Why doesn't Rivers shoot the 3 more?
He's shooting a better 3 pt percentage than 2 point percentage, yet he passes up so many opportunities where guys play off him out there. If this was college he's taking that shot 9 times out of 10. I think his reputation of being "selfish" has gotten to him so much that he thinks about how unselfish he can be now and it deters him. The game he had 27 it all started from the outside shot. It gets guys up on him and then he can go by them. If he drives first and misses a few, gets blocked a few, it deters his whole game and his 3-balls are way off. Shoot it early in the game Austin! Not just the corner shots late in the clock
Anyone else make this observation or am I wrong?
Why doesn't Rivers shoot the 3 more?
Thing I notice about rivers and the 3 is that he gets opportunities, he just doesn't take them. A lot of times he will be set up by a good pass and he will either pump fake, which gives a closing defender more time to recover, and then take the contested 3 or he passes it out. If rivers is open on the 3pt line and he gets the ball he should shoot it. He is to worried about making a mistake, need to get his confidence up.
Why doesn't Rivers shoot the 3 more?
He seems to easily get discouraged when his shot isn't falling and become reluctant to shoot. He passes up open shots due to this very reason.
Why doesn't Rivers shoot the 3 more?
The reason he is not shooting the 3 like he should is that he has zero confidence right now. You would have to be blind and not know anything about the game of basketball. Monty sees this and has zero confidence in him now because of it. He is thinking way too much out there and not having fun yet.
He should be still at Duke, like so many other players that come out too early, but was a lock to be a lottery pick. So he is beating himself up for not contributing more to team like he thought he would. He is way over his head right now and having trouble keeping up with the men he is playing against night in and night out.
Even some of the best players get in slumps cause they are thinking too much about the shot going in and not just shooting the ball. Look at Vasquez last night, he would shoot it right away and not even setup for the shot cause his confidence was thru the roof. What do you know, but when Austin was forced to shoot cause of the shot clock, he drains the jumper (with his darn foot on the line I might add)!
I always point to how bad Kobe Bryant was his rookie year after being such a highly touted player full of confidence himself. Luckily for Kobe, he was on a playoff contending team and wasn't getting 30 minutes a game to start his rookie season. Austin should of never gotten those minutes to start his rookie career; but unfortunately Eric Gordon wasn't available and Monty wasn't going with Roger Mason or Xavier Henry lol!
I agree that he needs to take more three point shots when the opportunity presents itself. I still have faith that he will get better in the latter point of the season just like he did at Duke. Then with an offseason of NBA level work, nutrition program, and countless hours in the gym, we will see the true Austin Rivers next season!