Some serious midrange shooters boosting offensive efficiency shows that point-scoring is not all three-pointers and dunks.
Stats review: Midrange marksmen
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Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv guard Wade Baldwin was named Turkish Airlines EuroLeague's Round 23 MVP after scoring 22 points in his team's victory over Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall. More than half of his points, 12 in all, came on midrange jump shots as Baldwin repeatedly attacked the paint and rose up sharply to score over retreating defenders.
The relevance of midrange scoring has dipped over time as many of teams who attempted a higher proportion of their jump shots inside the arc a decade ago have been forced to respond to hyper-efficient offenses built on three-point marksmanship. Regardless, there's still a place for midrange play in the modern EuroLeague, whether it's a high-percentage shot for a particularly skilled one-on-one player, a solution to score over a bigger defender, or the look left open against drop coverage of pick-and-rolls. There's still value to be found the midrange area – even for some of the competition's most efficient teams.
Hust as Baldwin did in Round 23, shooting guard Kevin Punter of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade has been proving as much over the last two seasons. The table above lists the 10 most prolific midrange scorers in the EuroLeague this season along with their field goal percentage on midrange attempts. Partizan ranks second behind only Real Madrid in overall offensive efficiency despite attempting a considerable volume of shots in the midrange area. Punter's effectiveness around the lane plays a key role in that, but the lone player who has shot a better percentage than he has on the list above, teammate PJ Dozier, is a major factor as well.
Mike James does much of his scoring elsewhere, but the EuroLeague's most dangerous offensive weapon is prolific from the midrange, as well. His ability to take what defenders give him by attacking the rim and keep defenders guessing when he operates inside the arc are part of what make him so dangerous.
Baldwin and his teammate Lorenzo Brown are aggressive in midrange spots, and while they'll have some big games like Baldwin did last week, the value of those attempts runs a little deeper for Maccabi. The pressure that duo puts on the mid-paint one-on-one is an obvious factor in the team's league-leading offensive rebound percentage. Baldwin's speed frequently allows him to draw the attention of help defenders and Brown's size allows him to shoot over smaller guards in short-range spots. When defenders react to their paint touches, it hurts the opposing team's ability to box out effectively.
Though the midrange has become something of a lost art at this point, largely reserved for pick-and-roll point guards who dominate the list above, there is some room for big men to contribute from that distance as well. Specifically, big men who can catch in the middle of the lane in short-roll situations and toss in floaters can make defenses think twice about how they are pre-rotating to defend those shots. Josh Nebo and Nigel Hayes-Davis have been particularly effective with those shots – even if their makes tend to elicit a defensive response that then leads to openings elsewhere.
While midrange shots are often maligned as being inefficient, they still have a role in modern EuroLeague offenses though the meaning differs from team to team. That fact this season's two most efficient teams, Real Madrid and Partizan, sit on the compete opposite extremes of the midrange spectrum hammers that point home.