Are the Kings really in a shooting slump?

HoopsData.com reports that the average FG% for the entire NBA is 45.8% and that the average 3P% is 35.2%.   So, I decided to find out where the Kings were compared to the average and here’s what I found out.

Through the 1st half of the season, and in spite of 3 games where they failed to score more than 90pts, the Kings are slightly above average in scoring for the season.   I decided to look at actual pts scored versus percentages because the numbers were so close.    Based on the total number of 2pt FGA’s and 3pt FGA’s the Kings as a team have scored 184 points over the NBA average or 4.6pts per game.   They have made 89 more 2pt shots then average and 2 3pt shots more than average.   To me, that means when we need to score, go for the 2pt shot.

I didn’t include May, Armstrong, or Cisco for obvious reasons.    Here’s the breakdown by position.   Among the Guards, Beno had the most points above average with 69.   Tyreke was 2nd scoring only 10 pts more than the league average in spite of taking 50% of his shots at the rim and scoring on 58.4% of them.   Martin & Sergio were exactly on average with Sergio shooting the exact average from 2 & 3 pt range, and Martin shooting slightly better than average from 3pt range and slightly less at the 2pt shot.   The guards contributed another 608 pts from the FT line on 81% shooting or +19, which lead all groups.   Net 98 pts above average.

The Centers and PF’s were lead by Spencer who had the 3rd most points above average with 24.   And, was the only one in this group with a made 3pt shot, which hurt his total because his 33% shooting was 3pts below the average.   JT was 2nd in this group scoring a +13.   And, Jon & Kenny both came out +2.   This group added 201 pts from the FT line, which is 11pts below the average of 211 pts.   Net 31pts above average.

The final group, the SF’s was lead by Omri with a +47, the 2nd highest score with a +11 2pt shot and +8 3pt shots more than average.   He and Beno were the only Kings to shot better at both positions than the league average.   Second in this group was Donte who have the 4th highest pt total of +19.   Next was Ime at +2, and Noc came in last and was the only player to have a negative number with a –2, but was on pace from 3pt range and only missed the 2pt target by 1 shot.   This group contributed 193 pts from the FT line on 66% shooting, which was 29pts below average.   Net 37pts above average.

So, with 184 pts above average from the field, and only 1 pt above average from the FT line, it’s obvious that the Kings aren’t doing as well from the FT line, and are only moderately better 4.6ppg from the field than average.

Room for improvement:

FT shooting is the most obvious with only Tyreke, Martin and Beno shooting above the league average of 75.8%.   Although only a slight improvement is needed from Ime, Sergio, Spencer and JT who are all shooting in the 73-74% range.

Guards:

Kevin’s limited numbers due to his injury make analysis difficult, as with almost the entire team he needs to reduce the number of shots he is taking in the 16-23 foot range.   He’s currently taking 24.5% of his shots from there and only has a 27.8% completion rate.

Tyreke has taken only 21 fewer shots at the rim than Spencer and JT combined and has a success rate of 58.4% or 1% less than our best big.   It’s no wonder we are one of the top teams in points in the paint.   But, Evans needs to stop taking 3pt shots.   He has the worst 3pt shooting percentage on the team 24%, and is taking almost 13% of all his shots from that range.  

Beno shots well from all ranges and has an exceptional completion rate at the rim of 75%, so if it feels like leather; you know the rest.

Sergio is doing just fine.

Centers and PF’s

Spencer and JT have almost identical percentages at the rim at around 59%.    And, out to the 23ft range have acceptable percentages between 38-48% with Spencer slightly better inside 10ft and JT better in the 10-15 ft range.   Spencer makes 33% of his 3’s, which gives him a 50% efficency from, that range.   Both need to improve their percentage at the rim.   And, JT needs to take more of the 10-15 foot jumpers, while Spencer is shooting close to 50% both from inside 10ft and above the 3pt arc, so he shouldn’t be afraid to take those shots if he’s open.

Jon & Kenny have poor shooting percentages away from the rim, where they are 54% and 59% respectively, and should probably limit their shots outside of 10 ft.    If Jon can make a few more of the 10-15ft jumpers, it would certainly improve his offense.   But, he needs to progress slowly.

SF’s

Omri has the 2nd highest success rate at the rim at 66.7%.  He’s shooting 50% from the 10-15ft range, and is 2nd to Martin in 3pt shooting by only .7%.   Give the Kid the Ball.

Donte may be the most accurate shooter across all 5 shooting areas.   From 63.9% at the rim, 44% inside 10ft, 58% from 10-15ft, and 42% from the difficult 16-23 ft range.   And, like Spencer, Donte’s 33% from 3’s still has a eFG% of 50%, so if the shot is open, he needs to continue to take it.

Ime is very effective inside 15 feet, and that helps make up for his 2nd worst on the team 3pt shooting percentage of 30%.

Noc seems to know his game.   He’s 6th on the team in most FGA’s and shots almost exactly at the league average both form 2pt range and 3pt range.   He’d be a lot better if he’d move more of his 16-23ft shots into the 10-15ft range.   He shots the same 35% from the 16-23 foot range as he does from 3pt range, but he shots 54% inside 15ft.

All of the SF’s need to improve their FT shooting, but Omri and Donte need to make it a priority.

We are a slightly better than average shooting team both from the field and the FT line, but not good enough to give away possessions with turnovers.   Certainly there is room for improvement both in accuracy and shot selection.   But, until then, our biggest and best chance to improve our Win/Loss record is by improving our defense.

As to whether or not you can same the team or any of the individuals are currently in a shooting slump, it would all depend whether or not you feel that they are much better than average normally.   Certainly some players have had bad games, but every man is out performing the league averages.   So, to me the answer is no, they're not in a slump.   Players are shooting right at their skill level.