Worried about all those open 3s vs. VCU? Will Wade says 85-90% of those were by design

Will Wade and his staff are obsessed with the metrics. We’ve already highlighted that here.

But in yesterday’s press conference, I thought there was an interesting exchange.

Reporter: I guess they took 41 threes. I feel like a bunch of them were open. I think some of them were by design open, and some of them were where you said we can’t let that corner three because obviously, as all analytics know, the corner three is the easiest shot.

Wade: That’s not true. That’s not true.

Reporter: Not true?

Wade: See, that’s the BS that they’ve spread to college. It’s the easiest shot in the NBA because in the NBA, the line’s closer. It’s not the easiest shot in college. They trick you into thinking that because it’s the NBA. Now, it’s a really good shot. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a really good shot, but its point value’s not as high, as it is in the NBA, in college.

I understand your question. Our defense, if you look at our defensive profile, we’re going to give up a lot of threes. It’s the type of threes that we’re giving up. I thought the type of threes we gave up to VCU for the most part, about 85-90% of them were the type of threes we want to give up.

I know to the lay fan and the lay person, it looks like, ‘Oh my God, they’re giving up a bunch of open threes.’ There’s a method to it, and we know the percentages that they’re taking. They’re taking the type of threes that we want, which about 85-90% of them were. It looks like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s an open shot,’ but it’s not nearly as high a percentage shot as you would think if it’s the type of three that we want taken. Our defense is built to take those type of threes. We’ve got five years of data to back that up, but it does look like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s a wide-open three.’ Some of those wide-open threes or late-contested threes are way in our favor.

There are going to be many more teams that hoist 35-40 threes against us.

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I don’t know about you guys, but it’s quotes like these that have me feeling very confident in Wade and his system. There are going to be open shots when you play good teams in college basketball, but if those open shots can be shots you can live with, or that you’d prefer, then you drastically improve your chances of winning.

I also think Wade does himself a lot of favors with this type of quote. He doesn’t have to be so transparent about the ‘why’s’ , but he alwas does, and that’s going to earn him a lot of respect with the fan base. This type of comment quiets down fans who are going to complain about open 3s, and it allows Wade to own the narrative.

The guy is not just running a great system built on data; he’s also running a clinic on public relations.