Cleveland Cavaliers rookie point guard Collin Sexton did not have the best start to his NBA career but then something happened.
When observing the play of Collin Sexton over the first few months of his career there was something that stood out like a sore thumb. Opponents were letting him shoot one of the worst shots to take, a deep two-pointer and Collin Sexton was shooting it. The deep two-point shot is one of the least efficient shots to take and Sexton appeared more than willing to take it. A better shot to take is the three-pointer and Sexton was not taking it.
Through January 19th Collin Sexton averaged 39.2% shooting from three-point range on 2.1 attempts per game. During this early part of the season Sexton was only averaging 14.5 points per game. A good reason for this is the lack of three-point shots. After January 19th Sexton would begin to take more three-pointers and things changed for the best.
Over the final 35 games of the season Sexton attempted 194 three-pointers and made 79 of them. This is good for 40.7% on 5.5 attempts per game. For comparison, Sexton made 2.3 three-pointers per game over this stretch compared to just 0.9 makes per game until January 19th. Sexton averaged 19.7 points per game due to the more makes and attempts from deep.
Once Collin Sexton realized that a three-pointer is a better shot to take rather than a deep two he improved tremendously. Sexton’s scoring average and shooting percentages both went up. Sexton’s overall shooting percentage increased from 41.3 to 44.9. Sexton actually scored 11 more points in 12 fewer games after the adjustment, (691 to 680).
Going into his sophomore season next year it will be crucial for Collin Sexton to continue to shoot shots from deep. This will keep their opponents honest on defense and allow his Cavaliers teammates better opportunities to score.
