LONDON (Diccon Lloyd-Smeath's Champions League Insider) - "To be honest, I have always worked on my shot, but I changed the process this summer and concentrated on other details than before and that may have helped a little bit to make the improvement. That obviously makes the game easier both for the team and for me personally, giving more space to put the ball on the floor," said Arnas Butkevicius, the Lithuanian small forward from Neptunas who just won the MVP award of Week 6.

Whichever details Butkevicius has been concentrating on, it seems to be working. 3 days after this quote, he recorded a triple double – only the 2nd man to do so in the Basketball Champions League – leading his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals in the process. His shooting % has taken a massive uptick as well. Across all competitions this season, Butkevicius is shooting 60% from the field, including 48% from 3. A massive career-high in both cases.

"To be honest, I have always worked on my shot, but I changed the process this summer and concentrated on other details than before and that may have helped a little bit to make the improvement. That obviously makes the game easier both for the team and for me personally, giving more space to put the ball on the floor."Arnas ButkeviciusArnas Butkevicius

Neptunas fans probably didn’t need Arnas to remind them of the value of 3 point shooting either. Last season, Jimmy Baron found a portal to another realm where missing is impossible, whilst setting a #BasketballCL record with 10 3PM vs Usak Sportif. Following that this year, Neptunas shot 50% from 3 whilst dropping a record tying 114 pts vs Gaziantep. Turkish teams visiting Lithuania, beware!!

Across the board, the 2017/18 Basketball Champions League is showing early signs of being a remarkable season for range shooting. That should probably come as less of a shock when you consider the addition of Nanterre 92 – the best 3 Point shooting team in Europe last season – to the list of participants. None-the-less, teams in the Basketball Champions League are taking 23.1 attempts from behind the arc this season. That’s 1 more than last year and 1 more than teams in the Euroleague, Eurocup or Fiba Europe Cup. They are also shooting them at 35% across the board, up a full % point from last year.

It’s not just the Green Lights of Nanterre contributing to that stat either. Royal Hali Gaziantep shot 31 3PA per game in the FIBA Europe Cup last season – more than any other team in Europe – and are at that mark again this year in the Basketball Champions League. Fellow newcomers Movistar Estudiantes, Enisey Krasnoyarsk and UCAM Murcia are all teams that value the 3 ball at 30.5, 30 and 27 3PA a game respectively.

Volume is not everything however. 2 of the standout shooting teams are Neptunas and Besiktas Sompo Japan, having both flipped their attempt rate from last season, creating a positive impact on shooting % for both clubs. Neptunas shot 27 3PA at 34% last season. This year that’s dropped to 21.2 attempts but they lead the Basketball Champions League in 3P% at 45. Besiktas shot 22.2 3PA last season at 28% but have kicked up a gear and are shooting 27.2 3PA at 40% this season. A lot of the credit for that improvement at Besiktas should probably go to Jon Diebler. We will get to him shortly. EWE Baskets Oldenburg also set a Champions League record with 20 3PM vs UCAM Murcia and are shooting 43% as a team from 3. Nanterre 92, of course, must get a mention here. 44% and 29.2 3PA is their now customary combination of volume and efficiency.

Individually there is also a record amount of outstanding shooting going on. There are 81 (!!!) players shooting 40% or better from 3 this season.

That stat could be slightly misleading in that we have only played 6 games and there is a selection of guys that have got lucky on their only shot so far. Following that thought, even if you filter that list to players that are taking more than 3 attempts per game, there is still an elite group of 40 that are shooting upwards of 40% from deep. If this continues through the rest of the season, it will surpass last season by almost double. Also worth bearing in mind is that this Elite 40 doesn’t include men like Arnas Butkevicius on 2.7 3PA at 50%(Basketball Champions League only) or Sylven Landesburg who is taking 6.8 3PA but at (only)39%!

So if these 2 guys aren’t the sharpest shooters in the Basketball Champions League, who is?

It will come as no surprise to find 3 men from the green half of Paris on the list. Hugo Invernizzi is letting them go at a career high and frankly, ridiculous 64% on 5.5 attempts. Heiko Schaffartzik is at 44% on 6.8 attempts - identical to Tomas Delininkaitis at Neptunas – and Jamal Shuler is looking very pleased to be home, shooting 52% on 7.3 attempts! Every time a team has fallen asleep on Nanterre from behind the arc this season, they have been punished.

Ricky Paulding at 35 is still filling it up (69% on 3.2) Gabe York (50% on 6.4), and Tim Abromaitis (63% on 4 attempts) all stand out but possibly the stand out shooter of them all is Jon Diebler from Besiktas, shooting 61% on 6 attempts. What stands out even more is the way Diebler goes about his work. Every night is a clinic in moving without the ball. Diebler is a silent assassin. Subtle changes in pace and direction create enough separation to get his defender off-balance before being run through a screen and once his feet are set……it’s curtains.

Making proper use of a player like this can have a dramatic effect on a team’s offense. NBA fans are all rightfully taking a lot of joy from watching Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons in Philadelphia but the value of a player like JJ Reddick, doing a very similar job, has gone relatively unchecked.

Besiktas clearly understand the value of Jon Diebler. Every offensive rebound or broken play and almost instinctively, they know where he’s likely to open a window for a pass. They also understand the vacuum that his shooting creates and as his threat sucks defenders into the vortex, the likes of Semi Erden, Augusto Lima and Sertac Sanli have gotten very adept at finding the crack of daylight for a pass. Diebler is averaging a career high 3.2 Assists a game in the Basketball Champions League as a result.

It would be rude to finish an article about 3 Point shooting in the Basketball Champions League without mentioning Gediminas Orelik. 46% on 6.5 attempts is excellence but when you consider that he’s been doing this for several years now and making marginal improvements each year, this is sustained excellence. It’s also fitting to finish on Gedimanas Orelik, as he has so often been the finisher for Banvit last season and already for Umana Reyer Venezia this season. With the game winding down, there are few players more dangerous with the ball in their hands.

The impact of analytics on shot selection isn't new and teams have been steadily increasing the number of 3's taken year by year. It also remains to be seen if this hot shooting is any more than a streaky start but there are few more entertaining spectacles in Basketball than a team catching fire and lighting it up from 3. As the season progresses, keep your eye on the shooters! We have already seen records tumble from 3 this season and we may not be done yet!  

Diccon Lloyd-Smeath
Basketball Champions League

The Basketball Champions League's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA or the Basketball Champions League.

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