The three-ball is becoming a lethal part of several teams' offenses
Stats review: Three-pointers and the EuroLeague
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With seven games in the books and most rotations beginning to crystallize, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season is in full swing. Despite that, without a single team posting a point differential over 50, the year still feels very new with little clarity to be found in the standings. Even Zalgiris Kaunas – sitting alone atop the league at 6-1 – claimed its pair of victories this week by a combined 3 points.
The league landscape adds a level of nuance to Paris Basketball’s 52 three-point attempt barrage in Round 6. The parity in the EuroLeague is very hard to escape, but shot selection is one way teams have tried to break the mold in recent seasons. Whether it is Real Madrid’s long-standing aversion to long three-point attempts, teams hunting threes in the corners over those above the break, or Paris’s aggressiveness from beyond the arc, teams are looking to manipulate the math on the scoreboard in a variety of ways with the three-ball.
Since all the way back in the EuroLeague's inaugural 2000-01 regular season, the percentage of field-goal attempts coming from beyond the arc has risen almost exactly 10% – from 30% in that first season to around the 40%-mark over the last five years. While volume has leveled out recently at the league level, teams continue to push the upper limit of the spectrum, with Paris, FC Bayern Munich, and potentially Real all positioned to become the first teams to ever eclipse the 30-attempt per game mark for a season.
That trio of teams have taken different approaches beyond the three-point line. The table above lists the top teams in the EuroLeague in three-point attempts per game this season, with their attempts broken down further into catch-and-shoot and dribble jumpers. Just over two-thirds of all three-point attempts this season have come off the catch, with those shots finding the bottom of the net 37.6% of the time. In contrast, the league average pull-up three-point percentage sits at just 32.3% so far this season.
With a top-five ranked 72% of their three-point attempts coming in catch-and-shoot situations, Paris has set a record pace with the decisiveness of its spot-up shooters. With well above average 57% of their catch-and-shoot attempts being open shots, that approach is not built on contested looks either. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Paris’s volume is not how consistently they create quality looks along the three-point line, but that they are in position to shatter the record for three-point attempts while attempting almost just as many pull-up two-pointers as pull-up three-pointers. The Parisian team is almost certainly this season’s most jump-shot reliant team, but it is hard to argue with the early results of their maiden EuroLeague voyage.
Bayern falls on the other end of the spectrum, ranking among the most prolific pull-up three-point shooting team in EuroLeague history. That is due in large part to the way their guards have bent the math in their favor with the way they can rise and fire to this point. While conventional wisdom suggests a high volume of dribble jumpers would hurt a team’s bottom line, Bayern has shot 42% pulling up from beyond the arc off the bounce so far this season. Carsen Edwards and Shabazz Napier rank first and second in pull-up three-pointers made and their accuracy is a big reason why Bayern has looked so dangerous early on.
Though they hold a catch-to-dribble-attempt ratio similar to Paris, Real has the distinction of having the league’s most extreme midrange tendencies. With a league-low 11% of their jump shots coming inside the arc early on to carry on a tradition formed over the last several years, they are loyal to their principles and the result is often more three-pointers.
Among the other teams on this list, Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade is perhaps the most intriguing as they have hit a league-best 42.4% of their three-pointers this season, despite having one of the higher pull-up rates of any team this season. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul has been the league’s most deadly spot-up shooting team, converting 55% of their unguarded catch and shoot three-point attempts early on.
While the EuroLeague remains a make-or-miss league and accuracy is often paramount, teams are working the margins on volume as much as ever to start the year.