No such thing as an easy 3-pointer

Gradey Dick was drafted as a three-point specialist. While there was some thought he may need seasoning for his defence and adapting to the nuances of the NBA game, his three-point shooting seemed a given. Why does someone who shoots the three so well in college have so much trouble in the NBA? Is it size and quicker closeouts? He still missed a ton of wideopen threes.

Marques J

Speed of the game, the urge to player faster than you’re used to, the talent of the defenders, a slightly bigger court, the atmosphere — lots of things in play. And you may think they’re “wide-open threes” but if, out of the corner of your eye, you see some lightning quick, sixfoot-nine defender there, open might not be as open as you’d think, so things get rushed.

I have a question about the inseason tournament. When the semifinals and the final are being played (Thursday and Saturday), for teams not taking part will it be like the all-star weekend in that the players can go away for a mini break, or will they just stay in their cities and work out?

Jo

Those days aren’t that big an issue because the non-tournament teams will play on the Wednesday and Friday and some will be in action on the Monday after. What is interesting here is the two quarterfinal nights Monday and Tuesday: With no league games Sunday and the Raptors off Saturday, they will have had four days between games when they next play, longer than the Christmas break and second to the all-star break for idle time.

I don’t imagine it was enough time to get away but if the Raptors wanted to take Saturday and Sunday off and reconvene for a Monday night practice, players could get a break at some resort and still have two full workouts before Wednesday.

Some random questions: Are there any podcasts you listen to regularly? Real Christmas tree or fake? And a big talking point before the season began involved the word “selfishness.” Interested to hear your take on how the Raptors are doing in that area.

Andrew

I don’t listen to many podcasts, actually. I’ll dial up Zach Lowe’s when I can, that’d be about the only semiregular one. Fake tree, we always seem to have adventurous pets. I’m not sure anyone pinpointed what Masai Ujiri meant by “selfish.” There is much less isolation play this year and the style of play is more enjoyable to watch.