http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1073285794186490.xml Hornets News N.O. not only team missing its mark Field-goal percentages down league-wide Monday January 05, 2004 By John Reid Staff writer After missing 18 of 23 shots against the Sacramento Kings last month, Hornets guard David Wesley was so frustrated that he refused to discuss his shooting slump. He hasn't been the only player left speechless over the glaring, league-wide shooting problems. In most games, players are missing too many layups, mid-range shots and 3-point attempts. Front-court players are becoming jump-shooters, and some teams are struggling so badly against zone defenses they have to rush to get a shot up before the 24-second clock expires. It has caused dismal low-scoring quarters such as Saturday night when the Indiana Pacers held the Hornets to a season-low 10 points in the first quarter and the Boston Celtics had a nine-point quarter against the Chicago Bulls. "I think too many people are mesmerized by that 3-point line and they take too many, and it certainly cuts down on your shooting percentage," said Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown, whose team has held opponents to fewer than 100 points in 34 consecutive games. "You don't get to run as much as before because of these zone rules we have now. A lot of teams have people in the backcourt, so you don't get as many run-outs. Obviously, scouting around the league has improved." Field-goal percentages and per-game scoring averages have drastically declined in the past 16 years. During the 1986-87 season, no team shot below 45.2 percent, and the league average for scoring was 109.9 points per game. The Portland Trail Blazers led the league that season with a 117.9 scoring average, and the New York Knicks ranked last, but they averaged 103.8. Entering this week's games, only the Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers had scoring averages above 100 points. The Kings' 104.5 average tops the league. The Hornets are 12th, averaging 92.5 points, and the Toronto Raptors' 85.6 average is last among the 29 teams. Only four teams are shooting above 45 percent. The Hornets' 41.9 shooting percentage is tied with the Orlando Magic as the fourth worst in the league entering this week. "I think what has caused the lower shooting percentages is the defensive ability of these teams nowadays," said Bob Bass, the Hornets' executive vice president of basketball operations/general manager. With a third of the season completed, the league average for field-goal percentage is 43.5, down from last season's 44.2. "It's harder to get good shots off, and teams don't give up the fast break as much as they used to in the past," Bass said. "Coaches have put a lot more emphasis on defense; certainly zones are a part of that." Four of the Hornets' five starters have lower field-goal percentages than they had last season. Point guard Baron Davis' 23.9 scoring average ranks fifth in the league and he's second in steals with 2.62 per game and third in assists with an 8.2 average, but his 39.2 field-goal percentage doesn't rank among the top 50. Forward P.J. Brown's 47.8 percentage is the highest among the Hornets' starters, but he made 53.1 percent of his shots last season. Forward George Lynch is the only Hornets starter shooting better than last season, 41.3 percent compared with 40.9 in 2002-03. "I think overall, there are just better athletes now," Davis said. "All the attention to individual defensive play, the gimmick defenses and all the scouting has made it more of a defensive game." There is not a Hornets player who concentrates more on hitting a high percentage of his shots than Wesley. He's been known for his drills of taking more than 200 shots per day. But last month, he missed 16 of 21 shots against the Phoenix Suns, 15 of 20 against the Orlando Magic and eight of nine against the Los Angeles Clippers. "They talk a lot about how it is now as opposed to 10 to 15 years ago, when teams were scoring more than 100 points a game. Well they didn't have to shoot as many jump shots as we do," Wesley said. "When you can crowd the paint like teams are doing now, you have to shoot jump shots." Celtics coach Jim O'Brien said the shooting problems are not attributed to players lacking the necessary skills because of the influx of young players who are leaving college early or not going at all. Most players in the league spend a large amount of time in practice going through shooting drills. "No matter how good your players are, if you run only set plays, teams are going to be able to shut you down," O'Brien said. "We changed our offense this season so we could go to a passing game to become more unpredictable. "The more unpredictable you are like Sacramento and Dallas and New Jersey, I think it's more difficult for teams to guard your best shooters because they don't know what to expect." The Celtics are the fifth-best shooting team in the league at 44.7 percent. Last season, they shot 41.5 percent. "I think all coaches are stressing defensive stops, especially in the Eastern Conference," Lynch said. "They know in order to have any chance against the more offensive-oriented teams in the Western Conference, they have to be defensive-minded. Throughout the league, the younger players are very skilled, and they know in order to get on the court, they have to be able to play some defense." . . . . . . . John Reid can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3405. --

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