Hawks leading the '4-point' revolution

[Jamaaliver]

How the '4-point line' and other court markings are changing the NBA



WHEN TRAE YOUNG buried a deep 3-pointer against the Los Angeles Lakers in mid-November, he didn't hold his follow-through or flash three fingers. No, the Atlanta Hawks rookie guard celebrated by pointing to the court, encouraging Lonzo Ball and the Staples Center crowd to gawk at his shooting range.

As he turned to retreat on defense, Young swept his fingers near the tail of the purple "L" of the Lakers' midcourt logo, more than 30 feet from the hoop. In Los Angeles, he was merely pointing to an anonymous spot on the floor. But if he had been in Atlanta's practice facility, he would've been pointing at something more tangible: the Hawks' "4-point line."

Over the past few years, the NBA has experienced an offensive explosion. And as coaches have sought to keep up with high-efficiency offenses that continue to get smarter and faster thanks to the boom in analytics, they have begun reimagining the court itself.

Save for the addition of the 3-point line, the official dimensions and lines of an NBA court have hardly changed since 1951. But Brown, like other coaches, has added extra markings, carved out special zones and divvied up the playing surface of the Sixers' practice court -- in some cases down to the inch -- in hopes of teaching his players the best practices for spacing the floor and scoring.

In essence, coaches have created a visual language to communicate with their twenty-something players (the average age in the NBA is 26.5), many of whom grew up listening to audiobooks and looking at e-readers instead of thumbing through paperback novels. "We're constantly trying to educate players quicker and more directly," Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce says.

And with the NBA's ongoing emphasis to make players think efficiency and spacing, Brown installed one extra line on the Sixers' practice court in February 2017: a phantom gray 4-point line.

Since then, others have followed suit.



To explain how the Hawks' 4-point line -- which is painted onto the floor 5 feet beyond the regular 3-point line -- helps his team, Pierce walks onto the court to physically demonstrate. The condensed version of Pierce's 36-minute explanation, which is punctuated by wild gesticulation, is this: "Spacing changes the whole game."

Atlanta targeted Young out of Oklahoma in the 2018 draft lottery, with hopes of building an offense around his long-range shooting and passing skills. Because Young is willing and able to shoot off the dribble from well beyond the 3-point arc, defenders are forced to step out to defend him almost as soon as he crosses half court. Although he already had that range before he joined the Hawks, Young acknowledges that not everybody has the natural instinct to pull up from that deep, so it helps to have a visual reminder.

Lloyd not only wants Young to shoot from the 4-point line but to make plays from there, too. Expanding the floor outward, in turn, creates space in the paint for big men such as second-year breakout John Collins. If a guard like Young can initiate a play from behind the 4-point line, defenses are forced to cover more ground and, eventually, make difficult choices and compromises.

"When Trae gets here, he has decisions to make," Pierce says from the 4-point line, before jogging to the basket to mimic a Young drive. "If someone is going to meet him at the rim, he is going to know to make those passes out." Pierce says one reason the Hawks valued Young so highly in the draft was his ability to make kickout passes to shooters with either hand on the run.

Although the rebuilding Hawks are off to a 6-23 start, Young's arrival has helped Pierce realize his vision of a perimeter-oriented offense. Atlanta is launching 35.4 3-pointers per game this season, fourth most in the league. That's up from last season, when the Hawks took 31 triples per game and ranked seventh. Atlanta's willingness to shoot from deep has in turn opened room for a nice pick-and-roll pairing between Young and Collins, who is averaging 18.5 points per game and ranks in the top 20 leaguewide in dunks.

ESPN

[Atlanta Hawk Fan]

I'd love to see his shooting % from that range. I'm skeptical that it is high enough to positively impact the offense in the long-term in much the same way that Josh Smith taking 3's never improved spacing for the team because people wanted him chucking from there even though he would hit a near 30% of those shots. Space only opens if people truly respect that shot. If they are willing to let you shoot from there, it does nothing but generate inefficient shots.

[Jamaaliver]

^YES!!!

[EvanZ]

Huerter is the one benefitting from this.

[personanongrata]

Trae isn't hitting those long threes. In fact, he's not hitting regular threes.

[Atlanta Hawk Fan]

Trae isn't hitting those long threes. In fact, he's not hitting regular threes.

I think his overall 3pt% will look much better as he and the team (including gameplan) mature and develop. I'm not sure those super long shots will ever be a useful part of the offense. There is a very short list of people who can hit that shot at a high enough % to open the kind of spacing that they seem to want to chase.

[marco102]

I'd love to see his shooting % from that range. I'm skeptical that it is high enough to positively impact the offense in the long-term in much the same way that Josh Smith taking 3's never improved spacing for the team because people wanted him chucking from there even though he would hit a near 30% of those shots. Space only opens if people truly respect that shot. If they are willing to let you shoot from there, it does nothing but generate inefficient shots.

I read in some article, he's s shooting about 37% from 30+ ft. I'll have to dig around on the interwebs to find it.

[macd-gm]

for shots between 30 and 36 feet Trae is shooting 35%. Which is much higher than his actual 3 point shooting %. Which to me only proves that they are definitely in his range and he can hit shots when he is open. Opponents obviously still respect his 3 point shooting despite hovering around 20% because they are guarding him out there.

[jayu70]

for shots between 30 and 36 feet Trae is shooting 35%. Which is much higher than his actual 3 point shooting %. Which to me only proves that they are definitely in his range and he can hit shots when he is open. Opponents obviously still respect his 3 point shooting despite hovering around 20% because they are guarding him out there.

That's interesting.
How many corner 3s is he taking compared to other areas for the typical 3s? Doesn't seem like many.

[macd-gm]

for shots between 30 and 36 feet Trae is shooting 35%. Which is much higher than his actual 3 point shooting %. Which to me only proves that they are definitely in his range and he can hit shots when he is open. Opponents obviously still respect his 3 point shooting despite hovering around 20% because they are guarding him out there.

That's interesting.
How many corner 3s is he taking compared to other areas for the typical 3s? Doesn't seem like many.

No. Based on just looking at his shot chart i think he is 1-7 on corner 3s. This is where it doesn't seem like the floor gets spaced very well. Seems like it's pretty congested in the center.

[Atlanta Hawk Fan]

for shots between 30 and 36 feet Trae is shooting 35%. Which is much higher than his actual 3 point shooting %. Which to me only proves that they are definitely in his range and he can hit shots when he is open. Opponents obviously still respect his 3 point shooting despite hovering around 20% because they are guarding him out there.

Thanks mac. Which site did you use for this? That 35% passes the sniff test if he can sustain and eventually improve on that.

[macd-gm]

for shots between 30 and 36 feet Trae is shooting 35%. Which is much higher than his actual 3 point shooting %. Which to me only proves that they are definitely in his range and he can hit shots when he is open. Opponents obviously still respect his 3 point shooting despite hovering around 20% because they are guarding him out there.

Thanks mac. Which site did you use for this? That 35% passes the sniff test if he can sustain and eventually improve on that.

basketball-reference but honestly it was hard to find.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/shot_finder.cgi?player_id=youngtr01

[Jamaaliver]

for shots between 30 and 36 feet Trae is shooting 35%. Which is much higher than his actual 3 point shooting %. Which to me only proves that they are definitely in his range and he can hit shots when he is open. Opponents obviously still respect his 3 point shooting despite hovering around 20% because they are guarding him out there.

Thanks mac. Which site did you use for this? That 35% passes the sniff test if he can sustain and eventually improve on that.

basketball-reference but honestly it was hard to find.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/shot_finder.cgi?player_id=youngtr01

Slightly easier to navigate on NBA.com.

https://stats.nba.com/player/1629027/shooting/