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LOS ANGELES – To say the NBA game has changed from 10-20 years ago is an understatement. The game has become more three-point oriented with teams like the Boston Celtics having historic three-point shooting games. If you look on social media though, fans have been debating whether or not the change is good for the game. Just last week, the Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Hornets made history with the most missed three-point shots in regulation. Before the Los Angeles Lakers' game against the Memphis Grizzlies this past weekend, head coach JJ Redick gave his opinion on the three-point debate with an interesting comparison between Anthony Edwards and Stephen Curry.
“I brought this up the other night in Minnesota, it's what makes Ant Edwards different. To be able to shoot ten a game at 40-plus percent, that's Steph Curry, that's elite,” Redick said. “There's just different ways to look at it. And again, you have to play to the strengths of your personnel. Not everybody has Boston's roster with eight guys that can bang threes at a really efficient clip. I don't think the league and play style is as homogenized as people make it out to be.”
JJ Redick was a good three-point shooter during his playing days, and he's carried that philosophy over to the Lakers, as per Edwin Garcia of Silver Screen and Roll.
JJ Redick's model for three-point shooting
On the season so far, Anthony Edwards is averaging around 10.2 attempts from three-point range, a career-high. He's knocking them down at a 42.4 percent clip, also a career-high.
In comparison, Stephen Curry for his career has averaged a little under ten three-point attempts per game. He's averaged no less than 11 attempts for the past four seasons. He holds a career shooting mark of 42.5 percent. Curry is at 10.1 attempts this season and 42.1 percent.
When it comes to three-point shooting and how teams should approach that in-game, Redick believes it all depends on the personnel. To him, having a player like Edwards is necessary to being a good three-point shooting team.
“I think there's different types of threes, theres good threes and there's bad threes,” Redick said. “I think if you were to sort of model out how you could become a high volume, efficient shooting three-point team, you would hunt threes in transition. You would be able to have some off-ball movers. You would be able to have individual shot creators that could draw a second defender to get you in the blender. You'd be able to have a guy who could shoot efficiently off the dribble.”
Throughout Redick's 15-year NBA career, he averaged around five attempts from three-point range and knocked them down at a 41.5 percent clip. His career high in attempts was the 8.0 he took during the 2018-19 season with the Philadelphia 76ers. His career high in percentage was the 47.5 percent he shot during the 2015-16 season wit the Los Angeles Clippers.
