Craig Luschenat - LeBron James

LeBron for his career shoots 34% from three and 38% from sixteen feet to the three-point line. After calibrating all his miss fundamentals together against the rest of the NBA I can conclude that he is really between a 32%-34% three- point shooter. His miss fundamentals were comparable to Avery Bradley, however they were slightly worse.

LeBron has a fluid shot and a high release point, which are both two positives in his shot delivery. Actually since he made this adjustment two seasons ago his three-point percentage has been much better. However, these are really the only positives in his shot delivery. LeBron drops his hands at a 41% rate per 100 missed shots, which is 17% over the elite percentile. Also, he has a tendency to fade/lean at a 56% rate, which is 31% over the elite percentile. These are the two biggest reasons LeBron isn’t a good jump shooter. Also, his base and footwork aren’t great either, but they’re not terrible; this fundamental is 5% points over the elite percentile. 

At this point in his career eliminating his fade is not realistic, but he could work to minimize it. There is a real difference on video between his good misses and when he fade/leans. Even on his good misses there is still a slight lean, but if he can trend in that direction he will improve his percentages. In terms of dropping his hands, this is a much easier fundamental to control and its something he should focus on. Even if he can fix his hands and not his fade/lean he will dramatically improve as a shooter.

For players whose shooting percentages are better than their fundamentals suggest they should be, usually means they work very hard. If I were to guess LeBron gets up a lot of shots and works hard on shooting the ball. His fundamentals line up more with a 32% three-point shooter; Avery Bradley and Joe Ingles are the two other players who he shares this similarity with.

Breakdown:  Per 100 Missed Shots:

1.     Dropped Hands: Totalà 41% of the time he missed.

2.     Leaning/Fading Back: Totalà 56% of the time he missed.

3.     Feet off Balance: Totalà 17% of the time he missed.

4.     Good Misses: Totalà 23% of the time he missed.

5.     Missed Short: Totalà 35% of the time he missed.

Video Breakdown: Craig Luschenat 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQYQUAjLXgw

Craig Luschenat - NBA Player Development 2017

Craig Luschenat was finishing his master classes at Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, England during the spring of 2017. While in Oxford, he accepted the same player development position he took the summer before; training Wasserman Media Group NBA athletes in Los Angeles, California.
Craig Luschenat finished his master class finals during the last week of May 2017, which from there he flew to Los Angeles to begin his second player development internship.

Craig Luschenat's first month in Los Angeles consisted of working with a mix of NBA draft prospects and NBA players who's season had ended. Among the draft prospects Craig Luschenat worked with was DJ Wilson, Nigel Williams-Goss, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Jordan Mathews; while the active NBA players consisted of Emmanuel Mudiay and George Niang.

After the NBA draft occurred, and players went to their respective teams the active NBA players started to train again. The NBA players would workout in groups based on their position and skills set. The first group Craig Luschenat would work with in the morning was the guards, who included Russell Westbrook and Victor Oladipo, followed by Norman Powell and Delon Wright. Then came in the small forwards and power forwards, who included Kyle Anderson, Kelly Olynyk, George Niang, and Luc Mbah a Moute. Then finally the centers came in, who included Javale McGee and Bismack Biyombo.

Craig Luschenat stayed in Los Angeles until the end of August before he returned home to Boston, Massachusetts.

Craig Luschenat - Andre Roberson

Andre for his career shoots 25% from three and 15% from sixteen feet to the three-point line. Andre was a very interesting case study for me; I had a lot of fun breaking down his film. Andre does two things very well in his delivery, which are holding his hands and having a great base on his shot. Also, he has a nice high delivery; his shot looks really good when he shoots it right.

Andre makes two fundamental mistakes that have a chain reaction throughout his shot. First, he hops into 63% of his misses, which is 57% over the elite shooters average. When a player hops into their shot it either causes a fade/lean or poor balance, which leads to either missing short or missing to a side. In short this is because all the players energy is going in the direction the player is moving; so if they’re going forward all their energy goes into the ground, not up into the shot. If they’re moving to a side then their energy will go to that side, which causes poor balance. This is why he fade/leans on 39% of his misses; when he doesn’t hop he doesn’t fade/lean. The second mistake Andre makes is he weak/no-steps into 20% of his misses. This also causes no lift on his shot because he isn’t generating any energy, which is the other reason (besides hoping) why he misses short on 61% of his misses. I believe if he fixed these two mistakes that he could shoot into the mid 30’s from three.

Craig Luschenat

Breakdown: Per 100 Missed Shots:

1. Dropped Hands:  7% of the time he missed.
2. Leaning/Fading Back:  39% of the time he missed.
3. Feet off Balance:  11% of the time he missed.
4. Good Misses:  19% of the time he missed.
5. Missed Short:  61% of the time he missed.
6. Hop into Shot:  63% of the time he missed.
7. Weak/No-Step:  20% of the time he missed.

Video Breakdown: Craig Luschenat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_L9NBg_IRo

Craig Luschenat - Russell Westbrook

Russell for his career shoots 31% from three and 38% from sixteen feet to the three-point line. 

The reason why I chose to study both Russell’s mid-range and three-point misses is because he has essentially the same amount of attempts from both areas (1.86 vs. 1.88%).

From three-point range Russell commits five errors at a high rate, which are dropping his hands, fading/leaning, missing short, hopping into a shot, and shooting on the way down. All five of these fundamentals are well outside the elite percentile (See Fundamental Index and Extra Fundamental Index).

From mid-range, Russell commits similar errors in his shot delivery as he does from three. However, these fundamental errors are much more exaggerated from the mid-range. My two biggest concerns are when he drops his hands and shoots on the way down; both of these fundamentals are committed well outside the elite percentile. He also hops into his shot at a very high rate, but this doesn’t bother me as much as it does from three. However, hoping and shooting on the way down are the two biggest reasons why he misses short on 63% of his misses.

Breakdown: Three-Point Shots Per 100 Missed Shots:

1.     Dropped Hands: Totalà 62% of the time he missed.

2.     Leaning/Fading Back: Totalà 34% of the time he missed.

3.     Feet off Balance: Totalà 18% of the time he missed.

4.     Good Misses: Totalà 12% of the time he missed.

5.     Missed Short: Totalà 56% of the time he missed.

6.     Hop into Shot: Totalà 17% of the time he missed.

7.     Shooting on the Way Down: Totalà 15% of the time he missed.

Breakdown: Mid-Range Shots Per 100 Missed Shots:

1.     Dropped Hands: Totalà 64% of the time he missed.

2.     Leaning/Fading Back: Totalà 17% of the time he missed.

3.     Feet off Balance: Totalà 21% of the time he missed.

4.     Good Misses: Totalà 5% of the time he missed.

5.     Missed Short: Totalà 63% of the time he missed.

6.     Hop into Shot: Totalà 30% of the time he missed.

7.     Shooting on the Way Down: Totalà 35% of the time he missed.

Video Breakdown:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GIjZek5Wc4