Saturday, April 23, 2011
Posted: 12 p.m.
By John R. Finger
CSNPhilly.com
The main thing is confidencejust working on making shots, said Sixers guard Jodie Meeks. Once thats down I made sure I knew how to shoot and made sure my mechanics were right.
Meeks is a shooter, and a pretty good one at that. Better yet, Meeks fits the profile of the quiet schoolyard assassin, who until he starts burying shot after shot, no one knows if he can play. Meeks is listed at 6-foot-4 and a shade over 200 pounds, but that might be cheating an inch or two. Just 23 years old, Meeks looks younger with a face and attitude not yet hardened by years on the road and lots of late-night room service.
Truth is, Meeks looks like a lot of shooters he followed when he was a kid in Norcross, Ga.
Reggie Miller, Rip Hamilton, Michael Jordan, Meeks answered when asked which shooters he followed. Id go outside with my dad and work on my shooting and hed kind of tell me how to play.
Actually, Meeks has a look that helped him blend in when he was an undergrad at Kentucky. After two seasons where he averaged a little more than eight points per game, Meeks went for nearly 24 points a game in his third year at the school. In one, Meeks broke the school record held by Hall of Famer Dan Issel when he scored 54 points, 30 of those points came on three-pointers. The 54-point game was the best in the nation during the 2008-09 season and his 46- and 45-point efforts were the second- and third-highest scoring games of the college season.
NBA
It was the ability to shoot that made Meeks skip his last season of eligibility and enter the NBA draft, though it was also the draft where he learned that there was a lot more to the game than just being able to score the ball, as his coach Doug Collins says. When his name was finally called by Milwaukee at the draft in June of 2009, there were only 19 picks remaining and of those 19, only seven of those players saw a tick of NBA playing time.
However, Meeks also learned that a little perseverance and the ability to shoot the ball can create a lot of opportunities, too. Traded from Milwaukee to Philadelphia at midseason of last year, the asking price was just Royal Ivey, Primoz Brezec and a second-round pick. When it comes down to it, the Ivey, Brezec and a second-round pick for Meeks could go down as one of general manager Ed Stefanskis shrewdest moves, though it didnt seem like that at first.
Meeks was just another player dotting the stat sheet in a lost year for the Sixers last season. Yet, when Collins took over at the start of this season, Meeks was inactive for the first six games of the season. Imagine how that must have felt the biggest scorer in the country as a junior apparently was only good enough to be a second-round pick. Then, to get traded by the team that drafted him for the proverbial bag of balls, only to start a new season with a new coach on the bench in a suit instead of a uniform, the self-doubt was understandable.
But Meeks shot his way off the bench and into the starting lineup. Better yet, by the end of the season Collins was asking himself, What was I thinking?
He missed the first six games because I wasnt smart enough to dress him, Collins said.
Jodie has been amazing. Hes still just scratching the surface. His next growth will be being able to play pick-and-roll. Right now I have limited that for him because I dont think hes very comfortable doing that and making decisions, but in the summer, he can get in the gym and learn to play off the dribble and expand his game.
He sat, waiting to get a chance he could only hope would come.
It wasnt very confusing. When I got traded I was happy to be here and thankful I was in a situation where they liked me, Meeks said. I knew eventually I would get a chance. My whole life Ive been the guy who helped the team by shooting.
Meeks made 138 three-pointers this season and averaged a little better than 10 points per game. His 89.4 percent foul shooting was fifth-best in the NBA, and, according to the advanced metrics, the Sixers were four points better per 100 possessions when Meeks was on the floor rather than off it. Thats fairly significant considering that the Sixers were only 1.5 points per game better than the opposition in 2010-11.
Its hard to get him off the floor now, Collins said. His shooting, his toughness, his energywhen hes out on the floor with the quickness that he brings, he can cover a lot of spots on the floor.
Thats what a shooter does. Oh sure, Meeks gets out-muscled by the bigger shooting guards in the league and his defense is still in development. But when a guy shoots nearly 40 percent from beyond the three-point arc, it gets attention.
When the shots stopped falling, though, things didnt go so well for the Sixers. Meeks closed out the season shooting 3 for 27 from three-point range. That offset a stretch where he went 19 straight games with a three-pointer and made 31 of 64.
But then he started missing them and there was no real reason why. He was open, his form was as true and solid as ever, its just that the ball would start to go down before popping out. There was even a three-pointer at the end of a game against New York that if it would have dropped, Meeks would have given the Sixers a back-breaking four-point lead. Instead, the Knicks rebounded the shot after it seemed to touch the twine and had enough left for a late rally.
Fortunately for Meeks, he was told to keep shooting. Not once was he looking over his shoulder wondering when Collins would be there with the hook.
I told Jodie I used to tell former Bulls shooter John Paxson, unless youve missed five shots, you havent taken enough, because I always feel that way about good shooters, Collins said.
All Meeks has to do is keep shooting, said Andre Iguodala, who has been a mentor to Meeks this season. He could be 0 for 100, but well stick him in there and throw it to him again. Hes been a huge factor for us, and in order for him to be effective on the team he has to have confidence. Its just about that. He had a good look, and it went in and out. Its a fine line between winning and losing. If another goes down then youre talking about something different.
So after closing the season with a shooting slump in which the Sixers dropped five of their final six games, Meeks is finding his stroke. In his first two playoff games, the guard made 3 of 5 three-pointers, but only 3 of his 8 two-pointers.
In Game 3, Meeks went 2 for 6 from beyond the arc and missed a pair of crucial two-pointers during the first half that could have boosted the Sixers early lead. Missed shots happen, of course, but Meeks skills as a spot-up shooter often make it difficult for Collins not to play him.
Next year Collins hopes Meeks game develops to where he can have his number called on pick-and-rolls and high screens for open jumpers. Chalk up the 5-for-11 showing from three-point range (3 for 10 on two-pointers) as a learning experience for the young guard.
In the meantime, Meeks has at least one more game to figure it out. After all, made shots are contagious, too. A shooter is always one away from being the difference.
E-mail John R. Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com
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