MBB: Duke 88 FGCU 67 Post-Game Thread

[Des Esseintes]

Percentages aren't everything. Remember back when silly people used to argue that Salim Stoudemire was a better 3-point shooter than JJ Redick because he had a higher shooting percentage? As a point of comparison, Kentucky's Kyle Wiltjer is a reasonably similar player to Kelly and shot 43.2% from 3 last year and is shooting 63.2% so far this year (obviously, that's a sample size issue and won't last).

I agree with Steven43. Ryan is an overrated 3-point shooter, but is underrated at the other aspects of the game. I'd like to see him put just slightly less focus on long range shooting.

Right, but wrong as Stoudemire's backers were, I don't think anyone would argue he wasn't actually an excellent three-point shooter. JJ was just better, which is to say otherworldly. Fact is, it's hard to hit 40% from three for a season taking the shot in any sort of volume. If you can do it, you are a good long-distance shooter. Ryan shot enough threes last year for the percentage to be meaningful.

[Cameron]

Loved Duhon, too. He was an excellent basketball player. What he was not--and your information proves this conclusively--was a good shooter.

Taking into account the degree of difficulty of many of Duhon's shots -- I'd wager that almost half of them were from no closer than 22 feet and many originating from transition pull-up situations where he would stop and pop on a dime from the invisible volleyball line -- his roughly 36% shooting from three-point land as a freshman and sophomore was in my view actually pretty good. Not Seth Curry good -- then again Seth doesn't have as much range as Duhon and doesn't shoot from as far out -- but 36% isn't dismal, not when considering the kind of chances Duhon often took. And that extended range made him extraordinarily tough to guard, forcing the opposing team to really overextend its defense and opening up the inside for penetration.

By the time he was a junior, I completely agree, Duhon's shot had become so erratic that it was pretty much unrecognizable. I'm not exactly sure what transpired over that period of time that caused such a dangerous outside shooter once upon a time to experience such a spontaneous, dramatic drop-off in quality -- I mean, 19% shooting from beyond the arc is entering Shaquille O'Neal territory -- but I liken it to a pitcher in baseball who has suddenly lost all control of his throwing faculties and begun to spiral deep into a black hole of ineptitude, and can find no way out. A phenomenon they call in the Major Leagues as being possessed by "The Creature." It led to the end of Rick Ankiel's career as a left-hander. It's really a fascinating case, what happened to Duhon. He just seemingly fell into a slump that he could never psychologically dig his way back out of.

[Kedsy]

...his roughly 36% shooting from three-point land as a freshman and sophomore was in my view actually pretty good.

Duhon shot 36% as a freshman but I don't know if I'd call the 34.0% he shot as a sophomore (on 159 three-point shots) as "roughly 36%."

And even if his low percentage was because he shot from too far out, I'd argue shot selection and knowing your range is part of being a good shooter. In my mind Chris Duhon was an adequate shooter his freshman year, a barely adequate one his sophomore year and a dismal one his junior and senior years. The idea that he won the McDonald three-point contest sort of proves how hollow that distinction really is.

[Cameron]

Duhon shot 36% as a freshman but I don't know if I'd call the 34.0% he shot as a sophomore (on 159 three-point shots) as "roughly 36%."

And even if his low percentage was because he shot from too far out, I'd argue shot selection and knowing your range is part of being a good shooter. In my mind Chris Duhon was an adequate shooter his freshman year, a barely adequate one his sophomore year and a dismal one his junior and senior years. The idea that he won the McDonald three-point contest sort of proves how hollow that distinction really is.

I used the phrase "roughly 36%" as a sort of average of his first two years in college shooting the three. Chris shot 35% during those seasons, to be accurate. But point noted.

I am not wavering on my stance that Duhon was overall a very good three-point shooter early on, though. He shot from so far out because he could shoot from out there better than the majority of college players -- there aren't many college players, even the best of shooters, who can routinely hit 25-foot shots in game action. The way I look at it, and I had coaches tell me this growing up, if you are shooting NBA range shots and deeper, you better be able to hit greater than 33% of them (1 out of 3) or not shoot them at all. Chris Duhon, as frosh and sophomore, could consistently make 1 out of 3 from NBA range and that type of range, as I said earlier, really helped spread out our offense and made it so much easier for guys like Jason Williams to get to the bucket. That's part of what made Williams and Duhon the 1 and 1(A) guards in the country in 2001-02, their incredible ability to stretch the floor.

I know others here have to remember how impressive Duhon's range was. I can't be the only one who couldn't wait to see him shoot those kind of shots each game. He was a very exciting player those first two years.

[Kedsy]

I know others here have to remember how impressive Duhon's range was. I can't be the only one who couldn't wait to see him shoot those kind of shots each game. He was a very exciting player those first two years.

Chris Duhon was a great guard for Duke. Frankly, I think he was an exciting player all four years. And I do remember him taking some long shots. I can't say I shared your enthusiasm when he did, however. Personally, I prefer shot selection that has a better chance to consistently end up through the basket. Perhaps that's just me.

[Des Esseintes]

Chris Duhon was a great guard for Duke. Frankly, I think he was an exciting player all four years. And I do remember him taking some long shots. I can't say I shared your enthusiasm when he did, however. Personally, I prefer shot selection that has a better chance to consistently end up through the basket. Perhaps that's just me.

This is where I'm at, too. Excellent as he was--and grateful as I am for the impressive overall growth he showed in his four years at Duke--he could have been even better minus the long-range hubris. I remember when we'd be in Cameron pregame watching warmups, a friend of mine would be driven crazy watching Duhon almost attempt nothing but trick shots. He had this bit where he'd put an extreme amount of arc on the ball just to see if he could make it that style. Other times, he would toss it at the rim with a bizarre sidespin. Everyone else was taking standard jumpshots, practicing back-to-the-basket moves, running layups--stuff that actually gets used in the game. The whole thing was pretty strange, to be honest, for a guy who struggled to make an average rate of threes. It felt a little like Crash Davis's advice to Nuke in Bull Durham: when you win 20 in The Show, you can do anything you want, and people will call you colorful. Until you win 20 in The Show...