The Houston Rockets are 24th in field-goal percentage despite their three big men, Yao Ming, (55.1|PERCENT|, 1st in attempts), Luis Scola (52.1|PERCENT|, 4th in attempts) and Carl Landry (55.8|PERCENT|, 7th in attempts), shooting extremely well around the basket. The reason? Their guards and small forwards have been terrible.
Here are their top non-centers/power forwards in order of field-goal attempts:
Player | FGA | FG|PERCENT| |
Ron Artest | 519 | 38|PERCENT| |
Rafer Alston | 484 | 37|PERCENT| |
Tracy McGrady | 460 | 39|PERCENT| |
Aaron Brooks | 437 | 40|PERCENT| |
I'm not sure I've ever seen a team where the top four outside shooters were each under 40 percent on the season (I rounded Brooks up from 39.6|PERCENT|). You have to assume McGrady and Artest will improve - they need to start going to the basket, but either way, expect teams in the playoffs to double down on Yao Ming and force the Rockets guards and swingmen to beat them.