Earlier in the season, LA Clippers‘ star SG/SF Paul George had some thoughts on why shooting percentages are down league-wide this year.
PG’s not impressed with the new Wilson basketball that the NBA is using this season.
“It’s a new basketball,” said George. “It doesn’t have the same touch and softness that the Spalding ball had.”
Paul George on Wilson ball: "It doesn't have the same touch & softness that the Spalding ball had. You'll see this year. A lot of bad misses. You've seen a lot of airballs."
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) November 2, 2021
League Averages
.446 FG% (lowest since 2004)
.342 3PT% (lowest since 1999) pic.twitter.com/j2L8G9n82R
George isn’t shooting like he used to this year, as he’s shooting 35.8% from deep this year (all stats in this article are what they were entering Tuesday night’s game), which is not on par with his 38.3% career three-point percentage (and his 41.2% three-point rate in his first two years with the Clippers). Lethal Shooter, one of the most famous shooting coaches in the world and one of the hosts of the Certified Buckets podcast of the Uninterrupted brand, wasn’t buying the “excuse” (as he put it) even when George was shooting the ball as well as he typically does. This past Wednesday, Lethal Shooter made it clear on the podcast as to where he stands on the new basketball controversy, even while acknowledging that PG was shooting 41% from three at the time.
Lethal Shooter doesn’t agree with Paul George on why shooting percentages are down.
Paul George is not the only one to speculate whether the basketball is having this effect, but Lethal Shooter doesn’t buy it anyway.
“The one thing I can say is – just shoot the ball. Let’s not make excuses,” said Lethal Shooter. “I feel like instead of making excuses about the basketball, let’s just step it up a notch.”
Now again, Lethal Shooter has absolutely nothing against George, and pointed out that PG was shooting very well. He, as someone who works with NBA players all the time, just has his own reasoning as to why guys aren’t shooting the way they used to.
He brings up the new officiating rules which make it harder for scorers to draw as many fouls on defenders. (You may have heard of this as the ‘Harden rules.’) In particular, many have been wondering if this is a significant reason that the likes of James Harden, Devin Booker, Trae Young, and others have found issues staying consistent in their shooting and scoring this year.
“I feel like, honestly, all due respect to NBA players, I think shooting percentages are low because the refs are allowing them to play,” said Lethal Shooter.
The famed shooting coach also offered some constructive advice on how players can get out of this funk:
"“Maybe do what it takes to shoot THE basketball, because growing up, when you go play in high school and to get where you are in the NBA and college, you didn’t get to pick the ball, the other opposing team picked the basketball.”"
As for PG13, he’ll get back to where he was in these last two years. After all, his mid-range game looks just fine, as he’s shooting 46.4% from the field (the second-highest of his career), and he’s even shooting 87.8% from the free throw line (also the second-highest of his career).
If he continues to not shoot like himself form three-point land, he should take Lethal Shooter’s advice. He’s done a lot for the game as a shooting coach, and two great shooting minds in him and PG13 can definitely figure out how to make it work with the new ball.