Marc Gasol strutted all the way to half court last week after nailing a game-winning three-pointer. There wasn’t a moment of hesitation from the Grizzlies 7’1 center when he received the pass in the corner. As he took his arm-flailing Conor McGregor tribute towards his team’s bench, he left the Clippers behind him thinking, wait, this guy shoots threes now?
Marc Gasol and the NBA’s biggest centers are shooting threes now
The NBA is in the midst of a three-point bonanza, and many traditional centers are finally blending in.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Yes, that’s exactly what Gasol does now. Fourteen games into the season, Gasol is 19 of 45 behind the three-point line, already surpassing the 12-of-66 shooting from his first eight years in the league. In fact, before this year, the most made threes Gasol had in a season was three.
The range itself isn’t new, as Gasol has shot long two-pointers for as long as he’s been in the league. But now he’s taking a conscious step back behind the arc.
It’s a decision encouraged by new Memphis coach David Fizdale.
Fizdale wants to see the Grit-and-Grind Grizzlies score more.
“It changes the game when you play a team like the Clippers,” Fizdale said before the Grizzlies’ game in Dallas last Friday. “It pulls that big away from the rim, and (you’re talking) about incredible defenders, some of the best in the league, Defensive Player of the Year type guys. If you can get those guys away from the basket, it only helps your perimeter (players) execute in the paint.”
Fizdale mentioned the Clippers as the team Gasol beat. You can see DeAndre Jordan — a Defensive Player of the Year type guy — help too far into the paint and give Gasol enough space to bury that shot.
“I made a bad read, saw Mike turn the corner and thought I needed to help,” Jordan told The Commercial Appeal after that Wednesday matchup. “I should have stayed on the corner.”
That’s exactly the idea. Centers like Jordan still aren’t used to frequently shadowing players around the three-point line, and they’re prone to making mistakes. In this instance, Conley’s step on Redick was enough to spook Jordan into taking one step too far away from Gasol. Just like that, the Grizzlies won.
Fizdale’s goal of making his offense “more high powered” without taking away from the team’s established defensive identity isn’t working yet. His team boasts the sixth-best defense but only the 24th-best offense this season. But Gasol’s shooting is making opposing defenses think, and Memphis’ potential on the end is higher than ever.
“It adds another dimension to their game,” Rick Carlisle said last Friday before his team lost 80-64 to the Grizzlies. “It’s a problem [for our defense].”
Gasol’s three-point shooting joins a growing trend in the NBA.
Make no mistake, there have been big men shooting three-pointers since the line was introduced. First, it was a gimmick, then a niche, and then a useful skill. Finally, it’s approaching a necessity.
Brook Lopez’s season looks just like Gasol’s. The nine-year veteran started shooting threes this season after a career of rarely stepping out beyond the line. He’s already up to 60 attempted triples through 11 games, nearly doubling the 31 attempts in the rest of his career combined. And yes, they’re going in, too. His 22 makes equals about 37 percent.
We’ve seen other centers add the three-point shot in recent years, too. Cousins did it last season, going from an occasional attempt to 210 last season. Anthony Davis averaged less than 0.1 attempt per game in his first three seasons before taking 108 last year. Both are shooting threes at a similar rate this year.
The newest crop of seven-footers all knock down jumpers, too: Karl-Anthony Towns, Joel Embiid, Kristaps Porzingis, and Myles Turner all are attempting at least one triple per game, with Porzingis jacking up 5.3 on 39 percent shooting.
In the ’90s, the low post was king. Mid-range jumpers ruled the 2000s, but now the three-point line has taken over basketball — and for good reason. There are still plenty of centers who retain a traditional skill set, and players like Hassan Whiteside, Jordan, and Andre Drummond aren’t about to be kicked out of the league because they aren’t reliable from the corner.
But for centers who can knock down 25-foot jump shots, it opens up an entirely new world for offenses.
This is a natural evolution for a sport that has constantly reinventing itself since the professional league as we know it began about 70 years ago. If your big men can shoot threes, who’s to stop them? It’s not just for big man specialists anymore, or hybrids like Dirk Nowitzki. No, everyone is allowed to shoot, and the game’s better for it.
Ten years ago, only eight players classified as centers attempted more than one three-point shot per game. Now, there’s 20 players jacking up more than one a game, and half those attempt more than three.
For players like Gasol and Lopez, it’s just a matter of mathematics. Both players shot long two-pointers their whole career, and even if stepping two feet back caused a drop in percentages, the extra point still makes it worth it.
Before Gasol’s game-winning shot on Wednesday, and before his dance to half court that Fizdale described as “hard to look at” in mock horror, the Grizzlies were already terrorizing the Clippers’ big men. Look at this way-too-easy layup from Mike Conley.
Jordan was a couple steps too late as he sprinted off Gasol at the three-point line back to the rim, and Conley finished there uncontested.
You have to wonder if he remembered that same play when he shifted over to Conley 24 minutes later, only to give up the game-winning shot.
This is the new reality for NBA defenses. Some of the league’s best big men fire up threes now. Leave them open at your own risk.
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