What happened to Luke Kornet’s 3 point shot?

Kornet once hit seven three-pointers in a single game, but he hasn’t attempted one all year.

Two mailbag inquiries addressed Luke Kornet’s deficiency in three-point shooting.

PDCeltics: Why does Kornet fail to make the three? was once such a significant aspect of his game.

Klam05: Is there a chance Mazulla can convince Luke to use his arsenal of three points? Back when he was a Knick, he was deployed as a stretch big. What are the chances that Joe is aware of this and is holding onto it till the ideal time?

Let’s take a closer look at this. Luke Kornet made seven three-pointers in a single game at one point in his career. We have video proof.

This year he hasn’t even attempted a single 3 pointer. What gives?

Sometimes the stats page tells the whole story. In his first two years in the league, he shot a respectable 35.4% and 36.3% on pretty high volume (roughly 4 per game). After that, however, his percentages drop to the mid 20’s as he bounced around from team to team, trying to find a home in the NBA.

You’ll notice that his attempts fell off a cliff as well. After attempting 380 three pointers through his first three seasons, he’s attempted just 141 for the rest of his career (3.75 seasons). That might be a chicken/egg debate topic. Did he stop shooting because he wasn’t shooting well enough or are his shooting splits skewed by the low sample size of attempts?

Our own Bobby Manning actually asked Luke directly about his early career. He spoke about some injuries he had earlier in his career and the impact that they had on what he’s focused on.

“The time in Chicago was definitely very difficult, especially because it seemed like all your abilities, it’s like, alright what’s going on? You didn’t even know what was happening, but I think that in a lot of ways was great because it helped me be able to accept a certain role that I had that was different than what I’d done a lot in a lot of my career and be able to improve in that, and I think that’s actually become useful here in Boston, helping as a screener, roller, offensive rebounder and all that stuff. If it wasn’t for my injuries, I never would’ve taken the time to actually improve and address those things. At the time I wasn’t grateful for it, but I think now I’m appreciative. It was definitely very difficult and hard and some dark days.”

It sounds like he decided to focus his efforts on skills that could get stay on an NBA roster and get back on the court. That means doing the dirty work that he mentions (screening, rebounding, etc.) and generally using his 7’1” frame in more traditional ways. This speaks to the difficult decisions that some guys need to make to their game when they are on the fringe edges of the league.

From a Celtics perspective, this team has plenty of shooting from the perimeter. They need guys that can do the grunt work and guard opposing backup centers. Of course you see Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford out there stretching the court. But those are proven shooters with reputations that impact scouting reports.

I would think that Luke would be encouraged to launch away if he and the coaching staff were sufficiently confident in his shot. But if he only makes 25% of his shots, the defense won’t be stretched, and he would be better off concentrating on pick and rolls and boxing out for rebounds.

Perhaps he should focus on improving that aspect of his game over the off-season. We’ll simply have to settle for his other talents for the time being, like his spectacular celebrations!

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