Tony Snell
Preseason prediction: Will average more than five three-point attempts per game
Verdict: Spectacularly incorrect
Snell ended the season averaging just 2.8 three-point attempts per game, so I was not even close with this one. However, I did make this prediction before I knew Snell was being replaced by Brogdon in the starting lineup and would lose rotation minutes to players like Connaughton and Brown.
With Snell averaging just 17 minutes per game, down from 27 the previous season, there was virtually no way he was going to chuck it at the rate to make this prediction come true.
Snell not only played less, but he also did, in fact, shoot the three less than in previous seasons as well, so don’t give me too much credit.
I thought for sure that Snell would fit right into Budenholzer’s “Let it Fly” offense of chucking threes at any possible opportunity, but Snell has actually gone the other way.
Snell’s 3PAr (percentage of field goals that are three-pointers) was just 56.5 percent this season, down from 63.1 percent the previous season. What happened?
Well, it seems that Snell took advantage of the extra space inside to drive to the rim more than ever before, and it’s paid off in his best season of shooting in the paint of his career.
Snell shot 24 percent of his field goals within three feet this season, up from just 17 percent the previous season, and hit them at a clip of 70 percent, an improvement over last season’s 65 percent.
I was so focused on how Budenholzer’s new system would help Snell’s shooting, I overlooked how it would help his interior game.
Running tally: 0/3, 1 push