Possible, but there’s also the issues of the longer distance and better defenders.
I don’t mean it as a huge criticism of JB or anything. I just remember thinking during his tenure that we were usually good from downtown (like 36-38% ish) but we usually weren’t great at it.
I don’t mean to rip on Douglas as he did many good things, but one hard memory of Stu was his going baseline and leaving his feet under the basket with nothing to do. Then Spike showed me it could be done successfully.
I remember that players leaving their feet and trying to figure the next move out while in mid-air drove Beilein crazy. Among the many things that drove Beilein crazy.
When Duncan got to Michigan, he could just barely get his hand over the rim. Now, quite a difference. And that has nothing to do with whether it’s an open gym or not. Camp Sanderson and NBA weight rooms definitely have made a difference.
Yes, clearly. I just think that ‘not athletic’ call by casual internet randos is probably the most dubious observation in sports. And we heard it a lot in regard to Duncan.