WARRIORS PRACTICE FACILITY, OAKLAND, CA — The Golden State Warriors want backup point guard Shaun Livingston to shoot more three-pointers. Livingston, who stands 6’7″ and is usually being guarded by a smaller defender, has a variety of post-up moves and doesn’t find himself beyond the arc, catching a pass wide-open much.
“I was on Shaun all last year in a joking manner, because he’d make corner threes all the time in practice,” said head coach Steve Kerr three days before #GSWMediaDay. “And I’d just kept saying, ‘2015!’ He’d hear me out of the corner of the gym and he’d look at me and smile.”
Here’s Livingston shooting those corner threes after practice yesterday, as filmed by Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group:
Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area reported:
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In 544 regular-season games over his 11-year NBA career, Livingston has taken 51 3-pointers and made 10. In 45 playoff games, he has taken three and made two. In 99 total games last season, his first with the Warriors, he was 0-for-3 from deep.
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So while the trey may be a shot Livingston can make, it’s also a shot he rarely takes.
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“One problem is I’d have to stay out there (20-25 feet from the basket),” he said. “And I’m always rolling to the basket or cutting back door; I’m one of the best cutters in the league. I can’t make any (3s) if I’m not out there.”
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“Shaun and I have a bet,” the interim coach said, “that he owes me pushups whenever he doesn’t shoot an open 3.”
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Per Leung:
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“He hasn’t passed up any yet, but he hasn’t gotten any yet which leads me to believe he’s not hanging out around that 3-point line. Because on our 3-point line, you should get some threes with the way we move and the double-teams our guys demand.”
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Stephen Curry told us at practice yesterday, “He’s such a unique player that he can be in a dunker’s spot on the baseline. Guys lose vision of him. He makes some beautiful cuts, finishes at the rim, slashes and all that. You add another element to him, spacing, whether it’s top of the key or in the corners.
“I know he’s been working on it and I think he’s going to have confidence when he gets those opportunities to knock them down,” Curry added, stating that it could cause havoc with opponent’s scouting reports.
We caught Livingston shooting threes during the morning shootaround at Stanford University before the first preseason game against the Toronto Raptors:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6t5a6NIf7w&w=560&h=315]If or when Livingston does splash a three, look out.
“When he makes his first three in a game, we are gonna go crazy, probably more crazy than the whole bench did for my three the other day,” said Curry.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via USA Today)
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