BigGargamel wrote:The hyper fixated obsession with shooting percentages on this board, and discussing the NBA draft in particular, is so exhausting. Most of these guys can just barrel roll to the rim every time in high school. Once they get to college they start to develop their jump shot. That's a skill that can be improved on. A guy can do 100 things well, but people won't stop nitpicking the 35% from 3 stat. Yes, shooting is important, but it's not the ONLY thing. It's so annoying.
It makes sense to look at shooting indicators because that's just a pretty big swing skill for many players. I actually think a bigger issue is when people just assume that players will naturally improve their shooting to required levels for their roles. Because that's just not the case. While most players improve their shooting to some extent (as they do in most other aspects of basketball from physical tools to skills and cognitive abilities) that does not mean they will reach the level they need to; and if the gap is large, it's quite difficult to overcome that (not least because everyone else around them continues to improve as well).
Where I agree is that we should not simply look at raw 3P% and draw conclusions based on that. There are other shooting indicators that should be taken into account, too, such as FT%, shot mechanics, volume, confidence, and shot type. It is also important to understand that different roles require different levels (and types) of shooting ability – and that some type of shots are easier to improve in proficiency than others (e.g., it's easier for a big man with decent touch to become efficient at open 3s in PnPs than it is for a ball handler to become efficient at shooting 3s off the dribble (in case they lack these skills in college)).
So as usual, I would say what's annoying are comments that lack the required nuance or context and make definitive claims about prospects when there are a ton of contingencies built into the development process. As long as we acknowledge the uncertainty, the complexity and the different contexts in our posts, I think we're good – even if someone still weighs shooting ability more than we do.
