Atlanta Hawks: Is Kyle Korver On Course For History?
By Adam McGee
It’s still early, but for one reason or another, it seems as if Kyle Korver‘s incredible start to the season is flying well below the radar of most NBA fans. For Korver, it’s been a long journey from journeyman bench player to highly productive starter, but at the age of 33, the former Creighton Bluejay is showing no signs of letting up.
Having broken the NBA record for consecutive games with a made three-pointer, and leading the league in three-point percentage last season, you could have been forgiven for thinking that it couldn’t get much better for Korver. With the way that he has started this season, Korver could be set to take shooting to a whole new level though.
Let’s start with the basics, Korver is scoring in bunches, averaging 13.8 points per game which is his highest mark since 2006-07. The difference is, back then in Korver’s fourth season in the league, the California native was attempting 11.4 field goals per game for that type of productivity, while now he’s doing so off of 8.1 attempts a night.
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Korver is making 53.3 percent of his shots from the field, which is good enough for 17th in the NBA and an incredible tally for a guy who spends all of his time shooting jump shots.
From behind the arc, Korver still reigns supreme also, leading the NBA with an astonishing three-point success rate of 56.7 percent. It doesn’t stop there either, as Korver is also making 95 percent of his free throws, making that yet another category in which he leads the NBA.
These type of numbers combined are completely unparalleled, yet there’s no reason to believe that the 33-year-old won’t be able to sustain them for the entirety of the season.
Every time he steps on the court, Korver does so with a target on his back. He knows that he’s been singled out in the opposition’s film room, he knows there’ll be an emphasis on stopping him, but quite simply no one seems capable of doing it.
Take Atlanta’s win against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night as an example. Korver was guarded by Avery Bradley, a player widely recognized as one of the league’s best defenders. How did Bradley fare? Well, Korver made 8-of-9 shots and 6-for-7 from three-point range.
Just why is it that he’s so hard to shut down? Well, there are a number of reasons.
First of all, Korver is an incredibly underrated athlete and a master of movement. He is almost constantly running from one side of the court to the other to find his open spot.
Secondly, the Hawks do a great job of setting single and double screens for Korver to flare off of, finding simple wide open looks.
Something which Korver seems to have improved this year too is, when he’s pushing through or coming around screens, he now seems more inclined to take an extra couple of steps forward or a rhythm bounce, just to completely shake off his man.
Last, but definitely not least, the Hawks are an outstanding passing team who specialize in ball movement. They have no problem swinging the ball from side to side until they find the best available shot, and in many cases that happens to be Kyle Korver.
With numbers like a true shooting percentage of 76, and an effective field goal percentage of 79.8 on catch and shoots, it feels like we’re not making a big enough deal about Kyle Korver.
He has perfected the art form of shooting, and perhaps most impressive of all, he continues to improve with age.