Off The Boards by Jack Scheuer

December 19,2018 Edition

The discussion was about the best shooters of all time, and there are certainly plenty of candidates, including some players who played before the 3-point shot came into the picture. The trey would be a factor in picking the best shooters but not the main one, with overall shot-making being the most important quality.  Among the top candidates would be players like Klay Thompson, Dale Ellis, Dirk Nowitzki, J.J. Redick, Glen Rice, Peja Stojakovic, Steve Nash, etc. Narrowing it down to five is very tough, but my choices would be: Steph Curry, Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, Larry Bird, and Jerry West. These guys were not just outstanding shooters, but also great at making meaningful baskets, especially with the game on the line. It would be interesting to hear your selections.

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Some locals are playing well for a couple of ranked teams. Samir Doughty, from Mathematics, Civics and Science Charter, and William Tennant’s Horace Spencer, are contributing to Auburn’s success, while Friends Central grad De’Andre Hunter leads highly-ranked Virginia in scoring.

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Speaking of great shooters, who holds the NBA record for the highest 3-point average in one season? Answer at the end of the column.

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Pretty good local action over the weekend: Saturday at the Palestra we have Temple-Drexel at one o’clock, with Saint Joe’s taking on Loyola of Chicago at five. Also, on Saturday, Villanova meets UConn at Madison Square Garden, while Penn travels to New Mexico (that’s right, New Mexico,which could be a very tough game). On Friday and Saturday, La Salle is at the Boardwalk Battle tournament in Atlantic City.

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Big game on Friday morning between two of the local women’s teams.  Drexel is leading the nation in scoring defense allowing just 46 points per game.  Penn ranks second in the nation at 49.8.  They will meet in a Battle of 33rd Street at the DAC.

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This and That: After Saturday, Temple has a rather rough schedule; January 2 at UCF, on to Wichita on the 6th, then at home with Houston on the 9th….Name of the month: Sandro Mamukelashvili, a 6-10 sophomore center at Seton Hall, who hails from Georgia, (No, not our Georgia, the country) … All things point to Villanova being a very good team as the season moves on…..Some things never change dept: The three most used phrases during a game are : From the players, “Let’s go”; The coaches, “What are you doing?”, and the officials, “That’s enough.”…..The state of Indiana is known for its shooting, but that’s not the case at the university.The Hoosiers were 65.7 % from the foul line last year, 331st in the nation.This season they are down to 64.3% …. Star freshman Romeo Langford averages 18 points per game, but is only 67.6% from the line, and 9 for 41 on 3’s.

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Answer to Trivia Time: Old friend Kyle Korver has the one season 3-point record, making 53.6 % of his long shots in 2009-10. He hit on 59 of his 110 attempts.

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This will be the last Boards of the year, so everybody have a Merry Christmas and a Hoopy New Year, See you in January.

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