nicos: He shot 31.5% from three in 13 games in January- how big does the sample size have to be before you can say he’s struggling from three??

I agree that his shooting has not been very good, but my point is that arbitrary endpoints are misleading and irresponsible. Abbey wanted to make his point as “strongly” as possible, so he chose the last 8 games instead of the last 10. Why? Because the numbers support his claim better. That’s all.

nicos: He shot 31.5% from three in 13 games in January- how big does the sample size have to be before you can say he’s struggling from three??

Yeah, he’s struggling, but if teams want to leave him open that’s cool with me. Carmelo shot 42% from the field in January, and I’d be delighted if teams decided to leave him open. Guys go through bad spells every season.

flossy: Health problems are really the only thing that could derail what should be a top 3 offense in the 2nd half of the season.

I agree with everything else in your post but this. The 2 other factors affecting this potential, I think, are people getting burned out (Melo, Chandler esp) and the defense coming back. I think the half court offense could be elite given healthy rested bodies as you say. For the overall offense to be that good, though, won’t they also need a very good transition offense? I think so, and I think that will depend heavily on whether they can pick up the typical defensive intensity quite a bit esp in the first 3 qtrs .

nicos: He shot 31.5% from three in 13 games in January- how big does the sample size have to be before you can say he’s struggling from three??

It seems obvious to me that he shoots (and plays, just generally) better off the ball. The January sample happens to coincide almost totally with Felton’s injury and his move over to the starting PG position, and it came on the heels of a month where he was overplayed already (32+ mpg in December).

With some rest and a move back to SG I think his shooting stroke will return. And my point still stands: if leaving Jason Kidd wide open to shoot uncontested 3s is really the best result a defense can hope for, we’re going to be giving people a lot of problems. We have two players who can shred 1-on-1 defense and need to be doubled, one of the best PnR finishers in the NBA, a PG that can penetrate and break down defenses and a collection of pretty excellent 3 point marksmen. Health problems are really the only thing that could derail what should be a top 3 offense in the 2nd half of the season.

The Honorable Cock Jowles: 16-46 in his last ten. Spin ‘dem numbers, bruh.

He shot 31.5% from three in 13 games in January- how big does the sample size have to be before you can say he’s struggling from three??

ruruland:
I also thought Shumpert had some very important sequences offensively. Some great pnr passes, drives against rotation. those are the weakside plays he should be really efficient with as his offensive game starts to eventually catch up with his talent.

It could take a couple of years, but mark my words, he has a chance to be a really good offensive player in screen and role and isolation. Two of his finishes were strong, left-handed, one where he had Illyasova on his hip.

He is much quicker with his first step and accelerating than Jr Smith, for example. And he even has Smith beat with his length and peak jump.

Junior developed his ballhandling and passing skills over 4-5 years. Shumpert is way, way ahead of him in those two areas.

One real plus Shumpert has over JR is the fact that he drives with his head up. I’ve been impressed how under control he’s been when penetrating from the corner-he’s thrown some really nice passes in those situations. When both Amar’e and Chandler are in the game that corner penetration will be an absolute nightmare to defend if he can hit the three well enough to get guys running out at him on a consistent basis.

jon abbey:
I think Kidd can be left open fairly safely at this point, 9-35 from 3 point range in his last 8.

16-46 in his last ten. Spin ‘dem numbers, bruh.

d-mar: He’s getting great low post position and it’s all good from there. Eventually, teams are going to have start doubling him, maybe then the shooter formerly known as Steve Novak can start getting some open looks if the ball swings quickly enough.

God help the teams that have decide who to leave open on the perimeter between Melo, JR, Novak, Kidd… even Felton and Shumpert can pretty reliably knock down wide-open catch and shoot 3s.

I guess teams could double with Tyson’s man when the Knicks go big in the frontcourt, but as a general rule, if you leave Tyson Chandler alone near the basket you’re gonna have a bad time.