In the modern basketball system, the center is the closest position to the basket and the position with the highest average height of the player, which traditionally emphasizes the attack and defense under the basket and the protection of rebounds. Once upon a time, it was unthinkable for a center to pull out of the box to shoot three-point shots in the basketball world, and it was more deviant for a center to practice three-pointers.
In addition to going out to shoot three-pointers and missing the highest rebounding protection point, the center itself is a very high shooting point to pull to the three-point line six or seven meters away to practice the arc of three points is not easy, spend a lot of time practicing may be bamboo basket water. However, with the passage of time, there are a small number of center players who use relatively prolific three-point performance and play to prove to everyone that this is not necessarily unreasonable, in fact, it is not impossible for centers to practice three points. In this article, the author will take stock of the three-point and quite prolific representatives of the five NBA centers for reference.
V. Demarcus Cousins
When it comes to three-point prolific center players, you may not think of this person first, but this benevolent brother is actually very representative. Personally, I think that in terms of overall offensive ability or scoring diversity in the center position, Cousins under the Kings is better than the current Timberwolf Downs.
The same is the offensive kaleidoscope center, compared to Towns, Cousins' three-point difference is one level, but the ability to advance with the ball and the explosive power of the face frame are one level stronger. However, cousins' three-point ability is quite prominent in the orthodox center group, especially in the late Kings period and the transfer to the Pelicans' twin towers with thick eyebrows.
In the final season and a half of the Kings, Cousins' average three-point shot per game improved significantly, from the previous almost no shot in a short period of time to the level of 5 times per game, and it is clear that Kaoshen is actually aware of the three-point trend. After the transfer to the Pelicans, Cousins averaged 2.2 shots per game with 36.0 percent three-pointers, making him stand out among centers in the same period.
Unfortunately, Cousins' cooperation with Thick Brow was too short, and his own serious injury came at an inopportune time. Otherwise, after he has enhanced the three points, in fact, the combination of playing style and thick eyebrows will be more diverse. In fact, in the brink years when frequent injuries became Ronin, everyone saw Cousins on the court many times to see him wait outside to shoot three points, after all, the team would not expect him to rush like the Kings era.
4. Channing Frye
The time node when the big forwards began to shoot three-points can be traced back very early, including nowitzki, Rashad Lewis, Ryan Anderson and other players, as for the center to start shooting three-pointers, the emergence of center-type shooters, it is a little later, and channing Frye, who has played well in the Suns, Magic and Cavaliers, is definitely a representative of the center who began to have three points.
As the no. 8 show in the first round of 2005, Fry spent his rookie era with the Knicks, Trail Blazers and other teams in the early days. As a thin center player, Flaika does not stay in position, the rebounding data is very poor, defense, confrontation, speed are very average, but better than the no-ball running position and long-range shooting. This style allows Fry in the rookie period to hit the rookie wall in the second grade, and after the rookie contract is over, he is already a marginal player in the league, averaging only 4 points and 2 rebounds per game.
Fortunately, however, the Suns, who were mainly small-ball and valued three-pointers at the time, signed Fry, who ran the Suns at the end of the Phoenix period coached by Gentry and Nash's last highlight era, and the average three-pointer per game soared from 0.2 times without coming to the Suns to 4.8 times per game in the first season, and the shooting rate was 43.9% accurate.
After completing the exquisite blocking and dismantling with Nash, Frye would not choose to go straight down but cut out the three-point line, directly accept Shi's return pass and quickly open fire, such an internal and external blocking and dismantling coordination mode was rare at that time. It can be said that Channing Fry found his own development path in the sun, and then the magic and knights were positioned as projection elders. In addition to his excellent cooperation with Nash, Frye and James are also very compatible and have become an important territory in the championship Cavaliers.
Throughout his career, Channing Fry averaged 3.1 three-pointers per game and hit 1.2 three-pointers, shooting 38.8 percent from a career three-point range. In terms of player type, Channing Frye is a fresh-eaten player, and the style of play is very recognizable.
Brooke Lopez
For Da Luo, a center player, most domestic NBA fans will not feel strange, especially the old fans who have witnessed the era of Yi Jianlian's rookie. Because, in the years when Yi Jianlian Nets were working hard, Lopez was his center partner in the inner line, and Lopez in the middle of his career and Lopez in the middle and late stages were completely different in terms of style.
In his heyday, Lopez was an All-Star traditional interior lineman who averaged about 20 points and 8 rebounds per game, and his low-post technique and back-up skills were excellent, with the disadvantages of slow movement, average arm span, and poor rebounding numbers. Over time, Lopez recognized early on that he was deficient and that he had to transform himself if he wanted to continue to have a decent position and appreciation on NBA teams for a long time.
As a three-point shooter, the most prominent thing about Lopez is that he practiced three-point fast and the pain period was extremely short. Back in the 16/17 season, the 28-year-old Lopez ushered in his final season at the Nets, and the average three-point starter suddenly soared from the previous 0.2 to 5.2, and the three-point shooting rate was 34.6% at that time, and he could immediately play the role of a space center waiting for the ball on the perimeter.
After that, Lopez spent a season in the Lakers, followed by the long-term Bucks, partnering with the alphabet brother who was very compatible with his own style. As a green leaf player, Lopez landed smoothly and completed the transition from the traditional interior line to the three-point battery, which was far better than many traditional interior lines in the same period. Over the past four Bucks seasons, Lopez has averaged 5.1 three-pointers per game, averaging 1.8 from the field and a three-point shooting percentage of 34.5 percent.
Nicolas Vucevic
In his early years, Vucevic was a traditional heavy European center, with solid basic skills under the basket, excellent low-post singles skills, reliable high-level strategy, and good skills on the inside, and the magic team in the post-Howard era.
With the passage of time and the changes in the league trend, Vucevic began his own three-point cultivation path, becoming the representative player of the NBA High Artillery After the 19/20 season, and had to start five three-pointers per game. In the prolific 20/21 season, Vucevic averaged 6.5 three-pointers per game and scored 2.7 three-pointers, the second most prolific center season performance in NBA history.
After the transfer to the Bulls, Vucevic's average number of shots per game dropped by 4 to 5 times because of the two major peripheral ball carriers of Lavin and DeRozan, but the shots outside the three-point line were not much reduced. In the Bulls era, Vucevic can still average 2.0 three-pointers at a level of 36.9%, averaging 5.4 starts per game.
Carl-Anthony Downs
I'm the best center long-range shooter in NBA history, that's the statistic fact that my style of play is unique and I'm not going to copy anyone else's play.
Recently, in an interview with reporters, Towns expressed the view that he is by far the best center shooter in NBA history. It may sound a little immodest, but statistically speaking, the situation is indeed what Downs described, and he is indeed qualified to say so.
Since entering the NBA league with a champion posture, Downs has received very little affirmation in terms of leadership temperament and defensive hardness, but in the field of offense, his kaleidoscopic center-forward talent and long-term high-scoring output of firepower performance have always been in the eyes. In terms of orthodox rather than occasional cameo center players, Downs is the only center player to have averaged 3 goals and 3 points per game, and his long-range shots feel extremely soft.
In the 19/20 season, Downs, as a center, delivered an exaggerated three-point performance, averaging 7.9 three-pointers per game and finally shooting 3.3 three-pointers per game with 41.2% of the crosshairs. After this season, Downs' three-point starters have dropped slightly, but the quantity and quality are still historically prominent among center players. Last season, he averaged 6.3 three-point shooting per game, shooting 38.7 percent from three-point range and shooting 2.4 goals; so far this season, Towns has also averaged 6.3 three-pointers per game, and his three-point shooting rate is a career-high temporary 42.6 percent.