At 6'3", Warriors All-Star guard Stephen Curry had to learn how to shoot with a high arc to prevent his shots from being blocked (the NBA average height is 6'7"). It turns out that Steph Curry's necessary adaptation produced
a better way to shoot:
The average three-pointer this season reaches a maximum height of 15.77 feet, according to Stats LLC, which tracks such geospatial coordinates with high-resolution cameras in every NBA arena. Curry threes average 16.23 feet.
This is the science to Curry’s art: The steeper a shot, the wider the opening into the rim. Dallas Mavericks free-throw coach Gary Boren has a peculiar way of illustrating this fact. He lowers a hoop to the floor and has players climb a ladder. “You can’t change the size of the ball,” he said, “but you can change the size of the target.”
Curry’s shot is mathematically optimal, said John Carter of Noah Basketball, whose technology has determined that the ideal entry angle for a three-point shot is about 45 degrees. Carter says the most skilled shooters he has studied use even higher trajectories. At the request of The Wall Street Journal, Lynchburg College physicist Eric Goff analyzed Curry’s in-game threes and found that they entered the rim around 46 degrees.
Stephen Curry is even more popular because his slight physique is closer to that of the average Joe yet has not been an impediment to success. He unselfishly dishes out the ball (#5 in the league in assists) and patiently signs autographs after games. If we're lucky, the 27-year-old star will be "reinventing shooting" in front of Bay Area fans for years to come.
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