NBA Players Who Lost Their Shooting Touch

NBA Players Who Lost Their Shooting Touch

by Ben Leibowitz

In the modern NBA, shooting efficiency and statistical analytics matter more than ever before. Ideally, players will experience year-to-year improvements not only shooting the basketball, but also in other aspects of their game like defensive IQ.

The last thing coaches and front office personnel want to see is regression. Unfortunately for the following 32 NBA players, their shooting efficiency from three-point range dipped significantly in 2015-16 compared to the season prior.

As it did last week with the league's most improved three-point snipers, PointAfter, a sports data visualization website powered by the Graphiq network, examined three-point shooting figures over the past two seasons (through April 6) to determine which players regressed most from beyond the arc. We ranked the players (with a minimum of 30 three-point attempts in each season) who saw their three-point percentage decrease most. In the event of a tie, players were ranked by their three-point percentage in 2015-16.

Interestingly, a few All-Star-caliber players -- including Cleveland Cavaliers studs LeBron James and Kyrie Irving -- struggled shooting the three-ball enough to find themselves on this list. Each player will be accompanied by his PointAfter shot chart for the 2015-16 season.

32. LeBron James

2014-15 3P%: 35.4
2015-16 3P%: 29.3
Percent Regression: -6.1

31. Solomon Hill

2014-15 3P%: 32.7
2015-16 3P%: 26.4
Percent Regression: -6.3

30. Eric Gordon

2014-15 3P%: 44.8
2015-16 3P%: 38.4
Percent Regression: -6.4

29. Marco Belinelli

2014-15 3P%: 37.4
2015-16 3P%: 30.6
Percent Regression: -6.8

28. John Jenkins

2014-15 3P%: 40.4
2015-16 3P%: 33.3
Percent Regression: -7.1

27. Archie Goodwin

2014-15 3P%: 29.3
2015-16 3P%: 22.1
Percent Regression: -7.2

26. Jimmy Butler

2014-15 3P%: 37.8
2015-16 3P%: 30.5
Percent Regression: -7.3

25. Chase Budinger

2014-15 3P%: 36.4
2015-16 3P%: 28.6
Percent Regression: -7.8

24. Donatas Motiejunas

2014-15 3P%: 36.8
2015-16 3P%: 28.8
Percent Regression: -8

23. Rasual Butler

2014-15 3P%: 38.7
2015-16 3P%: 30.6
Percent Regression: -8.1

22. Trevor Booker

2014-15 3P%: 34.5
2015-16 3P%: 26.3
Percent Regression: -8.2

21. Paul Pierce

2014-15 3P%: 38.9
2015-16 3P%: 30.4
Percent Regression: -8.5

20. Danny Green

2014-15 3P%: 41.8
2015-16 3P%: 33.2
Percent Regression: -8.6

19. Alonzo Gee

2014-15 3P%: 37.1
2015-16 3P%: 28.3
Percent Regression: -8.8

18. Marcus Smart

2014-15 3P%: 33.5
2015-16 3P%: 24.6
Percent Regression: -8.9

17. Jerami Grant

2014-15 3P%: 31.4
2015-16 3P%: 22.4
Percent Regression: -9

16. Kendall Marshall

2014-15 3P%: 39.1
2015-16 3P%: 30
Percent Regression: -9.1

15. Kyle Korver

2014-15 3P%: 49.2
2015-16 3P%: 39.9
Percent Regression: -9.3

13. Cory Joseph

2014-15 3P%: 36.4
2015-16 3P%: 26.7
Percent Regression: -9.7

14. Thaddeus Young

2014-15 3P%: 33
2015-16 3P%: 23.3
Percent Regression: -9.7

12. Kyrie Irving

2014-15 3P%: 41.5
2015-16 3P%: 31.3
Percent Regression: -10.2

11. Shabazz Muhammad

2014-15 3P%: 39.2
2015-16 3P%: 28.9
Percent Regression: -10.3

10. Dwyane Wade

2014-15 3P%: 28.4
2015-16 3P%: 17.9
Percent Regression: -10.5

9. Luke Babbitt

2014-15 3P%: 51.3
2015-16 3P%: 39.8
Percent Regression: -11.5

8. Charlie Villanueva

2014-15 3P%: 37.6
2015-16 3P%: 25.6
Percent Regression: -12

7. Kyle Singler

2014-15 3P%: 39.8
2015-16 3P%: 27.5
Percent Regression: -12.3

6. C.J. Watson

2014-15 3P%: 40
2015-16 3P%: 27.3
Percent Regression: -12.7

5. Rodney Stuckey

2014-15 3P%: 39
2015-16 3P%: 26
Percent Regression: -13

4. Greivis Vasquez

2014-15 3P%: 37.9
2015-16 3P%: 23.3
Percent Regression: -14.6

3. Amir Johnson

2014-15 3P%: 41.3
2015-16 3P%: 23.8
Percent Regression: -17.5

2. Ryan Kelly

2014-15 3P%: 33.6
2015-16 3P%: 13.5
Percent Regression: -20.1

1. Drew Gooden

2014-15 3P%: 39
2015-16 3P%: 17.1
Percent Regression: -21.9

Article: Courtesy Point After

NBA Basketball: "NBA Players Who Lost Their Shooting Touch"