Orange County Register

Q: What are the chances the Lakers shoot better from 3-point range this season compared to last season?

A: 76 percent.

Three-point shooting was possibly the worst aspect of the Lakers’ offense last season. They made 36.1 percent of 3-pointers, which ranked 19th in the NBA. They were among the top 10 in all the other key offensive categories except turnovers, where they ranked 11th, and free-throw shooting, where they ranked 14th.

They should definitely shoot the long ball better this season, when the offense should hum even more smoothly with more Andrew Bynum occupying attention on the interior.

It’s entirely possible that Lamar Odom carries over his brilliant 3-point shooting from the 2009 postseason (Odom shot 51.4 percent, the best on the team — up from 32 percent in the regular season), which would help tremendously given how much Odom drifts to the perimeter in the triangle offense. It’s hard to imagine that Jordan Farmar (33.6 percent in 2008-09) won’t make better use of his plentiful open opportunities from behind the arc also.

If Adam Morrison can steal away some playing time from Luke Walton, that will tick the team 3-point efficiency upward, too. But as good as Trevor Ariza’s 3-ball was in the postseason, Ron Artest has proved to be a better shooter in recent seasons and should show that once he establishes some rhythm in the Lakers’ offense.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.