Insider Special: Power Outage - Sharp Shooters

[Guest]

Best and worst from two-point land

By Terry Brown

Wednesday, April 9 Updated 4:04 PM EST

If the Milwaukee Bucks find out that they're the best two-point shooting team in the East in the process of becoming a rugged defensive-minded team, the New Jersey Nets could be in trouble in the first round of the playoffs.

Gary Payton on Jason Kidd.

Desmond Mason on Richard Jefferson.

Tim Thomas on Kenyon Martin.

Now you tell me which one is the No. 1 seed and which one the No. 8 and then I'll bring up names like Sam Cassell and Michael Redd and Toni Kukoc.

Not only do the Bucks shoot an Eastern Conference best 47.4 percent on two-pointers (2321 of 4891), they also outshoot their opponents from long range (38 percent to 37 percent) and from the free throw line (77 percent to 74 percent).

Look for yourself.

Take each team's total number of shots, made and attempted, subtract their three-point shots, made and attempted, and there isn't one playoff bound team in the East doing better than the Bucks, including those teams who might make it in a long shot.

Live by the three, they say, die by the three. Especially in the postseason.

Well, the Bucks have three guards and a swingman shooting above 46 percent from the field and two big men shooting above 48 percent.

No, they don't have a dominant big man, anyone averaging more than 7 rebounds per game or even a winning record. But, then again, they are in the East and below you won't find one Eastern Conference playoff team in the top five nor one Western Conference playoff team in the bottom five.

BEST 2-POINT TEAMS

1. Portland Trail Blazers

Two-point percentage: 48.99% (2412-4923)

Comment: Seven of their players shoot above 45 percent, six of them above 47 percent and four of them above 48.8 percent. And that doesn't even count Zach Randolph (51%FG) going 1 for 1 on the eye socket of Ruben Patterson (49%FG) while being held by Qyntel Woods (50%FG).

2. San Antonio Spurs

Two-point percentage: 48.79% (2322-4759)

Comment: One player takes 22 percent of the entire team's shots, shoots better than 50 percent, uses a lot of glass and rarely needs to go beyond 10 or 15 feet to get his shot off, though there is no proof that he couldn't take two or more steps beyond and remain equally proficient and if I have to mention the name of last year's split-decisioned MVP then you wouldn't understand.

3. Utah Jazz

Two-point percentage: 48.21% (2501-5187)

Comment: Field goals, three-pointers, free throws. Doesn't matter. They run a disciplined, discriminate offense that gets the right players taking the right shots at the right time while also leading the entire league in assists. Four of their five starters shoot above 48 percent from the field as well as their sixthman and Karl Malone, not one of them, is just getting warmed up.

4. Sacramento Kings

Two-point percentage: 48.06% (2615-5440)

Comment: It isn't that any one of them shoots a particularly spectacular percentage from the field but the fact that they have eight players averaging more than 6.8 points per game and only one of them shoots below 46 percent and that one player, Jimmy Jackson, is shooting 45 percent from three-point range.

5. Minnesota Timberwolves

Two-point percentage: 47.78% (2723-5698)

Comment: There are times when Kevin Garnett, Radoslav Nesterovic and Gary Trent are along the same frontline and it would do good to remember that each of them are shooting better than 50 percent from the field this season and that only 73 of their 2,501 shots so far this year have been beyond the arc.

WORST 2-POINT TEAMS

25. Washington Wizards

Two-point percentage: 45.98% (2369-5152)

Comment: It's been five years since Jerry Stackhouse has shot above 43 percent so his 39 percent from the field in March and 38 percent in April shouldn't surprise anyone. But the fact that he's still the leading scorer on a team featuring the greatest player in NBA history should.

26. Indiana Pacers

Two-point percentage: 45.97% (2375-5166)

Comment: After Jermaine O'Neal (48%FG) and Brad Miller (49%FG), there isn't one starter shooting above 43 percent from the field and only two players on the entire team shooting above that same mark. And those two players have scored a total of only 300 points all season.

27. Boston Celtics

Two-point percentage: 45.49% (1859-4086)

Comment: You knew this was coming from a team that takes a three-pointer every three shots and more than 700 more three-pointers than their opponents on the season, and counting. In fact, no other team in the league has taken fewer two-pointers than these guys, the second most (the Pistons below) some 341 more. Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker score 50 percent of the team's points while shooting a combined 40 percent from the field.

28. Detroit Pistons

Two-point percentage: 45.40% (2010-4427)

Comment: The only player on this team who has played at least 28 games this season and shoots above 44 percent is Ben Wallace and he averages only 6.9 points per game while shooting 45 percent from the free throw line. And now that he's hurt, expect this percentage to get even worse.

29. Charlotte Hornets

Two-point percentage: 44.64% (2350-5264)

Comment: You've got to love Jamal Mashburn and Baron Davis and David Wesley scoring 21 and 17 and 17 points per game to lead the team. You've got to hate Mashburn and Davis and Wesley shooting 42 percent and 41 percent and 43 percent from the field as the leaders of your team.

[coachx]

Maybe some of the poor shooting teams mentioned will be interested in Dog at a dicounted price.

Dog is best with pure pg, JT gives him the ball too much and in the wrong place. Sense all he can do is shoot, a bad pass to Dog results in a bad shot. A pure pg would help dog by passing it to him less but giving it to him in better situations.

However i am please with screen curl at the elbow we (Stotts and Terry) have run for dog the 2nd half of this year.