SWC75
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There was a discussion on scoring in basketball on Bud and the Manchild on the decline of scoring in basketball. Bud attributed it to coaches stressing defense more and more. There's an article in SI on VCU, where they don't even practice offense. Their entire practices are on defense.
The problem with that is that shooting percentages haven't declined, at elast n bot the way scoring has. I looked up the numbers for both the NCAA and the NBA.
The highest scoring year in NCAA history was 1970-71, when the average team scored 77.7 points per game. There was no three point shot. The average field goal percentage was 44.45. for free throws it was 68.1%. Last year, NCAA teams averaged 69.1 points while shooting 43.6% on field goals, which would be more than made up for by three pointers) and 69.1% from the line.
The highest scoring year in NBA history was 1961-62, the year Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in one game and averaged 50 for the season. NBA teams averaged an incredible 118.8 points per game. Again, there was no three point shot. NBA players shot 42.6% from the field and 72.7% from the line. So far this year, NBA teams are averaging 97.6 points per game. (Keep in mind that they play 48 minutes. if they played 40 like the colleges, 118.8 becomes 99.0 and 97.6 becomes 81.3.) They are hitting 44.9% of their field goals and 75.3% of their free throws.
The only way that scoring goes down while shooting percentages go up, (or remain the same), the missing factor becomes obvious: fewer shots are being attempted. In 1970-71 the average NCAA team was attempting 68 shots a game. Last year they attempted 55 a game. In 1961-62 the average NBA team attempted 108 shots per game. So far this year they are averaging 82 shots a game. (Per 40 minutes that's 90 and 68, respectively).
I think this is also from the coaches. They don't want their player taking shots that aren't high percentage shots because they are afraid of the consequences of a missed shot. But missed shots keep the ball moving. Faster games produce more scoring opportunities. They can lead to offensive rebounds, which are excellent scoring opportunities.
I mentioned I saw a recent score: Gonzaga had beaten Loyola-Marymount 88-43. I remember when Loyola Marymount set the NCAA scoring record with 122.4 points per game. They hardly bothered with defense at all, fast breaking on blocks, steals, misses and made baskets and attempting 30+ three pointers per game. Missed shots were like a frame of film in a movie. They didn't seem to matter. Now they wanted to avoid missing shots and scored 43 points.
Jim Boeheim played on a team like that that averaged 99 points a game his senior year. But now, as a 68 year old coach, he said this in his show last night: "Any team with a 10-12 point lead with 3-4 minutes to go will try to slow it down and the deny the other team opportunities...The game has gone away from the motion offense. There are greater opportunities for turnovers against pressure. We run a lot of pick and roll these days. By Mike holding the ball we aren’t opening ourselves up to turnovers. Also you could end up with Jerami Grant winding up with the ball at the end of the shot clock. No matter what you do it might not work. There’s not a lot of motion is not in the game anymore.”
People who fear being blamed for things want to exert control over them. You do that by playing hard defense to get the ball and protecting it when you have it. Coaches are not only stressing defense when the other team has the ball. They are still thinking about it when their team has it.
The problem with that is that shooting percentages haven't declined, at elast n bot the way scoring has. I looked up the numbers for both the NCAA and the NBA.
The highest scoring year in NCAA history was 1970-71, when the average team scored 77.7 points per game. There was no three point shot. The average field goal percentage was 44.45. for free throws it was 68.1%. Last year, NCAA teams averaged 69.1 points while shooting 43.6% on field goals, which would be more than made up for by three pointers) and 69.1% from the line.
The highest scoring year in NBA history was 1961-62, the year Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in one game and averaged 50 for the season. NBA teams averaged an incredible 118.8 points per game. Again, there was no three point shot. NBA players shot 42.6% from the field and 72.7% from the line. So far this year, NBA teams are averaging 97.6 points per game. (Keep in mind that they play 48 minutes. if they played 40 like the colleges, 118.8 becomes 99.0 and 97.6 becomes 81.3.) They are hitting 44.9% of their field goals and 75.3% of their free throws.
The only way that scoring goes down while shooting percentages go up, (or remain the same), the missing factor becomes obvious: fewer shots are being attempted. In 1970-71 the average NCAA team was attempting 68 shots a game. Last year they attempted 55 a game. In 1961-62 the average NBA team attempted 108 shots per game. So far this year they are averaging 82 shots a game. (Per 40 minutes that's 90 and 68, respectively).
I think this is also from the coaches. They don't want their player taking shots that aren't high percentage shots because they are afraid of the consequences of a missed shot. But missed shots keep the ball moving. Faster games produce more scoring opportunities. They can lead to offensive rebounds, which are excellent scoring opportunities.
I mentioned I saw a recent score: Gonzaga had beaten Loyola-Marymount 88-43. I remember when Loyola Marymount set the NCAA scoring record with 122.4 points per game. They hardly bothered with defense at all, fast breaking on blocks, steals, misses and made baskets and attempting 30+ three pointers per game. Missed shots were like a frame of film in a movie. They didn't seem to matter. Now they wanted to avoid missing shots and scored 43 points.
Jim Boeheim played on a team like that that averaged 99 points a game his senior year. But now, as a 68 year old coach, he said this in his show last night: "Any team with a 10-12 point lead with 3-4 minutes to go will try to slow it down and the deny the other team opportunities...The game has gone away from the motion offense. There are greater opportunities for turnovers against pressure. We run a lot of pick and roll these days. By Mike holding the ball we aren’t opening ourselves up to turnovers. Also you could end up with Jerami Grant winding up with the ball at the end of the shot clock. No matter what you do it might not work. There’s not a lot of motion is not in the game anymore.”
People who fear being blamed for things want to exert control over them. You do that by playing hard defense to get the ball and protecting it when you have it. Coaches are not only stressing defense when the other team has the ball. They are still thinking about it when their team has it.
