One Number: 65.5%
by Big D Bam Bam on Apr 30, 2009 8:22 AM CDT
12 comments
Been wondering how Chauncey Billups and the Nuggets were able to make such short work of the Hornets? 65.5% explains a whole lot.
65.5% (19 of 29, including 8 of 9 in Game One) was the number that Chauncey Billups shot from three point range during their first-round series against New Orleans. Now, more power to him for doing that, but the simple law of averages tell us that he's not going to be able to keep that kind of pace up, and if the Mavericks do let him keep shooting like that, then they'll deserve to lose this series.
And while we're on the subject of absurd shooting percentages, note Carmelo Anthony and his 46.2% three-point shooting thus far in the playoffs. This, from a guy whose career number from behind the arc is just over 30%. Billups at least is legitimately a good spot up shooter. Melo is far more in the mold of "just throw it up and hope for the best." Against the Hornets, the best happened. Starting Sunday afternoon, the Mavs are going to have to make sure it stops. Based on what they showed against San Antonio's shooters, I'm fairly confident they can.
Now, I'm not saying that advancing to the West Finals is going to be as simple as running Denver off the three-point line, but in the rush among the media to anoint the Nuggets as the Western Conference's new darling, I think we need to keep things in context. Denver two top scorers shot percentages from three-point land that are simply unsustainable in a long playoff run. To put it a little more bluntly, they got lucky. To put it a lot more bluntly, they got lucky against a team that was already floundering when the playoffs began.
Now we'll see what they can do against a team that's finally playing at its potential.
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Great post
But Denver is really clicking right now due to Billups’ leadership and Melo playing smarter, so there are other factors working for them that don’t depend on luck.
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
Their top three scorers took fifteen three's a game...
Against New Orleans, and hit more than half of them. A good portion of that can’t help but be luck. If San Antonio had shot that kind of percentage in the first round, they would’ve made the Mavericks look just as bad as the Hornets did.
Denver right now looks to me like a classic example of a team that, when the threes stop falling, are going to be accused of falling in love with their jump shots.
I think if you put two of my best seasons together it wouldn't come up with the numbers he's going to have at the end of the season. -Troy Aikman on Tony Romo
let's hope that the threes stop falling sooner rather than later.
"How long is this gonna take? I gotta get a tattoo of my balls on the back of my neck." - Dwayne Johnson as Dennis Rodman on SNL
^^^wtf?^^^
Anyway, I was gonna say that I believe in things evening out over time. I tend to think the Nugz won’t be making shots like crazy this series.
yeah. it'll help if we guard the three point line better than new orleans did.
"How long is this gonna take? I gotta get a tattoo of my balls on the back of my neck." - Dwayne Johnson as Dennis Rodman on SNL
Didn't Carlisle coach Billups?
Maybe he knows how to shut him down like Nellie did to Dirk.
Maybe he can, but what does it do?
His teammates can still score and hustle, unlike Dirk’s 2 years ago. One thing I can see it working: The Mavs get say a 2-1 series lead, with Chauncey getting taken out of his game by Carlisle/Kidd. I don’t think his teammates can respond that well to playoff adversity, considering they haven’t had success for a while and their leader’s having some troubles himself.
Denver's got a deadly assasin behind the 3 point line
J.R. Smith. I’m mostly worried about what he can do to this team…but I think we’re ready to shut him down, given some of the antics he pulled late in the season
"Hang-Dai, Wu...Hang-Fu$&ing-Dai"
I assume Wright will check him
That would be fun. I don’t know if anybody else has noticed that Wright has developed some kind of nastiness, dare I say a little dirtiness in him. I’ve been sensing that attitude from him lately.
Billiups and Kidd both have the same job...
Which is to be the smartest player on the floor for their respective teams. Whichever one of them actually does turn out to be the smartest between them is going to give their team a huge edge, and I’d personally give that to Kidd by a hair.
Either way, watching the two of them go head to head should be a lot of fun.
Speaking of head to head matchups though, is anyone else confused that Kenyon Martin, a guy who’s never made a first or second All-Defensive team, and who over his career has been torched repeatedly and mercilessly by Dirk, has suddenly gotten a reputation as a “defensive ace”, and his matchup with Nowitzki has somehow come to be portrayed in the media as an edge for Denver?
Isn’t this the same guy who Dirk averaged 30 points and 11 rebounds against this year?
Isn’t this the same guy who averaged 7.5 points and 7.5 rebounds while being guarded by Dirk?
Who’s really got who’s number here?
Game One
Dirk: 23 points, 10 rebounds
K-Mart: 8 points, 7 rebounds
Game Two
Dirk: 27 points, 10 rebounds
K-Mart: 7 points, 10rebounds
Game Three
Dirk: 44 points, 14 rebounds
K-Mart: 5 points, 7 rebounds
Game Four:
Dirk: 26 points, 11 rebounds
K-Mart 10 points, 5 rebounds
What exactly am I missing? It sure seems to me that, season sweep or not, this is one position where Dallas has an overwhelming advantage. So why have I read in several places that Dirk is going to have trouble handling him?
I think if you put two of my best seasons together it wouldn't come up with the numbers he's going to have at the end of the season. -Troy Aikman on Tony Romo
thanks for the numbers; I don't get this either
Dirk is not gonna be phased by K-Mart. Dirk is bigger, taller, quicker, and above all, (waaaaaaay) BETTER.
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