Some thoughts on 3-point shooting stats

As we know, Weber's offense is very friendly to 3-point shooters. Generally speaking, we live and die by the three-point shot and struggle a lot whenever our offense needs to go through the post. So, who will make these 3-point shots next year?

3PT stats for returning scholarship players.

'08-'09 Demetri McCamey 56-179, .313, 5.8 min/3PA
'07-'08 Demetri McCamey 50-147, .340, 6.5 min/3PA

Demetri McCamey ended the year in a shooting slump, which, given his large number of attempts, gave the impression that the whole team regressed. He showed that he can be an adequate shooter his freshman year, and hopefully we will have enough other options next season that he can pick his spots and shoot a higher percentage.

'08-'09 Alex Legion 12-50, .240, 4.9 min/3PA

Alex Legion wears #33, and he loves the 3-point shot. I assume he can make them in practice, and if whether or not he finds his rhythm from deep next year will likely determine how much he sees the court. Most likely he has nowhere to go but up from 24%.

'08-'09 Dominique Keller 9-22, .409, 19.5 min/3PA

Dominique can make 3-pointers. We are still going to need rebounding and interior play next year, so he can't fall in love with the 3. It is nice to know though that he can nail the 3 if he is unguarded or we are in a desperate situation.

'08-'09 Bill Cole 6-16, .375, 4.8 min/3PA
'07-'08 Bill Cole 3-10, .300, 8.1 min/3PA

Billy Bird/Billy Burner can scorch the nets. If he is going to get any meaningful minutes next year, it will be because he can and will shoot the 3. The question is if he can do anything that Dominique Keller can't do.

'08-'09 Mike Tisdale 1-5, .200, 168 min/3PA
'07-'08 Mike Tisdale 2-12, .167, 30.3 min/3PA

Mike Tisdale is a good shooter, but not from 3. Thankfully, he shows very little sign of falling in love with that shot, which bodes well for the future.

'08-'09 Jeff Jordan 1-3, .333, 92.7 min/3PA
'07-'08 Jeff Jordan 1-3, .333, 46.3 min/3PA

Although Jeff Jordan has many talents (he will never ever be in foul trouble), shooting the 3 isn't one of them. Even if he can make the shot, he almost never takes it. Weber's offense needs guys to shoot the 3 if we are going to score enough points.

'08-'09 Mike Davis 0-0, .000, NO 3PA
'07-'08 Mike Davis 0-0, .000, NO 3PA

I'm amazed that Davis has never jacked one up, even out of desperation or just for kicks. It shows good discipline and smart shot selection. He has a nice touch and as he extends his range, it's possible that he could drill a few 3's in clutch situations as a upperclassman a la Jack Ingram or Warren Carter (who actually became quite a long-range bomber). It's comforting to know that if he can't make it, he won't take it.

Richard Semrau also has no 3-point attempts in the last 2 years. Stats from his freshman year are nowhere to be found, and I will assume he won't shoot many (maybe not even any) 3's next year either.

Let's look at the overall numbers for returning players and 3's.

'08-'09 Returning Players (4142 min) 85-275, .309, 15.1 min/3PA
'08-'09 Overall (includes walkons) 188-537, .350, 12.8 min/3PA

The big worry here is that nobody will be able to hit a 3-pointer next season. The good news here (based on a larger min/3PA among returners) is that we have a lot of 3PA available for new players. Bottom line is that if we are going to improve next year, we will need our freshmen to shoot the 3 well, our returning players (mostly McCamey) to improve their shooting dramatically, or to find a way to rely much less on the 3-point shot. Given that we were 275th out of 344 in 3PA/FGA, we're likely to shoot more 3's next year, not fewer, so we will have to find a way to improve our long-range shooting.