Shooting and Missing

Shooting Percentages in the NBA : The Best and the worst.

As you know, I love to look at statistics of different kinds. One very common statistic is field goal percentage. Usually the best big men in the league are the best percentage shooters. Looking at the top 5 in the NBA, there are no real surprises:

• Shaquille O'Neal .610
• Amare Stoudemire .572
• Eddie Curry .537
• Carlos Boozer .530
• Udonis Haslem .528

One guy who makes the top ten is somewhat shocking. Jason Terry of Dallas is #10 in the NBA at .521. This is surprising in that he is a guard who shoots mainly from the perimeter, but also, the guy is a career .432 shooter. Something has changed, and I'd guess it's playing on a winning team that features several other great players who are demanding double teams.

One thing that people don't always look at is the worst field goal percentage shooters. I did, and I was surprised to find who was dead last in the NBA for made FG %. The criteria requires that all these players must be on pace to make 300 FG for the season, so for that reason part time players don't appear much in this list. Okay, who is last?

How about Kobe Bryant. Yes, Kobe is ranked #101 and therefore is the lowest ranked player in terms of shooting percentage. It doesn't help that Kobe takes almost 30% of his shots behind the arc, where he only shoots 33%.

Here are the brick-layers (bottom of the FG% rankings):

• Kobe Bryant .406
• Antoinne Walker .409
• Earl Boykins .412
• Allen Iverson .414
• Morris Peterson .415
• Corey Maggette .415

You can see the entire list on ESPN by clicking here.