The NBA’s More Shots Than Points Club

There are a lot of prestigious, distinct and memorable accolades in the NBA, however, taking more shots in a season than you score points is not one of them.

There are a few reasons a name pops up on this list, if we’re being honest there are two real possibilities. Firstly, the player is a rookie or young player with heavy usage on a bad team, this is sometimes forgivable if not understandable. Secondly, the player is lost at sea, rowing without a paddle against the swell. In simpler terms, these guys are chucking to no avail.

Thanks to basketball-reference we can take a look at the top 20 shooters who have been missing their mark.

Totals	Shooting
Rk	Player	Season	Age	Tm	Lg	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA ▾	2P	2PA	3P	3PA	FT	FTA	PTS	FG%	TS%
1	Derrick Rose	2015-16	27	CHI	NBA	27	27	884	160	414	144	349	16	65	52	72	388	.386	.435
2	D’Angelo Russell	2015-16	19	LAL	NBA	35	22	965	160	406	108	241	52	165	33	48	405	.394	.474
3	Joe Johnson	2015-16	34	BRK	NBA	34	34	1182	141	388	98	248	43	140	52	65	377	.363	.452
4	Emmanuel Mudiay	2015-16	19	DEN	NBA	23	23	669	91	293	73	220	18	73	45	66	245	.311	.380
5	Stanley Johnson	2015-16	19	DET	NBA	35	0	761	109	289	79	197	30	92	32	43	280	.377	.455
6	Danny Green	2015-16	28	SAS	NBA	36	36	928	96	263	45	104	51	159	16	19	259	.365	.477
7	Markieff Morris	2015-16	26	PHO	NBA	23	16	538	98	257	81	206	17	51	28	40	241	.381	.439
8	Nik Stauskas	2015-16	22	PHI	NBA	34	14	788	86	245	39	90	47	155	23	35	242	.351	.465
9	Randy Foye	2015-16	32	DEN	NBA	35	7	728	81	237	46	114	35	123	30	34	227	.342	.450
10	Tony Allen	2015-16	34	MEM	NBA	31	24	695	78	196	72	177	6	19	21	41	183	.398	.427
11	Charlie Villanueva	2015-16	31	DAL	NBA	31	1	365	78	191	51	90	27	101	8	9	191	.408	.490
12	Lavoy Allen	2015-16	26	IND	NBA	33	12	707	82	175	82	175	0	0	10	18	174	.469	.476
13	Jerian Grant	2015-16	23	NYK	NBA	32	0	517	57	162	52	124	5	38	41	49	160	.352	.436
14	Marreese Speights	2015-16	28	GSW	NBA	28	0	297	58	157	57	148	1	9	35	45	152	.369	.430
15	Norris Cole	2015-16	27	NOP	NBA	16	1	379	57	150	48	108	9	42	14	21	137	.380	.430
16	Joakim Noah	2015-16	30	CHI	NBA	25	1	558	46	113	46	112	0	1	21	43	113	.407	.428
17	Trey Lyles	2015-16	20	UTA	NBA	31	17	466	43	110	35	90	8	20	14	19	108	.391	.456
18	Tayshaun Prince	2015-16	35	MIN	NBA	35	24	721	50	107	49	98	1	9	6	11	107	.467	.478
19	Kevin Seraphin	2015-16	26	NYK	NBA	24	0	267	42	107	42	106	0	1	11	15	95	.393	.418
20	Sasha Vujacic	2015-16	31	NYK	NBA	23	8	315	26	93	17	47	9	46	10	13	71	.280	.360

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/5/2016.

We’re far off from calling this list complete, some guys will work their way off, others will flop their way in one brick at a time. But one thing is certain — the guys on the upper half of this list are missing their mark on a consistent basis.

Take Derrick Rose for instance, his numbers this season have been atrocious. The Chicago Bulls are now 4-1 without him, the one loss accrued came against the juggernaut Golden State Warriors squad. Rose has always had shoddy shot selection, he has never excelled as a jump shooter or outside threat, but he isn’t making his money at the rim anymore either. He’s converting less than 30 percent of his attempts at the rim and can’t seem to figure it out.

The Bulls as a whole are playing good basketball, and if Rose was a role player going through a slump it’d be hardly noticeable, but he isn’t. In fact, Rose leads all Bulls starters in usage. A man shooting this poorly shouldn’t be running your offense.

More from NBA

Three of the next five guys on this list are rookies, so we will cut them some slack. D’Angelo Russell has seen a significant rise in play since moving to the second unit and he is very close to being off this list. That being said, he has a long way to go as the number two overall pick this past draft.

Stanley Johnson is having an up-and-down maiden voyage in the NBA. Moments of brilliance do appear, but in sincerity, his overall play has been far from stellar. The Detroit Pistons are 7.2 points per 100 possessions better offensively with him on the bench. A telling and ugly statistic, but again, he is a rookie.

Emmanuel Mudiay is the player that should have you most worried. He has been turned loose in Denver, and very few rookies should be let off the leash this early. Mudiay is shooting at a putrid rate — no hyperbole — and on top of it he’s turning it over more than the Pillsbury doughboy. Don’t be completely disheartened, NBA legends Allen Iverson and Isiah Thomas had similar rookie seasons in terms of shooting and turning the rock over. Keep your eye on the young man in Denver as he continues to drive the Denver Nuggets one way or the other on a nightly basis.

For the rookies, the reality is there’s a learning period, some growing pains, but for the veterans, I’m of the mindset that it’s time to shape up or ship out. Joe Johnson, for example, is in his 15th season. Johnson isn’t going to improve his stroke, and he isn’t going to all of a sudden find a treasure trove of open looks playing on a lottery team. Johnson leads all Brooklyn Nets in minutes this season, those minutes may be better spent elsewhere at this point.

More hoops habit: 25 Worst Individual Seasons In NBA History

We are 30 something games into the season depending on which team we’re looking into, and the jury is still out. Markieff Morris, Joakim Noah, Norris Cole and many others further down this list are too talented to stay on here all year long. When the dust settles, the buzzer sounds and we look back on the 2015-16 season, I can assure you, no player wants to be part of the ‘more shots than points club’.