nash is still a better shooter than Calderon, who isn't nearly as proficient when off-balance, fading, at pull-up threes in transition or off the dribble.

Bargnani is likewise not a better 3pt shooter than Dirk; this year, his percentage is higher, but he's never been able to take the shot with the same sort of versatile approach Dirk has, again, off the dribble, off balance, in transition, it's movement that kills Bargs' shot and Dirk shoots a lot while moving. He's having a horrible year but that's an outlier for his career.

[abneriii]

I like big men that can shoot. They are harder to guard. When we went to the Magic game last week against the Nuggets, Dwight Howard hit three 3 pointers in a row from the base line. Now imagine if Howard making 3 pointers in a game and 20 foot jumpers. He could be the best center of all time. Look at Olajuwon, David Robinson, Ewing, Duncan, Karl Malone, Barkley, and others big men that could shoot. All of these men have won NBA championships or took their teams to the NBA Finals. I heard Sabonis would have been better than Ewing, Robinson and Olajuwon if he came to the NBA earlier. His names gave out on him and he came when he was like 32 years old. I'll take Duncan, Olajuwon, and Robisnon and give you Okafor, Chandler, and Howard and see who wins more championships? Me.