They’re Desperation Heaves for Most Players. For Caitlin Clark, They’re Money.

The 3-point arc is just over 22 feet from the rim at the top of the key, and most defenders start hounding Clark from there, forcing her to take shots farther and farther back. But Clark is even more effective on attempts from 25 to 30 feet away from the rim than she is on 3-pointers within 25 feet. On the deeper attempts, she is shooting 43.8 percent, almost 14 percentage points higher than the Division I average of 30.1 percent, according to CBB Analytics, a website that tracks player stats. She has attempted 20 more 3-pointers from the deeper zone than she has closer to the line. 

“Sometimes, for her, a 25- or 27-footer is a lot more open than a 24-footer,” Bluder said. “So, you know, why not, right?”

CBB Analytics treats shots from farther than 30 feet as heaves, typically shots taken at the ends of quarters or games that otherwise wouldn’t happen. But for Clark, shots from that far out have become somewhat routine. She is shooting 30 percent this season from over 30 feet, making 10 of her 33 attempts — six more scores than the next closest player.

“It’s going to force us to change what we consider heaves,” said Nicholas Canova, the founder of CBB Analytics. “We’ll definitely bump back what we consider a heave this summer because of players like her.”

Clark has been pushing her own basketball boundaries since elementary school. In her early years, she remembers growing frustrated that her father wouldn’t allow her to take deeper shots, instead forcing her to practice layups and midrange shooting. It wasn’t until Clark was around 10 years old that she finally began taking 3-pointers, often practicing with her two brothers in their driveway before school.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/sports/ncaabasketball/caitlin-clark-iowa-shooting.html