Cory Joseph has become an elite spot-up shooter this season. Let’s take a look at the numbers.
Over the course of his career, Cory Joseph has been a passable three-point shooter at best. He spent the first six seasons of his career shooting 31.7 percent from deep, a number that suggests he should only have shot threes if he were wide open. This year, Joseph has changed that all around, raising his three-point percentage to over 40 percent and becoming a serviceable outside shooter. This is largely thanks to some incredible spot-up shooting.
Spot-Up attempts are shot attempts where a player shoots a catch and shoot shot, but they are not in motion. Here is an example of a Cory Joseph spot up jumper:
The manner in which Joseph sets his feet and puts his hands up ready to shoot is what makes this shot a spot-up attempt. Like most CoJo spot-up attempts, this one went in.
In Joseph’s 88 spot-up shot attempts this season, he has produced 112 points, absolutely insane efficiency. That equates to 1.27 points per possession, which puts Cory Joseph in the 93.5 percentile throughout the NBA in spot-up situations.
More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds
- 2 Studs, 1 dud from gut-wrenching Indiana Pacers loss to Charlotte Hornets
- Handing out early-season grades for Pacers’ Bruce Brown, Obi Toppin
- 3 positives, 2 negatives in Pacers In-Season Tournament win vs. Cavaliers
- 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
- Should Isaiah Jackson’s days with Indiana Pacers be numbered?
Joseph’s basketball IQ tends to shine through on these plays. He is excellent at finding the open space on the court where he can get open looks of this variety.
Take this clip for example. He starts the play in the corner, but Darren Collison gets free on a pick and roll so Joesph’s man is forced to squeeze into the paint and play help-side defense. Recognizing that the wing is now open, Joseph bursts into the open space and nails the three when Collison gets him the ball:
Money. Josephs’s awareness made that all happen.
Here again, you can see that awareness on display. Domantas Sabonis has the ball in the post, and Joseph slides to the top of the key to try to bait his matchup into doubling in the post. It works, as Jae Crowder slides down into the paint. Right then, Joseph creeps back over to where he originally started, and Sabonis hits him with a perfect pass for the easy triple:
All those high IQ plays lead to easy shots for Cory Joseph, which is reflected in his 66 effective field goal percentage on spot-ups.
This seemingly random jump in efficiency for Joseph merits praise for the whole roster. A combination of a lot of things is making him so effective. The team’s chemistry and willingness to pass ensures he gets the ball when he’s open, but this is also a credit to how proficient the Pacers have been at breaking down the defense and making them move. Once the defense moves, Joseph uses his cerebral talents to get open and finish.
Next: The art of the rebuild: trade deadline season
Who know’s if Cory Joseph can keep up this huge spike in his efficiency as a whole. However, if he continues to get open looks for himself and continues to be cash money on spot-up jumpers, he can probably be an effective shooter all season long.