Ernie L. Balagtas Jr.

English 10
WFQ1

A different look in Basketball

Basketball is a very famous game among sports enthusiasts. Fans scream their lungs out cheering for their
favorite teams and players. In Basketball, players have two major goals in the game: score and prevent the opposing
team from scoring. Players are trained to do these goals efficiently. One measure of scoring efficiency is the field-goal
percentage.
The field-goal percentage is calculated by dividing the shots made by the number of attempts made by the
player (Hobson, 1949). A figure 0.45 means that the player is shooting 45% from the field. A high field-goal
percentage is equivalent to high efficiency, but field-goal percentages of players vary per game. Several factors affect
the field-goal percentage of a player. Some of the factors are: defensive pressure by the opponent, pressure from the
crowd, distance from the basket and the skill of the player.
According to Haubrich, B. (1992), defense is the best offense. If a team plays better defense, they are more
likely to win. By playing good defense, the opposing team will be forced to take difficult shots, which lowers the fieldgoal percentage of the team (Brown, 1962). The team with a lower field-goal percentage will score less, making them
more likely to lose. A good example of this is the match between the Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma Thunder in
the 2011 NBA playoffs. The Mavericks were down by fifteen in the last four minutes of the fourth quarter, but they
managed to create a nineteen to two run to take the lead. With the Thunder down by two in the last few seconds of
the game, Kevin Durant, their star player, took a three-pointer to win the game. He took the shot, but the most
defensive player of the Mavericks, Shawn Marion, managed to block the shot. It was a game winning defensive play,
in a sense, for the Mavericks. Good defense led to a turn of events in that game. The Mavericks defense made it
very hard for the opposing team to score, and forced them to miss thirteen of their last fourteen field-goal attempts.
The crowd was roaring after the final buzzer of the game.
In the NBA, thousands of people watch two teams play. In each game, fans usually cheer for the home
team. Whenever the opposing team is in possession of the ball, fans will shout Defense! to try to pressure the ball
handler. Imagine a crowd of more than ten thousand shouting, that would be a lot of noise enough to pressure a
player into making a mistake and turning the ball over. On the other hand, players of the home team will have
increased confidence and morale. The impact of the crowd is felt by the players in the closing minutes of a tightly

contested game, where players experience a lot of pressure not to commit any mistake. Based on researches, when
humans are used to doing something over and over again, muscle memory is acquired such that when doing it again,
thinking how to do it is almost not needed because their muscles remember how to do it. However, when under
pressure, humans tend to think too much. Thinking too much overrides the muscle memory. In Basketball, it causes a
player to miss a wide open shot or a free-throw. This explains why the field-goal percentage of players in the
opposing team can be lowered by the pressure from the crowd.
Another factor that affects the field-goal percentage is the distance of the shooter from the basket. A shot
attempt that is close to the basket is a high-percentage shot. The main reason for this is that it is easier to shoot the
ball closer to the basket. This is why the defense is tighter near the basket compared to beyond the three-point line
(Allen, 1937). When the defense is too tight, coaches decide to change tactics to increase the field-goal percentage
of the team. During this occurrence, coaches would devise and use a play to open up the defense of the opposing
team. This will create more chances of having a wide open shot, increasing the field-goal percentage of the team
(Esposito, 1966).
Although it is true that the farther the shot is made from the basket the percentage of making the shot would
be lower, it doesnt mean that three-point shots are inefficient. Statistics show that the extra point from shooting
beyond the arc makes three-point shots more efficient than mid-ranged shots. It is harder to make a mid-ranged shot
off the dribble than to make a shot beyond the three-point line. This is because a player must consider many factors
when shooting off the dribble, such as velocity towards the basket, the angle from the ring, the defensive pressure
and the player has to estimate the distance from the basket so the right amount of force can be applied. A catch-andshoot three-point shot is relatively easier because the factors that a player must put into consideration are just
distance and the defensive pressure by the opposing team (McCormick, 2010). These analyses by researchers led to
an increase in three-point shot attempts ever since the three-point line was added to the game. The great players of
the game managed to master handling all the factors that were mentioned above. They know how to play the game
efficiently. They have relatively higher field-goal percentages than the rest of the players of the game.
Kobe Bryant, a shooting guard of the Los Angeles Lakers is one of those players. He was drafted out of high
school in 1996, and was one of the youngest to have ever played the game. He started out strong, and even today,
he is still one of the best in the game. The career field-goal percentage of Bryant is 0.45, which is relatively high
(Ramsey, 2013).
Larry Bird is another one of the great players of the game. He was a power forward of the Boston Celtics.
Bird set the standards for field-goal percentage. Defenders scramble to stop him from shooting the ball, but most of

the time, Bird comes out to be the winner. He was a threat even at the three point line, disrupting the defense of the
opposing teams since players in the power forward and center positions dont usually shoot three-pointers. His career
field-goal percentage is 0.496, making him the greatest shooter of all time (Mihajlovski, 2011).
LeBron James is now considered the best player of his time. He changed the way he plays the game to
achieve his goals. His shot attempts in the Miami Heat is lower compared to when he was still in Cleveland Cavaliers,
but his field-goal percentage is higher when he got into the Miami Heat. LeBron James so far has a field-goal
percentage of 0.49 (Hughes, 2013).
Michael Jordan is considered to be the greatest to have ever played the game. During the early years of his
career, he took most of his shots close to the basket. Jordans field-goal percentage during the 1991 NBA season
was 0.539, but due to aging, he had to change his playing style which resulted to a lower field-goal percentage.
Jordan focused more on improving his mid-range shooting. He had to do this because his body is no longer capable
of taking more physical contact inside the paint, and this resulted to a lower field-goal percentage of 0.495. There
was a drop in his field-goal percentage, but it is still considered to be higher than most of the basketball players
(Scaletta, 2013).
A players field-goal percentage sure is a way of measuring efficiency, but it only looks at one aspect of the
game. Basketball is a team game, which means that one player can never be enough to win a game. Teamwork
should be present, because with teamwork, the field-goal percentage of the team will increase.
Field-goal percentages alone will not make a player the greatest of all time. Having a high field-goal
percentage is good, but not enough. What makes superstars great is how they play the game.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Allen, F. (1937). Better Basketball: Technique, Tactics and Tales. New York: McGraw-Hill inc. p. 87
Brown, G. (1962). Secrets of the zone press. Danville: The School Aid co. p. 74
Esposito, M. (1966). Game Situation Strategy in Basketball. Illinois: The School Aid co. p. 122
Haurich, B. (1992). Defense Wins! : a new, winning approach to team man-to-man basketball. New York: Parker
Publications Co. p. 24
Hobson, H. (1949). Scientific Basketball: for coaches, players, officials, spectators and sportswriters. New York:
Prentice-Hall p. 49

Hughes, G. (2013). How LeBron James can fulfill his dreams of being NBAs greatest ever. Retrieved August 22,
2013 from http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1745816-how-lebron-james-can-fulfill-his-dream-of-being-nbasgreatest-ever
McCormick, B. (2010). Did efficiency statistics kill the mid-range shot. Retrieved August 22, 2013 from
http://learntocoachbasketball.com/did-efficiency-statistics-kill-the-mid-range-jump-shot
Mihajlovski, D. (2011). Nothing but Net: Ranking the Greatest shooters in NBA history. Retrieved August 22, 2013
from
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/533759-nothing-but-netranking-the-greatest-shooters-in-the-nbahistory/page/15
Scaletta, K. (2013). How Michael Jordan Re-Defined His Game to Extend Legendary Career. Retrieved August 22, 2013 from
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1746115-how-michael-jordan-re-defined-his-game-to-extend-legendarycareer
Ramsey, T. (2013). Could James Harden be the next Kobe Bryant. Retrieved August 23, 2013 from
http://savingtheskyhook.com/2013/08/22/could-james-harden-be-the-next-kobe-bryant/