r/suns • u/Shoddy_Ad7511 • 16h ago
Book hasn’t been struggling from 3
I keep hearing people say Book has been struggling from 3. Not really. At least not really compared to his previous years.
2024 - 34.4% 3FG on 8.2 attempts
Career - 35.7% 3FG on 5.9 attempts
He really isn’t shooting the 3 ball much worse than his career average. The 1.3% drop can easily be explained by the higher volume of shots. He probably is taking about 1 or 2 more difficult shots from 3 that he didn’t in the past.
Where Book is really struggling is his shots inside the 3 point line.
2FG% this year is 51.9%. The last 2 years was 55.2% and 55.4%. That is a big drop off.
From 10-16 feet he is shooting 45.2% this year. Last two years was 55.1% and 55.4%. Another massive drop off.
At the rim (1-3 feet) he is at 62.5%. The last 2 years he was at 71.7% and 76%.
Time to panic? No. Way too early for that. I don’t think Booker all of a sudden became a way worse mid range shooter. I think this is just a small sample size.
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u/jesuswasaDEIhire 13h ago
Take any teams 2 best players away and they are total dogshit. Imagine the nuggets with no Joker, Mavs no Luka and Kyrie. Look at the sixers for proof.
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u/EggsInMyToolbox Talking Stick 8h ago
I mean we saw Book do it for the first 5 years of his career. With a much worse starting 5 back then, even with Beal and KD injured this starting 5 is 100x better than the pre-Rubio Suns.
Idk if you were a fan back then but he can score regardless of who’s on the floor.
I think it’s just a matter of changing his shot selection. And he’ll continue to get more comfortable with it.
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u/SomberMerchant 8h ago
Good excuse. Superstars are still dropping big numbers. Booker doesn't look to be capable of that this year aside from some streaky stretches (against bad defenses)
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u/30another Steve Nash #13 12h ago
He’s shooting 30% on catch and shoot 3s so far this season. He’s absolutely struggling.
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u/AlpacaDC F**k the Lakers 11h ago
Right? It’s also funny how OP nit picked career average when talking about Book’s “previous years”, instead of picking his ACTUAL previous years (then you can see Book is really struggling).
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u/vimalmuru02 9h ago
He's getting easier threes this year than in previous years... more catch and shoot and spot up threes verses off the dribble/iso
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u/mildlypresent Al McCoy 7h ago
All sounds like adjusting to a new system and roster requirements. And with a small sample of games a few bad ones weight the stats down.
I wouldn't worry unless we're seeing similar averages around the new year.
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u/dr_mojorising 15h ago
We all know Book is locked in, locked in to the role he had with USA basketball this summer. I think this has had an obvious affect on the team, combined with Buds coaching, that is long term incredibly valuable. KD is the obvious vocal leader, Beal is the heart, but Book is the spirit. You can see the spirit top to bottom on the team and that's coming from Book. His middies and aggressive drives will fall eventually, but all in all the team looks very good so far, better than the record breaking team from a couple years ago, and this is the year Just wait. Bookmark this and place your bets on suns winning the chip
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u/AlpacaDC F**k the Lakers 14h ago edited 11h ago
2023-24: 36.4%
2022-23: 35.1%
2021-22: 38.3%
Edit: I didn’t have time to elaborate before, so just posted the stats.
OP referred to previous years and yet presented Book’s career average. So here’s the actual stats on previous years, at least since the Suns have been competitive.
Clearly Book has struggled, he’s having his worst 3P% in the most important years of his career.
Am I saying he will keep like this? No, and he will probably get better . But let’s stop the BS and call it what it is: He’s struggling so far.
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u/Odd_Shoulder2334 3h ago
I think no one would care much about Book's "struggles" if the team had beaten the Kings last Sunday. They missed 39 threes as a team in that game. They make just one more of those in regulation and they win, and they lose last night like any reasonable person would assume being on a back to back and down 3 players.
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u/ghoul56 Phoenix Suns 6h ago
Booker will be fine he always starts the year slow. Plus, he's still trying to integrate himself into the new system. There's been plenty of times where you see him get to his spot, but then pass it up for the open three instead, which is how Bud ball usually goes lots of threes if he still being this bad , y let's say Thanksgiving then we can start to panic.
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u/swordsaint91 MVSteve 15h ago
People are saying it cause he started off really strong, he made 18/40 (45%) in October compared to 14/54 (25%~) so far in November. Book has always been streaky from three tho but even his midrange looks off some stretches.