Look at Ja, he’s a 6’3”, 175 pound anorexic and he gets to the rim with impunity because nobody is in his way. Also, you need to factor in the space and pace, lack of bigs protecting the rim and defensive 3 second rule today. Two dunks in that game followed by a **** ton of midrange. It was one dunk and a **** ton of midrange. Look at his 63 point playoff game against the Celts in his 2nd year 22-41 from the field, 19-21 from the FT line and 0-1 from the arc on a last second attempt at the end of regulation. It’s not like Jordan was getting 13 dunks a game and the rest in FT’s. You don’t average 28 as a rook, 37 in year three and 35 in year four without a midrange game, especially if you aren’t taking 3’s. Jordan’s midrange game wasn’t better in the 90’s vs the 80’s. He'd still get to the rim a ton, possibly lead the league in FTA, and he'd be an efficient scorer overall, but there's absolutely nothing to suggest he'd be in the 40's. Even if you give Jordan time to adjust to style of play, his '87 self would never be even an adequate three-point shooter, and he couldn't go to his mid-range game as much as he did back then (it also wasn't as great as it was in the 90's). The more staggering number is that teams are making 11 fewer two-point-field goals than they did in 87. So it's not like scoring inflation is a big factor here. How would that 37 translate to 45 in today's game? That year, the league scoring average was 110 points per game. That’s a full 8.1 PPG above the next closest guy. Really? The year Jordan averaged 37.1 PPG the next closest guy was Dominique Wilkins at 29.0 PPG. You can play "what-if" all you want, but at some point you have to have to show he can be a good three-point shooter on good volume, and there's nothing to support that. It was unequivocally just not a significant part of his game, and that's ok. Great free throw shooter, and the best season he's ever been able to muster is 1 three a game at 35%. Even Derozan is hitting threes at a 35% clip right now, and he's nowhere near the midrange shooter that even 23 year old Jordan was. I'd love to see the list of 86% free throw shooters with Jordan's mechanics who have never been reliable from three. Like Jordan was amazing, we don't have to start assigning him skills he didn't have. He sure as hell wouldn't be the first really good free throw shooter to not be a three-point shooter. Just not an apples to apples comparison at all.ģ5% on low volume maybe, and as he got older he'd get better, but there's literally nothing to suggest 23-year-old Jordan would be any sort of reliable three-point shooter. Do you really think that guy wouldn't at least adapt to be a ~35%, somewhat proficient three point shooter with it being such a relevant part of the game now? Jordan's excellent shooting mechanics pretty much guarantee it IMO. I mean, in the 1987 season he was an 86% FT shooter. Which he still ended up doing just a few years later in the 1989-90 season when the 3 point shot started to become a little more accepted and incorporated in the game plan. MJ's early years in the NBA are just lightyears away from today in terms of three point strategy and the majority of threes taken back then were desperation heaves, but I think it's odd to suggest that any version of MJ transported to today wouldn't pretty immediately be able to adapt to the spacing and extend his range out to at least assert it as a viable weapon. This is remarkably evident in both his stats and in watching him play. He wasn't able to just explode through into the middle for floaters and dunks and stuff. Guys get better over time, it's what happens when you practice a lot. He was drawing fewer fouls.Īnd honestly, it's daft to suggest otherwise. The league slowed down, the Bulls more than average, and he got out less in transition. His post game developed, his mid-range jumper developed. Look at Ja, he’s a 6’3”, 175 pound anotexic and he gets to the rim with impunity.īut actually, yes, it was. Also, you need to factor in the space and pace, lack of bigs protecting the rim and defensive 3 second rule. Hair Jordan wrote:Jordan’s midrange game wasn’t better in the 90’s vs the 80’s.
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