Nowitzki is the best foreign player in the NBA and the best shooter among the big players. But in addition to these superstars, there are also some small role players, who also use their own skills to shine. Among the big shooters, there is such a person, who once shot 133 three-pointers with a 47.2% shooting rate in the 2011-12 season, becoming the most accurate three-point shooter in a single season, and his height is as high as 2 meters 10. He's the Rockets' rookie, Steve Novak.
Novak has always been a tall shooter character, he is not good at breaking through, and he does not have any advantage on the defensive end, but in high school, just by shooting, Novak can finish the same age players. In his junior year of high school, Novak averaged 22 points, 12 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game; in his senior year, Novak's stats became 20.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists.
Once in college, Novak continued to play his three-pointer power, and throughout his college career, Novak shot a total of 793 three-pointers and 368 shots. At its peak, Novak became the team's top scorer on shooting alone, and had a 97.4 percent horror shooting percentage on the free throw line. It is worth mentioning that when he first entered Marquette University in 2002, Novak also worked as a teammate with Wade and reached the NCAA's final four together.
After graduating from college, Novak was selected by the Rockets in the second round of the 2006 draft and became Yao Mingmady's teammate. But as a second-round show without any defense, Novak could not get a chance at the Rockets, averaging only 5 minutes of playing time per game in his rookie season, and as a rookie, Novak faced a more intense NBA and could not find the feeling of shooting in college. He only hit 36 percent of the field.
But in the Rockets' second season, Novak finally found the feeling of a sharpshooter in college. Although he averaged only 7.5 minutes per game, his shooting, especially three-pointers, hit 47.9 percent of the field.
On February 13, 2008, Novak celebrated the most glorious moment of his career. Before the Rockets played at home against the Kings, the Rockets had already won seven straight under Yao Ming and Maddy. Against the Kings, Yao Ming had 25 points and 14 rebounds, Alston had 23 points, and Maddy had only 10 points, but the real protagonist of the game was Novak.
Although the Rockets have been leading, but the Kings launched a counterattack in the final quarter, the Rockets scored only one point from Alstom's free throw in the 5-and-a-half-minute period, Yao Ming could not get the ball on the inside, Maddie Alstom and others were also dumb on the outside, Artest scored consecutively, and when Brad Miller scored a three-pointer, the Kings played a 15-1 offensive wave, chasing the score to only 4 points.
At this time, Yao Ming stood up and dunked a jump shot for 4 consecutive points, and Artest led the Kings to a continuous 3-pointer, surpassing the Rockets by 1 point with 24 seconds left in the game. Yao Mingmady's final attack was broken by the Kings, and there were only 2.5 seconds left in the game. Maddy broke through the middle of the ball, faced Artest's defense and Brad Miller's defense, and returned the ball to Novak outside the three-point line, Novak received the ball and hit the three-pointer, killing the Kings and helping the Rockets win 8 in a row.
Without Novak's kill, the Rockets' 22-game winning streak would have been interrupted long ago.
After leaving the Rockets, Novak began a wandering career, playing for the Clippers, Mavericks, Spurs, Knicks, Jazz and Thunder. At the Knicks, it was the peak of his career, not only did he play a lot of time, but he also averaged a career-high 8.8 points per game. In his two seasons with the Knicks, he shot a total of 282 three-pointers and also went through the crazy stage of Jeremy Lin.
Throughout his career, Novak, as a small character, averaged 43% of three-point shooting per game, and is currently ranked fourth in NBA history, only warriors coach Kerr, Warriors core Curry and former Knicks, Mavericks shooter Hubert Davis are more accurate than him, and he is the most accurate among players who are more than 2 meters tall.