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Over the weeks leading up to the season Mountain West Wire will be looking at the best players at different aspects of the game. As basketball has become more and more positionless it’s more about being the best at specific skills than it is being the best at a certain position.
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Three point shooting has never been more important in basketball than it is in the current day. The way modern basketball is played, any team that has two players considered non-shooters on the floor at the same time is seriously hampering their offensive capabilities. A recent saying is “any player who isn’t a shooter, is a center.” Their lack of outside shooting ability limits them to playing close to the basket, which hurts the spacing of the team and often forces teammates to settle for inefficient midrange shots.
Given how important shooting is, having the best shooters can be important. Lots of different factors determine what a good shooter is. It is not simply a question of who has the best percentage. That being said, as a general rule a player shooting between 32%-34% is a roughly average shooter. A player who shoots 40%+ is considered elite. Other important factors include being able to hit contested shots, being able to shoot on the move, shooting after coming off of a screen, shooting off the dribble, and more.
Honorable Mention – Reese Waters, SDSU.
Before getting hurt last season Waters was shooting 45% from deep. He was hitting shots standing still, and on the move, and off the dribble. Then he got hurt in the conference opener and never regained his form. If he is back and healthy he can show that those numbers weren’t a fluke.
- David Douglas Jr, Fresno State –
Douglas doesn’t have as flashy of percentages as some other players, but he is probably the best at getting open looks. His ability to find holes in the defense and get uncontested shots off is elite. When a defender is close by he struggles with accuracy, but when he successfully loses his defender he connects on roughly 40% of his shots.
- Tucker Anderson, Utah State –
Standing at 6’9, Anderson has an advantage of being able to shoot over most defenders. Regardless of whether there is a defender in front of him Anderson shot about 40% in catch and shoot situations last season. Anderson excels at hitting shots off of kick outs, he is also great playing in pick and pop situations, and can hit shots coming off of screens as well, albeit less efficiently.
- Xavier Dusell, Nevada –
Dusell has made a whole career off of being able to shoot the ball. He took 216 three’s last season and connected on 84 of them, good for 39%. Dusell also seems unaffected by the defense, as he connected on 40.5% of his shots when guarded. He excels at shooting both in spot up as well as transition situations. His one weakness is shooting on the move or coming off screens. Shooting off the dribble and coming off of screens were both sub 30% shots for Dusell last season. Alowing him to shoot off the catch optimizes his abilities.
- Beau Becker, Air Force –
Do not leave this man open behind the arc. Becker hit 52.5% of his open jump shots last season. When Becker is given time to shoot he treats the ball like a laser guided missile. Playing tough defense can disrupt his shot, so defenses have to choose whether or not to help and leave Becker open, or not help and give up something else. Given how good Becker is, sticking to him like glue is the best bet.
- Dontaie Allen, Wyoming –
What makes Dontaie Allen stick out as a shooter is his ability to hit shots on the move. Most players who shoot high percentages do so solely in stand still, catch and shoot situations. Allen didn’t get many chances to show his movement shooting ability at Western Kentucky, but Allen is great at hitting shots even when he doesn’t have his feet set. He can come off screens or relocate behind help and hit the shot, which is how shooters can truly break a defense.
