Miami Heat: How Hassan Whiteside, Bam Adebayo are causing a revolution

Bully Ball

Brook Lopez, the starting center for the Milwaukee Bucks and one-half of the Lopez twins with his brother Robin, has used his new found 3-point stroke as a catalyst for success elsewhere.

In his last season with the Brooklyn Nets, the former Stanford Cardinal adapted to shooting 3’s at the behest of his coach, Kenny Atkinson. The pattern continued the following season with the Los Angeles Lakers, and then again after moving to the Bucks.

Now, Lopez is shooting the second-most 3s in Milwaukee each night (6.7), and at a respectable clip of 35 percent. He draws the attention of everyone who has the displeasure of guarding him, whether they planned for a full sprint to the 3-point line or not.

But that shooting stroke has also given the Bucks another tool, one which takes Lopez right back to his roots.

Enes Kanter is not the best defender, but he played Lopez’s first pump fake perfectly. He chopped his feet and closed out with a hand in his face. The only problem is that he fell for the second one, which provided Lopez a runway to take off for a dunk.

Simple logic would suggest that having a 7-foot human take a close range shot on a 10-foot rim is preferable to a lot of things that happen on the basketball court. Lopez did just that, while leaving open the threat of later attempts from deep.

Other centers, like Joel Embiid, have eschewed the 3-pointer despite incorporating the shot into their game. On Christmas Eve, Embiid made as much clear to ESPN, taking the shots out of good will to his teammates and the Philadelphia 76ers game plan.

"“I don’t like shooting 3’s. I only do it because I got to make it work, but the last couple games, mainly the last two games, my mindset has been, if I’m on the perimeter, it doesn’t mean that I have to shoot 3’s.”"

Currently shooting 28.5 percent on nearly four attempts per game, Embiid is right to be weary of the long ball. He is physically gifted—7-foot-3 with a wingspan three inches longer—to dream shake his way to the rim. Stopping his contributions short at the 3-point arc, is a mortal affront against his growing basketball legacy.

Even then, more teams are employing centers who don’t even make try and flex as a distance shooter. Steven Adams is having an All-Star worthy season with Oklahoma City, despite attempting just five triples through his six-year career.

With such a focus on the 3, it’s easy to forget just how important traditional centers are in building a successful organization. Having the tallest guy on the court sky for a put-back or alley-oop jam (like Adebayo does almost nightly) is equal parts demoralizing and game changing.

The NBA might be dragging its best shooters to the forefront of the conversation, but big men who pack the paint aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.