Inside the mind of Cavaliers guard Kyle Korver, one of the NBA’s greatest three-point snipers
Kyle Korver wants to preface a discussion about shooting – his sublime three-point shooting in particular – with a caveat.
“It’s a journey, and I don’t pretend to have the whole thing figured out, because I feel like there’s still a lot to learn,” the humble Cavaliers shooting guard told USA TODAY Sports.
If he doesn’t have shooting figured out, he’s as close as an NBA player is going to get. A 43.1% three-point shooter for his career – his 2,213 made threes are fourth all-time in NBA history – Korver perhaps saved Cleveland’s season with four three-pointers, including two late in the fourth quarter of a 104-100 Game 4 victory on Sunday in Indiana.
“I won’t say mastered,” said Lakers coach Luke Walton who was in Korver’s 2003 draft class. “But he’s come close to mastering his skillset of being an absolute knockdown shooter, and when you can do something better than everyone else in the world, then you’re going to play for a long time.”
He has admirers throughout the league and in his locker room.
“His feet are always set and ready to go. His mechanics are the same. They never change,” LeBron James said “You can tell he’s put in that work over the years. True professional. Work ethic. He knows he’s an NBA player, and that’s been No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 on his list every single year.”
At 37 years old – an age when players are on the decline – Korver still makes an impact. This season, Korver made 43.6% of his three-pointers.
“As long as your body is holding in there, you should become a better shooter,” he said. “I do feel like I’m better. I don’t know if my numbers are better.”
He led the team in plus-minus – the Cavs scored 274 more points than their opponents with Korver on the court – and of players who were on the Cavs all season, he had the best net-efficiency rating. He might be the third most important Cav after James and Kevin Love.
Former teammate Channing Frye called Korver a rarity. “There’s only two or three guys who do what he does and that’s create a double team without the ball,” Frye said.
Korver just doesn’t put the work in, he puts thought into the work – a combination of science, philosophy, theory and practice.
“I’m not afraid of changing something to try to be better at it. I think some people get just locked into ‘this is the way it has to be,’ and they’re afraid of messing something up. I don’t ever want to be that way with shooting or with anything really – not just shooting. It’s good to always try to learn and try to grow. I’m always tinkering. I love that. I’m not thinking about the same thing every day. I’m trying to find different things.”
Three years ago when he played for Atlanta, Korver shared his 20-point checklist with USA TODAY Sports. The list identifies the key factors that make Korver’s shot one of the best in NBA history.
1. Wide stance. 2. Exaggerated legs. 3. Drop through heels. 4. Engage core. 5. Slight bend at waist. 6. Up strong. 7. Elbow straight. 8. One hand. 9. Fingers spread. 10. Slight pause. 11. Elbow up. 12. Land forward. 13. See the top of the rim. 14. Ball on fingertips. 15. Strong shot. 16. Shoulders forward and relaxed. 17. Ball and arm risen straight. 18. Hold the follow through. 19. Keep the release point high. 20. On turns, square shoulders.
“I tried to be as detailed as I could,” Korver said. “As you look at it, some things pull closer towards you. Some things fade away. It’s like that all the time. It’s just kind of the way it is. My understanding of each of these things seems to keep evolving and you spend a lot of time focusing on an area.
“For me, especially as I get older, I feel pretty good about what I’m doing mechanically. It’s about training my body to groove certain things.”
Some points on the checklist have morphed into one such as “drop through the heels” and “engage core.”
“It’s something that’s hard to verbalize but I pretend that I’m trying to pinch something in my hip,” Korver explained. “And when I do that, I naturally have to use my legs, and I know that to do that well I have to bend through my heels and then I feel my hip more. I’ve knocked out two birds with one stone.”
Point No. 13 – “see the top of the rim” – has evolved into making sure the ball goes higher than the backboard on his shot. Is the ball actually going higher? “In my head it is,” Korver said. “That helps me see the rim better.”
Korver’s focus on lifting weights – deadlifts in particular – has provided him with a counterintuitive process. “A proper lift for me the day before a game is more important than getting 300 shots or 500 shots up,” Korver said.
About an hour before tipoff during his pregame workout, Korver stands at halfcourt and “shoots” a heavy ball into the air.
“It activates my fingertips when I’m pushing something that’s heavier,” he said. “I shoot it as high as I can. I try to get into my hips. It triggers something. I get the ball high, and it’s as simple as I can make shooting. I want the simplest and most powerful shot my body can shoot.
“A basketball is lighter. You can shoot it with bad mechanics. But with a heavy ball, my elbow has to get tucked in. That’s not for everybody. A lot of people won’t like it. But that’s what I’ve found works really well for me.”
That’s what Korver is focused on now. “You ask me in a year or two and I may have a different opinion,” he said.
Korver has a belief system that works for him.
Another great three-point shooter, Cavs teammate J.R. Smith, is the antithesis.
“His mentality is impressive,” Smith said. “He has a tremendous checklist that he goes through when he shoots. Fortunately, I don’t think as much. I just try to get it up whenever I can. He shoots the same way every time no matter what, and for me, that’s hard. I take wild shots and stuff.”
Korver entered the NBA at the early stages of the three-point revolution – a time when Coach Mike D’Antoni’s Phoenix Suns fired threes. The Suns led the league in three-point attempts in 2004-05 with 2,206. This season, that would’ve ranked 26th.
Korver led the league with Quentin Richardson in three-pointers made (226) in 2004-05. At the time, it ranked as the seventh-best single-season effort. It’s now 31st.
Source:-https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2018/04/25/kyle-korver-three-pointers-shooting-philosophy-cleveland-cavaliers/547422002/
