This Slump May Be Permanent
As He Nears 40, Jason Kidd's Shooting Has Grown Ice Cold and Defenses Are Taking Advantage
By CHRIS HERRING
[image] Getty ImagesJason Kidd is mired in the worst shooting span of his career.
GREENBURGH, N.Y.—NBA coaches seldom find themselves giving pep talks to future Hall of Famers. But Mike Woodson felt the need to have that sort of conversation recently with Jason Kidd, who's been reluctant to pull the trigger at times.
"I told him, 'You've made big shots over your career. We need you to shoot,'" Woodson said. "Those are good shots he's passing up."
For anyone who's watched Kidd lately, the hesitation is almost understandable. Over the past 12 games—the worst 12-game shooting span in his 19-year career, according to Stats LLC—he's shot 20% from the field overall and 15.9% from distance, prompting subtle questions about whether he should remain a starter.
But with Kidd just weeks away from his 40th birthday, perhaps there is a more important question worth raising: Is Kidd just mired in a massive slump, or has he just passed the point where he can continue to be productive each night?
With each passing game, the answer looks more like the latter. Kidd knocked down just one of his seven shots in Sunday's win over Philadelphia, and missed all six of his three-point tries. Even when he drilled two of his four triples Friday in Toronto, both Woodson and Carmelo Anthony expressed surprise at Kidd passing up a pair of wide-open shots.
Advanced statistics illustrate that Kidd—No. 3 in NBA history in made 3-point shots—has been getting an abundance of open looks, almost as if defenses are daring to him to shoot while he fights through this cold streak. In November, when made 51% of his attempts and 49% of his three-point tries, he was being left open only 55% of the time. In 10 games this month, he has been left open for a whopping 71% of his jumpers, according to Synergy Sports. He hasn't made teams pay for it: Kidd's connected on just 17% of his open shots in February.
Aside from the obvious, the misfires have been problematic for two reasons. First, there are signs that Kidd doesn't mesh particularly well alongside fellow wing Iman Shumpert. In the 172 minutes Kidd and Shumpert have shared the floor, the Knicks have logged just 83.1 points per 100 possessions—a rate that wouldn't even put their offense on par with that of the Washington Wizards, who rank last in offensive efficiency.
Similar to Kidd, opposing teams haven't feared Shumpert shooting from outside. In the 16 games he's played since returning from knee surgery, Shumpert has been left open almost for almost 90% of his opportunities.
Secondly, defensive indifference toward Shumpert and Kidd has allowed teams to throw more defenders at Carmelo Anthony, who's posted a 40.8% field-goal percentage in February, his worst shooting month of the season.
But perhaps the most jarring thing about Kidd's game is how much it contrasts from the stellar play he flashed three months ago. In November, when the Knicks were the league's hottest team, Kidd made Woodson look like a genius for effectively turning him into a shooting guard, with less ball-handling responsibility. In early December, Kidd drilled a game-winning three to beat the Brooklyn Nets, 100-97, in the closing moments.
But Kidd went back to being a full-time point guard after Felton fractured a finger on Christmas and missed nearly a month. Woodson said the assignment took a toll on Kidd, whom Woodson took blame for overextending at times. (Despite Woodson's acknowledgment, Kidd's 29.4 minutes per game during Felton's absence were actually less than the 29.6 minutes he logged while Felton was healthy. Kidd's averaged 28 minutes the past 2½ weeks—an amount Woodson said Tuesday he's comfortable with going forward.)
Kidd insists playing time isn't the problem. "The shots I've had have all looked good; felt good—nothing to do with minutes. It's just the game of basketball, where they go in or sometimes they don't," he said, adding that the nature of the misses—short and long, rather than right or left—leaves him confident.
Still, it certainly wasn't promising when Kidd—who's in the first of a three-year, $9-million deal—emerged from the weeklong All-Star break with a shot that was still broken despite the time off.
"Rest helps. And I think it'd be wise to limit his minutes," said ESPN analyst Tim Legler, recalling the mortality of his own once-beautiful jump shot. "But when you get to Jason's age, your tank empties much faster. After a while, it's much more than just a 'rest' or a 'legs' issue."
Write to Chris Herring at chris.herring@wsj.com
2/26/2013 9:50 PM
