Which Historical Players Would Have Benefitted Most From The 3 Point Line?

ty 4191 · Post #1 » by **ty 4191** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 9:36 am

Which pre-1980's players' natural styles would have suited a game based on 3 point shooting, such as today's, the most, all time?

What would their numbers look like, playing today, with the 3 point shot a constant factor?

Discuss!

ty 4191 · Post #2 » by **ty 4191** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 9:45 am

Does someone have the breakdown of shooting for any players or for the league (by distance and accuracy) in the 1960's?

A few names come to my mind first.

Maravich
West

Que Rico · Post #3 » by **Que Rico** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 9:57 am

Pistol Pete

coastalmarker99 · Post #4 » by **coastalmarker99** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 10:35 am

Wilt Chamberlain

70sFan · Post #5 » by **70sFan** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 11:31 am

All long range shooters (Jack Twyman for example) and guard slashers (Jerry West for example).

donnieme · Post #6 » by **donnieme** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 12:10 pm

Any sharpshooter with a live dribble jumpshot. On the other hand set shot specialists will be devalued as that became a very common skill. The 3 and D specialist role evolved fast. Almost every one can set shoot now, it's about what else you can bring to the table

BK_2020 · Post #7 » by **BK_2020** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 12:27 pm

George Mikan if he grew up with a 3 point line would have developed a reliable 3 pointer out to 40 feet and add at least 10 points per game and 20 percentage points to his TS%.
Also with all that spacing his inside game would've shot through the roof.
60-15-8 on 70 TS% is not unrealistic for George Mikan in such a scenario.

70sFan · Post #8 » by **70sFan** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 12:48 pm

BK_2020 wrote:George Mikan if he grew up with a 3 point line would have developed a reliable 3 pointer out to 40 feet and add at least 10 points per game and 20 percentage points to his TS%.
Also with all that spacing his inside game would've shot through the roof.
60-15-8 on 70 TS% is not unrealistic for George Mikan in such a scenario.

Are you banned from PC Board already for constant trolling?

The_Hater · Post #9 » by **The_Hater** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 4:00 pm

Calvin Murphy
Rick Barry
Brian Winters
Freddie Brown

druggas · Post #10 » by **druggas** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 4:25 pm

Jerry West.

JimmyPlopper · Post #11 » by **JimmyPlopper** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 4:31 pm

Big men may benefit with the paint not being packed

Fencer reregistered · Post #12 » by **Fencer reregistered** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 4:36 pm

ty 4191 wrote:Does someone have the breakdown of shooting for any players or for the league (by distance and accuracy) in the 1960's?

A few names come to my mind first.

Maravich
West

Those were my first two thoughts as well.

Fencer reregistered · Post #13 » by **Fencer reregistered** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 5:39 pm

The_Hater wrote:Calvin Murphy
Rick Barry
Brian Winters
Freddie Brown

The two seasons Barry shot more than 1.5 3s per game, he shot 30.1% and 33.0%.
Of course, he might have done much better in the modern style of play.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/barryri01.html

Calvin Murphy tried 72 3s in his career and hit 10 of them.

Fencer reregistered · Post #14 » by **Fencer reregistered** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 5:40 pm

Maravich was 10-15 on 3s for his career.

AbeVigodaLive · Post #15 » by **AbeVigodaLive** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 5:43 pm

coastalmarker99 wrote:Wilt Chamberlain

Ha. I see Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain mentioned right away...

Funny enough in his autobiography... Wilt claims he beat Jerry West in long-distance shooting contests EVERY day at practice.

Now granted, Wilt wasn't even making 50% of his free throws at this point of his career, while West was a 82%+ foul shooter... but would anybody assume Wilt would be lying. If he was lying about that was he also lying about dunking from the top of the key in game at Kansas... a reverse dunk?

[Note: I know that parameters are set at 1980... but I think there were some great shooters in the 1980s who could have put up some ridiculous numbers in today's game where the shot is a weapon. Larry Bird is at the top of the list.]

The_Hater · Post #16 » by **The_Hater** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 5:46 pm

Fencer reregistered wrote:
The_Hater wrote:Calvin Murphy
Rick Barry
Brian Winters
Freddie Brown

The two seasons Barry shot more than 1.5 3s per game, he shot 30.1% and 33.0%.
Of course, he might have done much better in the modern style of play.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/barryri01.html

Calvin Murphy tried 72 3s in his career and hit 10 of them.

Ya. Obviously they didn’t make them in small samples during their era, but they both would have been very good 3 point shooters if given time and if they put more emphasis on the shot with practice.

Another name I looked up was Rick Mount, who was known for his shooting back all the way back to high school, and he never cracked 30% in any ABA season either.

Frank Lee · Post #17 » by **Frank Lee** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 5:51 pm

Meadowlark Lemon

76ciology · Post #18 » by **76ciology** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:32 pm

George Mikan

Post #19 » by **og15** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:51 pm

donnieme wrote:Any sharpshooter with a live dribble jumpshot. On the other hand set shot specialists will be devalued as that became a very common skill. The 3 and D specialist role evolved fast. Almost every one can set shoot now, it's about what else you can bring to the table

I'd say both live dribble and the ability to shoot off the move and coming off screens

Post #20 » by **og15** » Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:53 pm

Fencer reregistered wrote:
The_Hater wrote:Calvin Murphy
Rick Barry
Brian Winters
Freddie Brown

The two seasons Barry shot more than 1.5 3s per game, he shot 30.1% and 33.0%.
Of course, he might have done much better in the modern style of play.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/barryri01.html

Calvin Murphy tried 72 3s in his career and hit 10 of them.

If they had the touch and shooting ability, then the problem for their percentages would be reps