It’s called three-point “cheese.”
If you’ve ever played a basketball video game of any kind then you already know what’s up.
For the uninitiated it basically goes like this: Regardless of what’s happening, your opponent will take nothing but threes all game long. As a result you’ll probably lose because you failed to to adjust while being bombarded from deep and, because it’s a video game, real-life shooting percentages don’t really apply.
Called “cheese” because it’s seen as a “cheap” strategy, exclusively shooting threes is an exploit in video games that’s been around for pretty much forever. Yet, despite all evidence of the power that the three possesses in the virtual world, it had never been viewed as that important in real life – until now.
The NBA Finals kick off Thursday with a rematch of last year’s championship contest between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers. Outside of the obvious compelling storylines such as the Dubs’ quest to cap off the greatest season in league history, or LeBron James looking to avenge his defeat last year, there’s an interesting fact that definitively illustrates the biggest trend in the NBA today:
For the first time in league history both finalists finished No. 1 and 2 in three-pointers made in the regular season, with the Warriors having connected on 1,077 shots from beyond the arc (an NBA record) and 880 for the Cavs.
It would seem that 2015-16 is finally the season that coaches and general managers realized the power of the three-ball the way gamers figured it out years ago.
The league average of 1,975 three-pointers attempted per team this season is the highest ever and, seeing as that’s over 100 attempts higher than the previous best league average set in 2014-15, there’s a good chance that figure will only go up.
Putting this trend into perspective, the league average for three-pointers attempted when the three-point line was first introduced to the NBA in 1979-80 was 227. The league leader in threes made and attempted were the San Diego Clippers, who went 177-for-543 on the season. This season’s MVP, Stephen Curry, went 402-for-886 by himself from deep.
Between the Clippers’ 177 made threes in 1979-80 and the Warriors’ 1,077 this season, that’s a 508 per cent increase. Looking back 10 seasons ago to 2005-06, the Steve Nash-led Phoenix Suns made the most threes that season with 837 – a very good number, but still 29 per cent less than what Golden State accomplished this season.
Not only did the Warriors and Cavaliers make the most threes in the regular season, they’re first and second in that category for the playoffs, each having made more than 200 threes – the first time in post-season history two teams have connected on 200 or more field goals from outside – and a Finals game hasn’t even been played yet.
So clearly the secret’s out when it comes to the triple’s command in the modern game, but now the question that begs to be asked is if it’s so powerful a tool should it not at least be set up every possession?
Beyond its obvious benefit, the three is powerful because of how much it can open up other dimensions of a team’s offence.
The best example of this was seen in Game 1 of the Cavaliers’ Eastern Conference Finals series against the Toronto Raptors. In that game the Raptors were so scared of Cleveland’s many three-point threats that they didn’t rotate away from shooters at all, leaving driving lanes and basically the entire restricted area free for the Cavaliers’ taking.
In the Warriors’ conference finals series with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Curry and fellow all-star backcourt mate Klay Thompson‘s three-point acumen basically won Games 6 and 7 for Golden State. The Splash Bros. were a combined 30-for-55 from outside in those two contests and were an astounding 25-for-42 while the Dubs were trailing. No other weapon in basketball – maybe even in all sports – has the same comeback potential that the three has, and the Warriors’ come-from-behind wins in Games 6 and 7 is proof of this.
Ratings for this championship series should be great for the NBA, but even better for the league will be the fact that the two best examples of the direction the league is heading will be in the global spotlight.
At the moment, the strength and prevalence of the three-point shot may seem omnipotent, but the same can be said of the shot’s “cheesy” nature in video games and people have figured out ways to beat it because they have to.
Such will be the case in real life. Right now there isn’t one good method of slowing down a steady three-ball attack, but if any two teams are going to have an idea how to do it shouldn’t it be the two clubs that make use of the strategy the best?
The three-point shot is what the NBA is all about now. Until a real counter’s discovered to hamper it and all the benefits it brings we’re all going to have to just get used to it.