Back in time to the '79/80 season, the NBA league began to set up a three-point line. For a long time in the early days of the establishment, three points were seen as an unconventional means of scoring, and it wasn't until there were basketball explorers or teams that made the three points start to show their power, and everyone realized that the three points had changed the game.
With the passage of time and the iteration of the rules, the importance of three points has increased, especially in the past decade in the proportion of shot growth. For example, the league data of the previous season, the current three-point shooting ratio of league teams is currently 39.2%.
It is worth mentioning that the proportion of team basketball shots in the history of basketball for many years is relatively stable, and in the past ten seasons, it has been stuck at about 48%, the proportion of three points has increased rapidly, and the share of the proportion of shots that has been eaten is eaten, and the 14/15 season is the node where the average three-point ratio of NBA league teams exceeds the proportion of shots.
Since then, the golden age of C-throwing style of play has gone, C-cap masters have become a rare species in the league, and the "magic ball theory" that advocates either basket or three-pointers has become popular, and the league's game rhythm has become faster and faster, entering the small ball and three-point boom.
When it comes to the evolution of the importance of the three-point shooting, fans give priority to Curry, Ray Allen, Miller, Harden, Lillard, Thompson, Korver and other excellent three-point masters. In this article, the author will start from another more interesting perspective, starting from the team, and take stock of the classic teams that have reached the milestone of three-point shooting in the history of the NBA for reference.
If you think this article is a bit helpful to help you understand the meaning of the NBA's three-point development history, or if it does not waste your valuable reading time, it does not hurt to praise and encourage, and the author thank you in advance.
The first NBA team to make up 10 percent of the team's shots with three-point shots
Boston Celtics (87/88 season)
Head coach: K.C Jones
The team's big three-pointers: Bird Bird, Danny Angie
Mentioning that after entering the league with three points, the NBA team that really took three points seriously was the Boston Celtics during Bird's leadership. In fact, Bird was also the first superstar to incorporate three-point and fixed-point three-pointers into the conventional arsenal. That season, Bird averaged 3.1 three-pointers per game and shot 41.4 percent from three-point range.
In addition to superstar Bird, shooter Danny Angie, a classic jigsaw puzzle player for the Green Army in the eighties, is also a classic figure worth mentioning in the history of three-point development. As the originator of pure white shooters, Danny Angie found a template direction for many white players with mediocre athleticism to survive and develop in the NBA, and was also an early point shooter who enjoyed special tactics. That season, Angie averaged 4.4 three-pointers per game and shot 41.8 percent from three-point range, teaming up with Bird to keep the Green Army in three-point history as a driving team.
The first NBA team to make up 15 percent of the team's shots with three-point shots
New York Knicks (88/89 season)
Head coach: Rick Pitino
The team's top three-pointers: Johnny Newman, Trent Tucker, Mark Jackson.
In the late 1980s, arguably the first peak of three-point shooting in the NBA, after the Green Army's 10% shooting milestone season, the New York Knicks played a 15% three-point ratio as an outlier team a year later.
Behind this, head coach Rick Pitino is a figure that must not be mentioned. This basketball coach, who sounds a bit unpopular, actually has his classics. A New York-born basketball player, Rick Pitino did not enter the NBA after graduating from NCAA college, but began his coaching journey early.
In the history of the NCAA, Rick Pitino is the first coach to lead three different universities (Providence College, the University of Kentucky, and the University of Louisville) to the NCAA Championship Final Four, and the first coach in NCAA history to lead two different colleges to championships.
Throughout his NCAA coaching career, Rick Pitino left a strong record of 521 wins and 191 losses, a winning percentage of 73.2%, and was finally hired by his hometown team, the Knicks. In the NCAA's time in charge, Rick Pitino had already sensed the importance of three-point shooting, and the three-point threat of the college team he led was great.
After entering the Knicks, based on the New York Twin Towers (Ewing, Oakley), Rick Pitino let Johnny Newman, Trent Tucker, Mark All three of Jackson's biggest players had to learn to be three-point shooters in order to open up space for the twin towers, and the Knicks became the first team to break the 15 percent mark.
The year before taking over the Knicks, the team had only 24 wins; two years later, the Knicks became a powerhouse in the East, and Pitino's idea of using three-point firepower to assist the powerful interior twin towers to open up the space in the box was also emulated by many later generations.
After the success of the Knicks, Rick Pitino was recruited to the Boston Celtics by a high salary, directly serving as the head coach, general manager, and president, ushering in the peak of his life. Unfortunately, during the four years at the Celtics, Rick Pitino failed to help the team regain power in the post-Bird era, and finally left the ncAA league.
The first NBA team to make up 25 percent of the team's shots with three-point shots
Houston Rockets (94/95)
Head coach: Rudy TomJanovic
The team's top three-pointers: Kenny Smith, Drexler, Robert Horry, Mario Elie, etc.
The mid-1990s was the second highest point of three-point development, due to the NBA league's revision of the three-point length (shortened to a maximum of 6.7 meters in 1994, and then returned to 7.25 meters in 1997), narrowing the distance of the three-point line and turning many players who were good at shooting large two-pointers into three-point shooters.
In this season, the number of players who put in 100 three-pointers in a single season reached 41 (compared to 18 in the previous year). As a result, there are several NBA teams that break through to 20% of the three-point shot ratio, so the separate introduction of the 20% part is skipped and directly into 25%.
It was a very classic NBA season, as the Houston Rockets experienced big deals and injuries in the mid-season, and finally completed the defending title in the playoffs as the sixth in the West, hailed as one of the most incredible championships in NBA history, and this season was also a classic season that laid the foundation for the legendary status of Olajuwon.
During the post-match championship ceremony, Rudi TomJanovic ended with a dreamy season of "never underestimating a championship's heart", which became a legendary quote in the field of sports.
Returning to the discussion of the Rockets' playing style that season, "one star and four shots" can be said to be an example of starting from this and directly reaching Dacheng. That season, the Rockets made 26.8 percent of three-point shots, far ahead of the rest of the league.
In addition to the ace dream, the players who enter the main rotation of the Rockets basically have stable three-point ability, and the second-in-command glider Drexler has a three-point shot that can hold the ball in one hand, which is one of the few three-point stable outside stars in the league at that time, with a level of about 36%.
In addition, the Rockets had five role players shooting 40 percent from three-point range that season, the most famous of which were Kenny Smith and Robert Horry. This kind of configuration, in addition to the inside ace, the configuration of all musketeers is extremely rare in the league. In the case of many peripheral fire points, Dameng encountered fewer heavy interceptions on the inner line, and it was easier to give and take.
So, to some extent, behind the classic story of "never underestimate a championship's heart" is actually a historical portrayal of "never underestimate the power of the three-point shot"
The first NBA team to make up 30 percent of the team's shots with three-point shots
Boston Celtics (02/03 season)
Head coach: Jim O'Brien
The team's top three-pointers: Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce, Tony Delrk, Walter McCarty, etc.
Fast forward to 2001, when Rick Pitino (the aforementioned Knicks manager) was the Green Army's general manager, manager and president, and he was replaced by Jim O'Brien, who had served as Pitino's assistant in previous years.
Among the teams on the list, in fact, this Celtic team is the least worth mentioning, or the reverse classic team, because their three points are completely quantitative and qualitative. The two big three-pointers in the team were the twin stars Walker and Pierce, who were the leaders at the time.
Walker averaged 7.5 three-pointers per game and shot just 32.3 percent; Pierce wasn't much better, averaging 4.9 three-pointers per game and shooting just 30.2 percent, with two men shooting most of the Green Army's three-pointers. Throughout the season, although the role players' three-pointers were still good, the Green Army's three-pointers were dragged down by these two people, and the team's three-point shooting rate was 33.3%, and the average three-point shooting rate of the season was 35.0%.
The first NBA team to make up 35 percent of the team's shots with three-point shots
Orlando Magic (09/10 season)
Head coach: Stan Van Gundy
The team's top three-pointers: Rashad Lewis, Vince Carter, Jamal Nelson, Redick.
In the 2000s, the team that used the three-point tactic most successfully or valued was the Orlando Magic under Van Gundy. After Van Gundy took over the Magic, the Magic's team's three-point percentage jumped from the previous 18% to 30%, and finally reached the historical milestone of 35% in the 09/10 season.
However, this season is not actually the peak season of Howard Magic. Although the core Howard in "One Star and Four Shots" is still there, the top engine and organizational forward turkoglu in the original system is gone, and behind the Magic's more reliance on three-point firepower is that their performance in three-point shots and strong shots in the position has become worse, and the overall combat strength no longer has the finals.
However, stan van Gundy's pursuit of playing style with shooters and the effect of creating a "one-star four-shot" around the big man player, the magic of that era was very successful, enough to hang the classic label of the three-point force.
The first NBA team to make up 40 percent of the team's shots with three-point shots
Houston Rockets (14/15 season)
Head coach: de Antoni
The team's top three-pointers: Harden, Ariza, Beverly, Terry, Josh Smith, Brewer.
In the middle of 2010s, the third boom in the history of three-point development began, when there were two of the most representative three-point units in the league, and everyone should be familiar with these two classic teams that mainly play small ball, that is, the Golden State Warriors led by the Wave Brothers and the Houston Rockets that transformed Harden from then on.
Under the transformation of De Anthony, Harden unlocked a new version of himself, the Rockets began to become a magic ball army with almost no shots, and the classic Rocket play appeared: all three-point shooters were in the V-shaped position to line up the lineup, and the inside players or backcourt players cooperated with Harden to block and dismantle harden to find out the weak defensive players To withdraw, so that Harden held the ball in a large number of singles at the top of the arc, or three points or cut into the end or cut into the porcelain. Under such a system, Harden's data has been greatly improved, and then entered the scope of discussion and competition of MVP figures.
The first NBA team to make up 50 percent of the team with three-point shots
Houston Rockets (17/18 season)
The team's top three-pointers: Harden, Gordon, Paul, Ariza, Anderson, Tucker.
Sorry, it's my moustache D'Antoni's team again. In the massive three-point application, the Mustache Rockets are not the most successful team, the aura is buried under Kerr's Golden State Warriors, but there is no denying that the Houston Rockets of this period are the team that explores the most limits of three points.
In the 17/18 season, in the case of having the middle shot master Paul to strengthen the weaker position, the Rockets still increased the proportion of three-point shots to 50% exaggerated, which is enough to witness their ultimate pursuit of magic ball theory. In fact, the Rockets were competitive enough that season to become a 60-win team in the regular season, setting a new record of 58 wins in the 93/94 season with a record of 61 wins.
In the first two rounds of the playoffs that year, the Rockets used a tsunami-like offensive attack to easily overwhelm the Timberwolves and Jazz with two rounds of 4-1 scores, and finally in the Case of a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference Finals, they were reversed by the Golden State Warriors, who were also the main dead five and three points, and missed the Finals.
In the Harden era, this season's Rockets can be called the strongest season of Rockets. Personally, I think that the West Finals of the Rockets and the Warriors is better than the finals of that year in terms of intensity and excitement.
G3 Iguodala was injured and retired from the line of fire, Paul retired from the G5 in the Western Conference Finals, Thompson's performance in G6, the Rockets' G7 collective three-point loss, the trend of the game was reversed again and again, and the Warriors laughed to the end.
They are a team with more depth than the Rockets, and they are also a team with no more three-pointers but more stability. After the defeat, in terms of the team, the management also re-examined its own magic ball team building ideas, and insisted on it for another year before entering the reconstruction period.
Personally, I think that de Antoni's Rockets are actually still worthy of being defeated, and they have lost the historical level of the King Warriors. As a representative of contemporary basketball adventurers, from Nash's sun era to Harden's rocket era, de Antoni's efforts and ingenuity in the development of the small ball system and the exploration of basketball trends are still worthy of the applause of fans.
However, more than 50% of the outstanding proportion of three-point teams may really be a design value that is too much to be enough, and excessive dependence will be reversed, and it will be used to stabilize the situation or kill the classical middle shot used for the game.