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Discussion: Is it time to start trying something new with Vooch?

Vucevic has been having some kind of year on the offensive end, posting a career high in True Shooting at 55.3% while upping his usage to 26% and lowering his turnover rate to a very good 10.4%.

His defensive deficiencies aside, Vooch generally presents us with our best chances at creating mismatches on the offensive end with his varied skill set and ability to score from all over the court out of a wide variety of sets and actions.

One thing I'm starting to wonder, though, is if the increasing emphasis on Vooch playing in the paint limits our offense at times.

Vooch has turned into a prolific jump shooter, and is certainly on a short list of 3-4 big men for the title of best jump shooting big men in the league.

Per Basketball reference, from 10 feet out to the three point line, Vooch has hit 47.5% of all his shots in this range. And this isn't much a single season anomaly, he's been improving every year in the league.

Vooch's numbers on long twos are comparable to Dirk Nowitzki's.

According to NBAsavant, Vooch's field goal % on Jumpshots this season (43.95%) is good enough to place him 14th overall in the NBA, only three spots behind the aforementioned Dirk Nowitzki and 22 spots ahead of MVP front-runner Stephen Curry. I propose that the next step in the evolution of Vucevic's offensive game should come in the addition of taking threes in pick and pop situations, as well as select other sets designed to give Vooch a look from three. Ideally, he would take right around 4 shots per game from three.

It stands to reason that Vucevic is certainly a good enough shooter that he can make three pointers in NBA contests if he were to start shooting them. It is possible that the adjustment would be too much, but we won't know for certain unless he tries it out. But considering he shot over 40% on long twos the last two years and 47.5% this year, it's within the realm of possibility that he could be a good or even great three point shooter. We simply don't know.

Last year, I was of the opinion that developing Vooch's inside game was more important than adding a three-ball. I think that was the right call then, and it looks like it's paid dividends this season: teams have to pay far more attention to Vooch on the offensive end this season than the last two, in large part because of an exapnded post game and increased aggressiveness on his part in getting to the rim and finishing. This move adding the three-ball to his repertoire will not detract from that, but will enhance it for one big reason:

1. Spacing, and our plethora of athletic drivers.

We have a roster that is filled with athletes who like to put the ball on the floor and drive. Oladipo being our most proficient (and efficient) of these, but Payton's, Harris', and at times Fournier's drives make up a decent part of our offense as well. Victor Oladipo and Elfird Payton rank 18th and 19th in the NBA, respectively, in team PPG generated on drives to the basket.

Vooch adding a three ball would enable us to initiate effective high pick and rolls further from the basket, essentially giving the ball-handler much more space between the pick and roll action and any help the defense can throw at them from either wing. Currently, teams know they only have to guard Vooch inside the three point line, and while his mid-range game is very strong, it's a shot most teams are happy to give up in lieu of an Oladipo layup. Now, that thinking changes if instead of a 47.5% two point shot worth .95 pts they're giving up, it's a 38% three pointer worth 1.14 pts a shot.

That changes the entire way the team defends our 1/5 and 2/5 pick and rolls. It may be a difference of only a few inches either way, but it would open up the driving lanes far more in my opinion.

This FanPost was made by a member of the Orlando Pinstriped Post community, and is to be treated as the opinions and views of its author, not that of the blogger or blog community as a whole.

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