A good friend of mine coaches a girls’ basketball team and recently had a starter quit the team because he wouldn't give her the green light to shoot the ball anytime and anywhere she wanted. The player argued that at the beginning of the season she had more freedom to shoot but as the season progressed that freedom was removed. She wanted it back and he didn't give it to her so she quit.

1. Shooting Stats Don't Lie
-by Coach Dave Stricklin
http://www.hoopskills.com
A good friend of mine coaches a girls’ team and
recently had a starter quit the team because he
wouldn't give her the green light to shoot the
ball anytime and anywhere she wanted.
The player argued that at the beginning of the
season she had more freedom to shoot but as
the season progressed that freedom was
removed. She wanted it back and he didn't give
it to her so she quit.
In the course of their final conversation, my
friend pointed out to his player that her overall
field goal percentage was 34% and her three point field goal percentage was 16%.
To make things worse, he said, he never saw her putting in any extra time trying to
get better in order to improve her shooting.
She responded by saying that the stats were misleading and that she considered
herself to be a great shooter regardless of the percentages. She was then told very
bluntly… "You are either a bad shooter or you are a good shooter who is constantly
taking bad shots. There really are no other options."
Let's take a quick look at a few ideas concerning shot selection and see how they
can impact shooting percentages.
1. Who gets the most shots? In my mind the answer is obvious - the best
shooters! Vance Walberg, creator of the dribble drive motion offense calls "streak"
every time his team goes two possessions in a row without scoring.
That means that only the two best shooters on the floor are allowed to shoot until
the team scores again. Unfortunately, if you are a coach I can almost guarantee
that 80% of your team thinks they are good enough to get a fair majority of the
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2. shots. If you are a player, you think you are one of the best shooters on your team,
even if you haven't made a shot in a month.
How do you know who shoots the ball the best? Stats - game stats, practice stats,
and individual work out stats - because stats don't lie. Walberg consistently uses a
20 minute shooting drill to help determine his best shooters and the results are
always posted for everyone to see. Everyone who looks at the list knows the
pecking order of shooters. If you want to move up then improve your percentages.
When your best shooters are getting the most shots your team shooting
percentage is going to go up and so is your winning percentage.
2. Where do the majority of your shots come from? Legendary coach Hubie
Brown says that if you divide the court into three sections (left, right, middle) that
even your very best shooters will have a much lower percentage in one of the
sections than they do in the other two. (I once had a player who shot 68% from the
left three point line and only 30% from the right three point line.) If you are a
coach are your best shooters getting most of their shots in their "wheelhouse" or
are they scattered all over?
If you are a player, are you looking for shots you can make most of the time while
avoiding ones that you can't? Do you even know where your most productive
shooting spots are located? If the answer is no, then why not? Some simple stat
keeping can give you tons of crucial information and make you a much better
shooter.
3. What offense are you running? I know a lot of coaches say it doesn't matter
what you run but how you run it but I respectfully disagree. If your best scorer is
deadly with his or her back to the basket are you running the old Loyola
Marymount fast break and shooting the ball every seven seconds? If your best
scorer is Derek Rose should you run the Flex and insist on five passes and two ball
reversals before a shot is taken? Of course not! What offensive system you run
does matter as the majority of shots you get are going to be a direct result of that
decision.
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3. Take a look at your game shot charts and see if your best shooters are getting
enough quality shots as a direct result of your offense. If not, a change might need
to be made.
Whether we are talking about teams or individuals, shooting (and winning)
percentages will go up if the best shooters get the most shots in favorable shooting
positions. The best thing is that those areas don't need to be debated because like
it or not stats don't lie!
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