The Incomparable Kyle Korver Is The X-Factor For The Surprising Hawks

The Cavaliers and Bulls were the heavy favorites to run away with the NBA’s Eastern Conference this year, but nearing the halfway point of the 2014-2015 season, it’s the Atlanta Hawks who boast the conference’s best record. Yet despite all of their early-season success, Atlanta seems to be flying under the radar. News 100 percent of the team is up for sale this week received more national attention than anything the Hawks have accomplished on the court this year. This team is the NBA’s best-kept secret, and while Jeff Teague and Paul Millsap may be leading the way for Atlanta, Kyle Korver has been the ultimate x-factor in ATL’s success this year.

Korver is playing out of his mind right now. He’s undoubtedly the best shooter in the league today, and his numbers prove it. Any player in the 180 club (if a player’s field goal, three point, and free throw percentages add up to at least 180, he’s a member of the club) is a very good shooter, but Korver is in the realm of the 200 club. That doesn’t happen very often. Atlanta’s marksman is today shooting 49.6 percent from the floor, 51.3 percent from beyond the arc and 94 percent from the free throw line. He’s the only player in the league to shot at least 49 percent from both the field and three and at least 90 percent from the line.

Korver is the league’s best long-range sniper. He can stroke it with ease from 30 feet, and he almost never chuck up an off-balance shot. Whether it’s a catch-and-shoot situation where he can run into the shot from a full sprint, Korver elevates and releases the ball exactly the same. That’s so much easier said than done, but Korver has mastered that aspect of shooting.
Korver ranks first in the NBA in True Shooting percentage at 71.5, a statistic adjusted to take into account all three percentages (2pt, 3pt, FT). He also ranks first among non-centers, and second overall, in Effective Field Goal percentage at 67.7 (eFG% measures 2-pointers and 3-pointers, but doesn’t take into account free throw percentage, which is why DeAndre Jordan is leading the league in this category right now despite shooting 41 percent from the stripe).

Kyle Korver is more than just a shooting specialist. To call him a “three-point specialist” is almost disrespectful at this point. He’s a very intelligent basketball player, and he uses his sky-high basketball IQ in other aspects of his game as well.

For someone who shoots the ball as well as Korver does, it seems crazy that he gets open so often. One of the biggest misconceptions in basketball is that getting open “just happens” — it doesn’t. Getting open is a skill, and a skill Korver has down as well as anybody in the NBA. He moves without the ball, sets hard screens for his teammates, and knows how to set up defenders before using screens to create space.

Korver also understands that his presence alone on the court opens up opportunities for the rest of his teammates. Defenses have to keep an extra eye on him because of his shooting ability, and often his defender has no help responsibilities. That equals more driving lanes for Jeff Teague, more room to operate in the high post for Paul Millsap, and more room to work the block for Al Horford.

Click to find out why Korver is actually a decent defender, and more…

One of the biggest knocks on Korver has been his inability to defend, but that’s not true about the Hawks’ small forward now. Korver has developed into an average defender over the years, and his 101.2 Defensive Rating is the third best of any Hawks player who averages at least 20 minutes per game. At 6-foot-7, Korver can guard multiple positions: shooting guards, small forwards, and even some stretch power forwards. He isn’t the most athletic guy on the court, but he makes his living by staying low in his defensive stance and in front of his man. He rarely gambles and always seems to be in the right position for help defense as well.

On occasion, he’ll make a spectacular defensive play like this block on Roy Hibbert, which is worth watching because who knows if the world will ever get to see Korver block a 7-2 center again.

Yes, the Hawks are better defensively when he’s on the bench (101.2 defensive rating – on; 99.2 – off), but it’s unfair to call him a sieve now. He can hold his own, and shouldn’t get lumped in with the worst defenders in the league.

Kyle Korver is absolutely vital to the Hawks’ success, and they’re a significantly better team with him on the floor. When Korver is on the court, the Hawks score 16 points more per 100 possessions (110.7 offsensive rating – on; 94.6 – off). He only trails Jeff Teague in net rating among regular Atlanta contributors, and he’s played 150 more minutes than Teague so far this season.

He currently ranks seventh in the NBA in standard plus/minus with the top four slots all going to Warriors players. Korver’s 23rd in the league in real plus/minus (real plus/minus takes into account the other nine players on the floor rather than standalone plus/minus numbers). Of those 22 players ranked above him in real plus/minus, Korver has a higher Defensive real plus/minus than Russell Westbrook, Jimmy Butler, James Harden and LeBron James. For a “shooter,” that’s pretty damn good.

Kyle Korver is the type of player every team in the NBA would love to have on its roster. There just aren’t many wings who stand at 6-7, rarely miss from deep, possess a high amount of basketball knowledge and can defend multiple positions. The Hawks can win regular season games if Korver doesn’t continue to play well, but they can’t win it all without him playing at this stellar level.

This quote from Celtics coach Brad Stevens last month says it all, by way of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

“He averages 13 points per game, right?” Stevens asked before a Hawks-Celtics game last month. “But you go into the game and you have to treat him like he averages 30, or else it could be 30.”

(All stats via NBA.com, Basketball-Reference.com and ESPN.com)

Is Kyle Korver the best shooter in the game today?

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