Zone Defense: Suns Enter Bud Zone With Torching…
40%. It’s the number I mentioned earlier this month as one to watch closely this season, and I’ve decided to create a series to track the Suns’ progress against this target. The goal? To see how the Phoenix Suns are performing in relation to their preseason objective of increasing three-point attempts.
Each week, we’ll take a look at how the Suns are performing from beyond the arc. Sure, we’d love to see the team shoot 40% from three, but that is an anomaly. How many teams have shot over 40% from three-point range as a team for an entire season? Six.
- 1996-97 Chicago Bulls: 42.8%
- 2015-16 Golden State Warriors: 41.6%
- 2009-10 Phoenix Suns: 41.2%
- 2000-01 San Antonio Spurs: 40.7%
- 1995-96 Chicago Bulls: 40.3%
- 2003-04 Sacramento Kings: 40.1%
It’s a hard number to get to. For comparison, 15 teams have shot between 39.0% and 39.9% in NBA history, with the Suns doing it 4 of those times.
But that’s not the 40% we’re monitoring this season.
Yeah, we’ll note how the Suns are shooting week-to-week from three, but that’s not what I’m interested in this season. I’m interested in the total volume. What percentage of shots are the Suns taking of the three-point variety?
