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In his midseason report, Sports Illustrated's Ian Thomsen was listing his all-improved team, and had this to say about Orlando's Ryan Anderson:
"Once a three-point specialist, he's evolved into a well-rounded offensive threat and solid rebounder."
Can't argue on the rebounding; Anderson's 13.4 rebound percentage ranks 39th out of 101 qualified forwards this season. But let's not get carried away and call Anderson a "well-rounded offensive threat"--he takes 55.2 percent of his shots from beyond the arc, scores 54.2 percent of his points by way of the longball, and needs to be assisted on 75 percent of his made field goals. He's currently touching the ball only 0.68 times per minute (of which he eventually shoots or draws a foul 72 percent of the time) and is assisting on a microscopic 5.4% of teammate baskets when in the game. His Bullard-esque 4.6 3PM/TOV ratio speaks to his penchant for the pure catch-and-shoot. Yes, he's also a plus offensive rebounder, but the rest of his game screams "shooting specialist". Anderson hasn't really become more multi-dimensional this season ... he's simply enjoying the greatest three-point specialist season in NBA history.
To illustrate, let's look at every season in NBA history where a player:
- Played at least 1,000 minutes
- Took at least 55 percent of his shots from three-point range
- Made at least 40% of his threes
That leaves us 43 seasons, from such beloved three-point specialists as Dennis Scott & Jim Les. Using a "statistical plus/minus" variant based on Dean Oliver's ORtg/%Poss/DRtg, Anderson is having by far the best year of anyone who met the above criteria:
Rk Player Year Team MP ORtg %Pos DRtg 3P% 3PA% Off Def Tot
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1 Ryan Anderson 2012 ORL 1027 128.4 20.6 102.3 43.7 55.2 5.4 0.2 5.6
2 Brent Barry 2007 SAS 1631 126.2 15.1 101.7 44.6 67.5 1.7 1.0 2.6
3 Brent Price 1996 WSB 2042 123.6 18.4 108.8 46.2 56.4 2.6 -0.2 2.4
4 D. Marshall 2005 TOR 1645 120.5 18.0 105.0 41.6 61.3 2.0 0.2 2.2
5 Reggie Miller 2004 IND 2254 123.0 15.1 101.1 40.1 56.2 1.7 0.4 2.1
6 J.R. Smith 2008 DEN 1421 110.7 24.4 108.5 40.3 57.9 1.9 -0.2 1.7
7 Eddie House 2009 BOS 1479 114.9 18.2 103.2 44.4 60.7 0.6 1.0 1.7
8 Voshon Lenard 1997 MIA 2111 115.6 17.7 103.9 41.4 64.6 0.9 0.6 1.5
9 Damon Jones 2005 MIA 2576 124.1 15.5 107.3 43.2 71.8 1.6 -0.2 1.4
10 Terry Mills 1997 DET 1997 113.8 19.0 104.7 42.2 59.1 1.0 0.4 1.4
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Rk Player Year Team MP ORtg %Pos DRtg 3P% 3PA% Off Def Tot
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11 Dennis Scott 1996 ORL 3041 117.7 18.6 109.8 42.5 56.2 1.7 -0.4 1.3
12 Brent Barry 2004 SEA 1803 119.8 17.3 107.9 45.2 59.0 2.2 -0.9 1.2
13 Kenny Smith 1995 HOU 2030 121.5 17.6 111.2 42.9 55.8 1.7 -0.6 1.2
14 Jason Kidd 2010 DAL 2881 115.5 16.9 104.5 42.5 61.7 0.4 0.6 1.0
15 Sasha Vujacic 2008 LAL 1279 116.1 18.1 108.1 43.7 56.0 1.1 -0.1 1.0
16 Joe Dumars 1999 DET 1116 114.3 17.9 106.1 40.3 63.1 1.6 -0.7 0.9
17 Brent Barry 2001 SEA 1778 124.5 14.0 106.0 47.6 57.1 1.4 -0.6 0.8
18 Channing Frye 2010 PHO 2190 119.6 15.7 107.9 43.9 55.8 0.7 0.0 0.6
19 Luther Head 2007 HOU 2211 107.2 18.0 102.1 44.1 57.3 -0.4 0.9 0.5
20 James Jones 2008 POR 1276 125.8 13.8 110.6 44.4 62.7 0.8 -0.6 0.2
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Rk Player Year Team MP ORtg %Pos DRtg 3P% 3PA% Off Def Tot
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21 Matt Bonner 2011 SAS 1432 125.5 12.8 107.5 45.7 62.0 0.3 0.0 0.2
22 Chuck Person 1996 SAS 2131 110.6 16.5 104.2 41.0 65.7 -0.5 0.7 0.2
23 Brent Barry 2000 SEA 2726 115.1 15.0 104.9 41.1 56.4 0.3 -0.1 0.2
24 Shane Battier 2007 HOU 2988 118.7 11.7 102.2 42.1 57.0 -0.9 0.8 -0.1
25 James Jones 2011 MIA 1549 127.6 11.1 106.7 42.9 82.9 -0.3 0.1 -0.2
26 Kyle Korver 2005 PHI 2667 111.9 14.4 104.5 40.5 73.5 -0.6 0.3 -0.2
27 Jim Les 1991 SAC 1399 122.8 13.8 111.0 46.1 57.5 0.4 -0.6 -0.3
28 Matt Bullard 2001 HOU 1000 120.2 13.6 107.8 40.4 69.8 0.6 -0.9 -0.3
29 Jud Buechler 1999 DET 1056 116.4 11.5 101.8 41.2 61.7 -0.7 0.1 -0.6
30 Matt Maloney 1997 HOU 2386 112.9 15.0 107.9 40.4 62.0 -0.4 -0.2 -0.6
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Rk Player Year Team MP ORtg %Pos DRtg 3P% 3PA% Off Def Tot
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31 Daniel Gibson 2008 CLE 1765 116.3 14.8 109.6 44.0 57.6 -0.2 -0.4 -0.6
32 Daniel Gibson 2010 CLE 1068 117.1 13.6 108.2 47.7 55.6 -0.5 -0.1 -0.6
33 Matt Bullard 1998 HOU 1190 114.5 15.3 110.0 41.6 59.4 0.2 -1.0 -0.7
34 Damon Jones 2008 CLE 1336 120.7 13.4 111.9 41.7 76.0 -0.1 -0.9 -1.0
35 Steve Novak 2009 LAC 1161 118.7 15.2 115.4 41.6 72.2 0.3 -1.4 -1.1
36 Keith Askins 1996 MIA 1897 110.5 12.3 104.1 41.8 60.6 -1.8 0.7 -1.1
37 Mike Bibby 2011 ATL 1674 111.3 15.2 110.0 44.1 58.0 -0.7 -0.5 -1.2
38 Shawne Williams 2011 NYK 1323 110.6 14.7 109.1 40.1 55.1 -0.9 -0.4 -1.3
39 Kyle Korver 2006 PHI 2563 111.3 15.3 110.4 42.0 57.6 -0.5 -0.8 -1.3
40 Bobby Simmons 2009 NJN 1729 115.9 14.1 111.9 44.7 59.4 -0.6 -0.7 -1.3
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Rk Player Year Team MP ORtg %Pos DRtg 3P% 3PA% Off Def Tot
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41 James Posey 2006 MIA 1914 111.5 11.1 104.5 40.3 73.4 -1.9 0.3 -1.6
42 Raja Bell 2008 PHO 2646 112.6 13.8 111.3 40.1 58.3 -1.1 -0.8 -1.8
43 B. Scalabrine 2007 BOS 1027 100.9 10.9 109.2 40.0 57.6 -3.2 -0.5 -3.7
In fact, Reggie Miller (who had a 129.6 ORtg on 21.6 percent of possessions in 1991) is the only other player since 1974 to have a season with an ORtg greater than 128 while taking on more than 20% of team possessions.
Anderson's tendency numbers haven't really changed in 2012, though--it's just that he's taking advantage of his chances more efficiently. He's still a three-point specialist, but he's playing at the absolute highest level that any three-point specialist has ever played.
Neil Paine is an author of Basketball Prospectus.
You can contact Neil by clicking here or click here to see Neil's other articles.
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