J.R. Smith is one of my favorite NBA players, and he should be one of yours too. Despite being an absolute freak athletically, he loves, and I mean loves, to jack up threes.

J.R. is a “chucker”. A “chucker” is described as someone that loves to shoot, whether in the flow of the offense or not, no matter where they are on the court. “Chuckers,” almost by definition, are primarily scorers, and offer absolutely nothing else but their ability to throw so many shots up, that some are bound to go in.

Go ahead and take a look at the chart below. I have taken the liberty of including “minutes per game”, and the extra special “threes per minute” per minute stat, which I calculated all by myself. Look at J.R. (#23) and compare that number to all the rest of the leagues’ prolific three point shooters. The following charts will help you realize that J.R. wants nothing more than the throw shots at the backboard. He is the most prolific “chucker” or volume shooter, in the league.

BA Three-Point Shooting Leaders

RNK     NAME                           3PM      3PA      3PM      3PA      Min  3PA’s/Min

1          J. Richardson, CHA         2.9        7.2        215       535      38.0         .18

2          R. Lewis, ORL                 2.7        6.8        200       496      38.6         .17

3          B. Davis, GSW               2.1        6.5        156       471      39.4          .16

4          S. Jackson, GSW           2.6        6.9        168       443      39.7          .15

5          P. Stojakovic, NOR         3.0        6.6        202       440      35.0         .19

6          J. Crawford, NYK            2.2        6.2        156       439      40.8         .15

7          R. Allen, BOS                 2.5        6.3        164       416      36.7         .17

8          J. Johnson, ATL              2.1        5.4        154       403      40.9         .13

9          R. Bell, PHO                   2.4        6.0        158       399      36.0         .17

10         R. Alston, HOU               2.0        5.6        137       390      34.4         .16

11         L. Barbosa, PHO             2.0        5.2        148       386      37.3         .14

12         H. Turkoglu, ORL            2.1        5.2        156       385      29.6         .18

            J. Navarro, MEM             1.9        5.2        142       385      25.7         .20

14         M. Ginobili, SAS             2.2        5.5        155       378      31.4         .17

15         A. Harrington, GSW        2.0        5.2        143       374      27.2          .19

            K. Bogans, ORL              1.9        5.1        138       374      27.4         .19

17         D. Stevenson, WAS        1.9        5.0        139       371      31.8         .16

18         K. Bryant, LAL                1.7        5.0        129       369      39.1         .13

19         D. Granger, IND             2.0        5.1        145       365      35.6         .14

20         R. Gay, MEM                  1.6        4.8        120       348      37.6          .13

21         S. Nash, PHO                 2.3        4.8        168       347      34.8         .13

22         S. Battier, HOU              1.7        4.7        126       342      36.7         .13

23         J. Smith, DEN                 2.1        5.2        138       340      18.9          .28

 

45.        D. Jones                        1.7        4.1        115        272      19.7          .21

 

That last figure is the most important. Basically, that .28 figure says that JR Smith shoots threes at a 33 percent higher (.28 per minute vs. the next highest, .21 per minute) rate than anyone else in the league. If he were to play 40 minutes a game, he would average 11.2 3PAs, which is a full five threes more than noted chucker Jamal Crawford and four shots more than league attempt leader Jason Richardson (Although Jason would take around 7.5 threes per 40 minutes according to my math above).

Even George McCloud, who holds the record for three point attempts in a season with 687, hoisted only 9.6 threes point shots per 40 minutes.

Now let’s look at another stat that proves J.R.’s love for chucking. (If you needed one) This is a look at what percentage of a players’ total field goals (2 point attempts plus three point attempts) are three point field goals, here are the Top 10. (For players with over 100 3 point attempts)

1. Damon Jones – 77.4 % of his shots are 3s

2. Keith Bogans – 69.3 %

3. James Posey – 66 %

4. James Jones – 63%

5. Shane Battier – 60.5%

6. Raja Bell – 58.3%

7. J.R. Smith – 57.4 %

8. Daniel Gibson – 57.3%

9. Juan Carlos Navarro – 56.1 %

10. Sasha Vujacic – 56 %

Let’s throw one more out there, average shots per minute, and let’s take a look at our top 10 above.

(For reference, Lebron James averages .54 shots per minute (League leader). Only the top 4 players on this list average over .50 shots per minute)

1. Damon Jones – .27 shots per minute

2. Keith Bogans – .27

3. James Posey – .22

4. James Jones – .26

5. Shane Battier – .21

6. Raja Bell – .28

7. J.R. Smith – .48

8. Daniel Gibson – .27

9. Juan Carlos Navarro – .36

10. Sasha Vujacic – .38

Now, it is time to calculate “The Angry T Chucker Index.” We will take the threes per minute stat + percentage of total field goals that are threes (in decimal form) + field goals per minute, and that will equal our index. Here are the top six chuckers in the league. (Again, for reference, Kobe Bryant’s “Chucker Index” is .90. Despite the fact that he seems to be shooting every five seconds, his index figure is a full 47 percent lower than J.R. Smith)

J.R. Smith – .574 + .28 + .48 = 1.33

Damon Jones – .774 + .21 + .27 = 1.24

Keith Bogans – .693 + .19 + .27 = 1.15

Juan Carlos Navarro – .561 + .20 + .36 = 1.12

James Jones - .63 + .16 + .26 = 1.05

James Posey – .666 + .15 + .22 = 1.03

Congrats to J.R. Smith, you are the leagues’ best chucker and frankly it isn’t very close. J.R. takes the most threes per minute by 33 percent, he also takes the most shots per minute of anyone not named Bryant, James, Anthony, and McGrady. It takes determination, courage, balls, and an absolute disregard for team basketball to reach the levels that J.R. has reached. Similar congratulations to Damon Jones, who refuses to take two point field goals unless absolutely necessary or a family members’ life is on the line.

The Angry T

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