Can C.J. Miles Finally Surpass a 40% Three-Point Percentage?
By Josh Padmore
C.J. Miles may be the Indiana Pacers best shooter, but they need more than his usual hot streaks if they want to make a deep playoff run.
Indiana Pacers forward C.J. Miles has a reputation as a streaky shooter, but that doesn’t take away from his shooting ability that’s bailed out Indiana on several occasions.
Shooting 40.0% from three-point range is always a goal for great shooters in this league. It’s a yearly feat for guys like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kyle Korver, but despite his eye-popping hot streaks, C.J. has never surpassed the 40.0% clip in any of his 11 seasons in the NBA.
He started last season guns blazing. Taking around 7 three-pointers per game through the first three months of the season, he shot 40% in October, 43.7% in November, and 37.5% in December. He was definitely benefiting from the Pacers attempt at small-ball play. As the season went on, C.J.’s percentages bottomed out in January before making their way back to respectability.
It’s clear that the Pacers need efficient shooting from C.J. Miles. His shooting opens up so many other opportunities for the Pacers and gets the defense scrambling. They won’t have any choice but to run him off the three-point line.
Why did C.J.’s percentages dip so wickedly?
There are many reasons that contributed to his struggles.
For one, playing the small-ball power forward took a toll on him. He had to bang against opposing bigs in the post every night and it takes a lot out of your legs.
Another reason would be getting his conditioning right after his injuries.
He suffered a lot of minor injuries last season, playing in just 64 games. Again, you need your legs under you if you’re going to shoot the ball well. He wasn’t able to get in great shape after those nagging injuries.
You need to be in shape if you want to play with the Pacers new system. Practices and game action will help everyone with their conditioning — including C.J. We saw how injuries and lack of conditioning derailed Rodney Stuckey when the Pacers were at a slower pace last season.
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Last season is behind him, and he can only move forward. With the Pacers acquisition of Jeff Teague alone, C.J. should be getting more open looks from three next season.
Teague can penetrate and kick with ease. He’s one of the fastest players in the NBA. He’s going to draw the attention of defenses, which leads to open looks for shooters. Al Jefferson is another guy that C.J. Miles can benefit from. If Al is having a game where he’s seemingly impossible to stop in the post, double teams could come and C.J. could get free. The numbers say last season 91.3% of his made 3-pointers came off assists and was effective in catch and shoot situations, so it will be interesting to see how he does with Jefferson and Teague this season in similar situations.
Next: Are the Indiana Pacers Lineups Just Average?
This season could be the year in which C.J. Miles surpasses the 40.0% clip from deep.