Stupid Things "The Professionals" Say

05.31.06 - A lady on ESPNEWS reported that Jason Terry, despite shooting 10-28 in the two games the Mavericks have lost to the Suns, intends to continue to be agressive. She insinuates that Terry is in a slump. However, the two Mavs losses have occurred in games one and four ... they won games two and three. Terry was close to 50% in the last four games (he played)against the Spurs and had a good game (9-20) in game three against the Suns. In game two, he shot just 6-15 from the field, but got to the FT line and made 6 of 7 from the charity stripe. Perhaps, if Terry knew which games the Mavs were going to lose, he wouldn't shoot so much. But, considering he doesn't know the outcome before the games even start, it's probably best that he continues to play the same way he has been playing.

Jason Terry has been an important piece of the Mavs run. However, he isn't a guy who shoots an exceptionally high percentage. His career FG% is 44.0% and he shot 47.0% from the field this regular season. Couple that with the fact that the intensity, and defensive effort, increases in the playoffs, and it's not surprising that he's shooting 42.2% from the field for the playoffs. He shot 41.9% in the first round, against the Grizzlies. He was a little better against the Spurs, 43.8%, and has been a bit worse against the Suns, 39.7%. Terry scores in the high teens, so regardless of his struggles in games 1 and 4 against the Suns, he's going to keep shooting and will probably continue to make about 40-45% of his shots. Only once in the playoffs (14 games), has Terry made more than 50% of his shots in a game; he was 8-15 in game 3 against the Spurs.