Long Twos and the 76ers

SwagySwagySwag — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 04:54:05 -0000

Another night of the Sixers settling for long two after long two made me decide to delve deeper into long twos around the NBA, as well as within the team. I initially wanted to compare long two attempts per game to record, but quickly realized that was ridiculous considering how successful, defense-oriented teams are a thing (looking at you Memphis and Chicago). My next thought, which proved to be much better, was to compare offensive efficiency to 16-23 foot jumpers attempted each game. Courtesy: Hoopdata

15 Teams With the Most 18-23 Footers per Game
RANK	TEAM	18-23 Foot APG	Offensive Efficiency Ranking
1	WAS	25.5	30
2	PHO	24.4	15
3	PHI	24.3	19
4	CHI	24.1	24
5	BOS	22.5	21
6	UTH	22.2	10
7	GSW	22.1	9
8	MIL	21.5	25
9	TOR	20.5	13
10	POR	20	14
11	ORL	19.9	26
12	MEM	19.4	20
13	ATL	19.1	12
14	CHA	18.9	27
15	CLE	18.5	29

As you can see, of the 15 teams who shoot the most 18-23 footers per game, only Golden State and Utah are in the top 10 of offensive efficiency. Golden State just shoots very well in general,and I admittedly have no idea what makes Utah successful offensively. Anyways, the overall theme appears to be that teams averaging at least 18.5 shots from 18-23 feet each game are just setting themselves up for offensive mediocrity at best.

Now onto the Sixers specifically. The league average is 19 "long twos" per game and a 37.9 field goal % from that range; the Sixers go above and beyond this to average 24.3 such shots and a field goal % of only 34.2. What Sixers fans see every game has thus been quantified: we settle for a lot of long twos and are pretty bad at making those shots. Also, we can easily take a look at the individual players and see which are taking these ill-advised shots.

Sixers From 18-23 Feet
Player	Makes	Attempts	FG%
Moultrie	0.0	0.1	0
Wilkins	0.1	0.4	29
Wright	0.3	1.0	32
Turner	1.6	4.4	36
J-Rich	0.7	1.9	38
Holiday	1.5	4.6	32
Brown	0.0	0.1	0
Allen	0.9	2.7	35
Wayns	0.1	0.8	7
Swagy	0.7	2.8	26
Ivey	0.2	0.4	43
Hawes	1.3	3.1	42
Thad	1.0	2.9	34

Keeping in mind the league average of 37.9%, the only average to above average shooters from 18-23 feet on the Sixers are J-Rich, Ivey, and Hawes. I figure Hawes' high percentage from this area is a result of the many uncontested jumpers he somehow gets here. I do not know why Ivey's percentage is high, and J-Rich has been average at this range, but he is considered a good shooter, so this is just reasonable.

The rest of the team is, as expected, below average at the 18-23 range. Holiday and Turner combine for 9 long twos per game, which I find very disturbing, because they are supposed to be initiating the offense, and not holding the ball. It is kind of nice to see that Ivey, J-Rich, Wright, and Wilkins all keep the long two attempts below 2 per game; however, the amount taken by Lavoy, Thad, and Swagy is clearly too high. I understand taking an open shot if you have one, but perhaps deep two attempts for Lavoy and Thad could be cut back a little. My biggest surprise was Swagy's awful clip of 26%. That is really bad when he is shooting 2.8 times per game from this range. I assume this is a product of his many ill-advised shots, so I really hope he starts taking less of them and/or making more of them, but I know he will never want to stop taking crazy shots.

And that's all I have to say on long twos and the Sixers, thank you for reading.

15 Teams With the Most 18-23 Footers per Game
RANK	TEAM	18-23 Foot APG	Offensive Efficiency Ranking
1	WAS	25.5	30
2	PHO	24.4	15
3	PHI	24.3	19
4	CHI	24.1	24
5	BOS	22.5	21
6	UTH	22.2	10
7	GSW	22.1	9
8	MIL	21.5	25
9	TOR	20.5	13
10	POR	20	14
11	ORL	19.9	26
12	MEM	19.4	20
13	ATL	19.1	12
14	CHA	18.9	27
15	CLE	18.5	29

Sixers From 18-23 Feet
Player	Makes	Attempts	FG%
Moultrie	0.0	0.1	0
Wilkins	0.1	0.4	29
Wright	0.3	1.0	32
Turner	1.6	4.4	36
J-Rich	0.7	1.9	38
Holiday	1.5	4.6	32
Brown	0.0	0.1	0
Allen	0.9	2.7	35
Wayns	0.1	0.8	7
Swagy	0.7	2.8	26
Ivey	0.2	0.4	43
Hawes	1.3	3.1	42
Thad	1.0	2.9	34

And that's all I have to say on long twos and the Sixers, thank you for reading.

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Long Twos and the 76ers