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Efes shooting has recently been one of the most interesting discussion in Euroleague Basketball. Thanks to Ataman’s words too.
Last week, just after Efes loss in St Petersburg and the 22/100 in 4 games from the arc that caused 3L and just one W with a buzzer triple by Moerman against Pana, as a kind of test of fate, we opened the discussion about Efes 3 points shooting. Sure, Ergin Ataman’s words after that game helped us to try to understand what was happening on the european side of the Bosphorus.
«Shooting like this, it’s third division basketball». A typical Ergin underlined too the 7 turnovers from his point guard and it was not the first time he was addressing to Vasa Micic that way.
Ok, we know Ergin and we know how outspoken he is, but the first thing that came to our mind was about the quality of that shooting. Is that bad shooting about a worse basketball played by the turkish?
At the end of the day it was quite simple to check the numbers and noticed that relevant change in shooting percentage from the arc of the reigning champs.
In 2019/20 it was 42,10% with an average of 26,21 attempts.
In 2020/21 it dropped just a little to 39,96% on almost the same number of triples (25,51) per game.
Before the game played and won in Megasport Arena versus Cska, season 2021/22 was showing a poor 33,39% on 26,38 attempts.
And more, before that winning game in the russian capital, last 4 games were terrible: a total of 22/100 from the perimeter. We never lived a season where we can expect the unexpected as it happens actually in Euroleague, but such a long streak from a team like Efes is definitely weird and somehow unbelievable.
The fact the turkish champs are using 3 pointers so often, second only to Oly and paired with Cska and Real, is turning the story in the worst direction.
Well, sure it’s mostly about Larkin and Micic, that we hardly saw playing together at the same level they showed us in the dominant recent days. Both are shooting far away from the outstanding numbers of previous season. Shane, for example, was phenomenal from 2018 to 2020, shooting an unbelievable 44,9% and then 50,9% the following campaign: in that moment of the season he was at 36,9%. Vasa was coming from a streak of 7/33 (21,2%) in 7 games.
So Ergin’s words looked like focusing on the real problem for Efes. And this idea was strongly supported by so many stats attesting that the team was playing the same way as when leading european basketball. Very similar numbers about possessions, turnovers, rebounds, assists, steals, free throw attempts and so on, with just a sensible drop in Offensive Rating, from 121 to 113,9. Defensive was was even inches better.
Then Moscow and the trip for a Euroleague drama without Coach Ataman, sidelined due to illness.
And all of a sudden it looked like the champs were back.
👀 CSKA Moskova karşısında galibiyet nasıl geldi?
— Anadolu Efes SK (@AnadoluEfesSK) February 2, 2022
#NewQuest#BenimYerimBurası pic.twitter.com/e3wkqjamQt
A typical Efes game, played Efes way and an emphatic W. Larkin scoring 26 with 9 assists, 5/7 in threes and a fantastic PIR of 36. And you can add the other superhero, Micic, with “just” 16 points but with great clutch plays and a clear 10 in +/-.
The whole team was really focuses, coming back from important deficits (15 points in the 3rd) and scoring 19 of the 34 triples attempted: Beaubois 7/13 but none of the players under 50% from the arc.
Hercule Poirot was used to saying that «a clue does not prove it but…» so we were just waiting Asvel game in Sinan Erdem to have a clear idea once more…
And two days later, yesterday night, the game showed us stats confirming most of situation regarding the reigning champs: 39,3% on the perimeter and a W got thanks to a second half run (46-36). At the same time Vasa Micic continued his personal struggle with the three point line shooting a poor 1/6. In the whole 21/22 season the percentage is 33,3%, while again in the last 6 games he is shooting 8/36.
The final confirmation that Ataman’s words are perfectly reading the situation comes from the seasonal stats of the whole team: 39% from the arc in 12 wins, 30% in 11 losses. It’s pretty obvious that it’s easier to win when you shoot better, but let’s say that Efes case is a bit more significant than about other teams.
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