By John Denton
March 15, 2017
SAN FRANCISCO – For years, Frank Vogel crafted a reputation as one of the NBA’s best teachers of defense and, accordingly, his teams always played with a physicality and a ferocity when it came to keeping foes out of the paint and protecting the rim.
These days, however, as the approach to basketball has completely flipped itself inside out with a greater reliance on 3-point shooting than ever, Vogel is sometimes left shaking his head at what he is witnessing. The game has changed right before his eyes with the record-setting number of 3-point shots being hoisted nightly, and Vogel said he’s had to completely re-think everything he knew previously about defense.
``The defensive rules have changed dramatically in terms of how you cover things,’’ admitted Vogel, who is in his first season as head coach of the Orlando Magic. ``The scheme that I used in Indiana, we can’t use that here (with the Orlando Magic) anymore. It’s just a different ball game now because the offensive attacks are so different.’’
That was certainly the case in a game that Vogel watched on television on Sunday as the Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets – the league leaders in both 3-point makes and takes this season – combined to hoist 88 3-point shots. Houston, which won 117-112, made 16 of 45 attempts, while Cleveland had more 3-point attempts (43) than 2-point shots (37). The Cavs drilled 17 threes in a game where three players had double-digit attempts from beyond the arc and six players drilled at least three 3-pointers.
A night later, Vogel’s Magic ran into a 3-point buzz saw as a short-handed Sacramento Kings team drilled 16 shots from beyond the arc to beat Orlando 120-115. Up next for the Magic (24-44) is the Golden State Warriors (53-14) – the team that has led the charge in revolutionizing the way NBA basketball is played with 3-point shots coming in bunches nearly every game.
``Houston and Cleveland playing against one another (on Sunday), that was almost unrecognizable from what the game looked like five years ago,’’ Vogel marveled. ``It’s unique, but those are top-three offenses and it obviously starts with elite playmakers (to set up the 3-point shooters).
``It’s a copy-cat league, so I’m sure that average (of 3-point shot attempts per game) will just keep going up,’’ Vogel continued. ``I don’t see it changing anytime soon. I think the last few years, it’s played out that speed is beating size, league-wide. I think if you’re bigs are elite bigs then you can impose that style of play on small-ball lineups. But if not, you’re going to get your butts kicked.’’
Teams across the NBA have been getting kicked around by those shifted to space-and-pace, small-ball offenses that are willing to hoist 3-point shots at a record rates. The NBA league averages this season are 9.7 3-point makes and 26.9 attempts per game – a dramatic rise over what was the norm from five seasons ago (7.7 makes and 21.5 attempts per game).
Those numbers have slowly risen in recent years and this season, three teams – Houston, Cleveland and Boston – are on pace to eclipse the all-time record for 3-point attempts a game. Houston averaged 32.6 attempts in 2014-15 and Golden State – fueled by the record-setting shooting of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson – came close to eclipsing that number last season while getting up 31.6 threes a night. This season, the Rockets (40.6 attempts per game), Cavaliers (33.9 attempts per game) and Celtics (33.3 attempts per game) are hosting record numbers of threes.
The Rockets (14.7 makes per game) and Cavs (13.3 makes per game) are also on pace to eclipse the previous record for threes made per game on average. Golden State’s mark of 13.1 made 3-pointers a game will stand just one season as teams have leaned more toward positioning three, four and sometimes even all five players around the 3-point line.
``I never thought I’d see this many threes, but that’s the way the game is going and even (centers) are shooting threes,’’ said Magic guard D.J. Augustin, a nine-year NBA veteran. ``The game is evolving I think and I believe it’s a good thing because it makes the game more exciting for fans.
``When I came into the league, you had guys like Dwight Howard, Brook Lopez and Roy Hibbert – legit (centers) – but now it’s kind of like those guys aren’t even being used,’’ Augustin added. ``The game is getting smaller, guys are shooting threes, centers are shooting threes and it’s a faster game with more shooting.’’
The poster child for the age of 3-point shooting, of course, is Golden State’s Curry – whom the Magic will try and slow down on Thursday night. Curry, the MVP of the past two seasons, has led the NBA in 3-point makes and takes each of the past four seasons. He was the league’s first unanimous MVP last season largely because of the jaw-dropping numbers he posted from beyond the 3-point stripe – 402 makes, 886 attempts and 45.4 percent accuracy. He also holds NBA records for 3-pointers in a game (13 on Nov. 7, 2016) and consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer (157 from Nov. 13, 2014-Nov. 3, 2016).
Curry’s 3-point numbers have plunged this season – 254 makes, 646 attempts and 39.3 percent accuracy – but he’s still considered the top shooter in a league full of them now. Vogel knows if the Magic have any chance of topping Curry and the Warriors on Thursday night, they must do a better job at figuring out how to limit the number of 3-pointers allowed. This season, Golden State ranks fourth in the NBA in 3-point makes per game (11.9) and fifth in attempts (31.3). By comparison, the Magic rank 19th in the NBA in 3-point attempts (25.8), but just 26th in makes (8.4).
``They’re a catch-fire team, so you can never be comfortable with them for sure,’’ Vogel said of the Warriors’ ability to make 3-pointers in bunches. ``You’ve got to be strong with your coverage, bring great competitive spirit to your defense and not overreact to some difficulties. You have to try and make everything difficult on them and you just can’t let them get loose for a bunch of threes.’’
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