Why don't basketballers take more long shots?

ubuntu_ulysses

Lately, I ran into a discussion about how basketballers barely take long shots and are often looking to break through for dunking. I'm from the Netherlands, and there is this sport called "korfball" which is pretty similar to basketball. The word "korf" translates to something which is pretty similar to a basket. In korfball, you're not allowed to walk when you're in possession of the ball, which results in having to pass the ball around at a...

Originally asked by Maurits Moeys on Stack Exchange (sports) (CC BY-SA 3.0).

uphilltech

Great question — answering as the UphillTech team:

First off, NBA teams (at least) do very frequently take 3 point shots. The median team this year takes about 22 3 point shots per game, making about 35% of them, so around 23 points out of 100 in a game (per team) are scored by the 3 point basket. Second off, the three point shot is indeed becoming more important as teams realize it's an effective strategy statistically speaking. Grantland frequently discusses this, as the stats tend to back more three pointers. However, there are several issues with your assumptions. Dunks are relatively uncommon in the NBA; while they're spectacular, they're not the point of most offensive systems. Rather, layups or short range jumpers are the primary...

Full answer by Joe: https://sports.stackexchange.com/a/8645 (CC BY-SA 3.0).

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