http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704405704576064191359383456.html

By KEVIN CLARK

With four minutes to go in a tie game against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, Raymond Felton, the Knicks' point guard, drove down the right side of the court and paused briefly near the free-throw line to let the defense get distracted by big man Amar'e Stoudemire, who was moving toward the basket.

Then Mr. Felton tossed the ball to teammate Toney Douglas, who was standing a few feet to his left. Mr. Douglas, in turn, waited about a second before slinging the ball into the left corner where Wilson Chandler was waiting to hit what the Knicks say is the perfect shot: The 3-pointer from the left corner.

On the surface, this does not seem like some triumph of basketball ingenuity. It was just one of 17 3-point attempts on the afternoon and was a typical play for the 3-point addicted Knicks. They have averaged 24 3-point attempts this season and made nine of them, tied for the NBA lead in both statistics with the Orlando Magic.

But for the Knicks, 3-pointers have become a force, opening up the court for Mr. Stoudemire who said the spacing created by the threat of a 3-point shot has been the key to the season. Nearly every player on the roster operates with one rallying cry repeated daily by coaches: "If you're open, shoot it."

The key to the success isn't a player or a coach, it is a three-foot area of wood found on every NBA court: the left corner, the Knicks' Promised Land. They have made 49% of their 112 3-point shots from the left corner. The league average on all 3-pointers is just 35.9%.

The left corner is the prime real estate for a number of Knicks: five players shoot at least 50 percent from there, including Mr. Felton's 80%, Shawne Williams, 73.3% and 50% from Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari.

Rookie Landry Fields is the only player with significant attempts to be better from the right corner than the left—he's made just four of 17 attempts from the left corner and five of nine from the right. The only team better from the left corner, the Boston Celtics, have made 52% of their shots from the left, but have only taken 62, less than half of the Knicks' attempts. The Knicks shoot 38% from the right corner, just 18th in the NBA.

Players have caught on. According to Mr. Williams, the beginning of offensive sets can sometimes play out like beachgoers sprinting to the shadiest palm tree: Everyone wants to stand on the most popular spot. "I'll tell them, 'Let me get the corner', sometimes [Wilson Chandler] wants it, sometimes [Gallinari] might want it," Mr. Williams said. "I trust the statistics."

Why the left corner is such a good shot for the Knicks isn't much of a mystery. Mr. Felton brings the ball up on the right side of the court and starts the offense on the right wing. Assistant coach Phil Weber said that defenses sink in toward Mr. Felton and Mr. Stoudemire, who are usually executing a pick and roll, and the left corner is open.

There are plenty of theories on why the corner is such a good shot. The most obvious is that it is the closest three on the floor. While the three-point line is 23 feet, nine inches at the top, it is 22 feet in the corners. James Jones, who hit a career-high 110 3-pointers under Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni while with the Phoenix Suns in 2005, said that the corner is also good for psychological reasons.

Because there is little room to move your feet, it becomes a more disciplined and set shot, very different from a free-wheeling style some shooters take with the open space the top of the key affords them.

Since the 3-point shot was introduced to the NBA in 1979, it has become a mixed bag for teams. In fact, the highest number of 3-point shots in NBA history was attempted by the 2008-09 New York Knicks, who took 27.8 per game in Mr. D'Antoni's first season as coach. That team went 32-50.

The difference this season is that the same approach has produced more victories (20) than defeats (14).

Mr. D'Antoni's first became infatuated with the 3-pointer in Europe, where he was a point guard on a fast-paced team in Italy. The line was even closer in Italy than in the NBA (20 feet, 5 inches), and Mr. D'Antoni said he immediately took to it as a player. He noticed that the fast pace of the offense usually led to open 3-pointers, and his coaching philosophy of 'take the first open shot' fit well with the fact that the first open shot was usually worth one more point than the traditional two-point basket.

Mr. D'Antoni's philosophy is based on his belief that 3-point shooting skills are inherent in nearly every NBA-caliber athlete. His staff immediately started preaching the corner 3-pointer for the floor space it creates for other players to drive to the basket and for the increased reward it produces on the scoreboard. The layup and the corner 3-pointer, Mr. D'Antoni found, are the two most productive shots in basketball.

"A lot of it is confidence and knowing you won't get yelled at if you shoot it. Then there's practice and getting them to understand that a wide-open shot, even if it's a little bit longer, is easier than a hard shot closer in," Mr. D'Antoni said. "We try to take easy shots. If you have confidence, most NBA guys can make them."

Along with Mr. D'Antoni's love of the 3-pointer comes a handful of plays to grease the wheels. Mr. Chandler said the most effective one is when Mr. Felton catches the ball on the right, dribbles to the right corner baseline before slinging it to—surprise—the left corner for an open 3-pointer.

There are also the 3-pointers that come in the transition game, where two players run to the corners and one to the wing (Mr. Gallinari feels more comfortable shooting at the wing instead of the corner).

Mr. Felton said the high pick-and-roll can result in plenty of open 3-pointers. Another popular tactic is the drive-and-kick utilizing Mr. Stoudemire, who barrels into defenders in the lane, drawing all the attention to himself before finding one of his wide-open teammates. There are plenty of different roads that lead to the same destination.

"The difference is that in traditional offenses, they keep the other big in the middle," Knicks assistant coach Dan D'Antoni said. "…in our offense, that guy is on the outside, so when they come in to [guard the big man], we have a three open. That's why it works."

So, how do you assemble such a trigger-happy group of long-range shooters? The Knicks have seven players who shoot above the league average from 3-point range, and team president Donnie Walsh said the task is easier because of how many players the staff has transformed into 3-point aces. Mr. Walsh said scouting for the right type of shooters for Mr. D'Antoni is a matter of volume, not precision.

"The big difference is we scout for the three at more positions," Mr. Walsh said. "I look for it in the point guard and in the power forward and even sometimes the center, which is very unusual."

The case study of how the 3-point culture impacts players is the 6-foot-10 Mr. Gallinari, who Mr. Walsh said was drafted to drive and play inside. In his third year in the NBA, he's made 279 career 3-pointers. "It's the system that encourages it," Mr. Walsh said.

Mr. Jones, who now plays for the Miami Heat, said the most impressive part of Mr. D'Antoni's 3-point philosophy is how he and his staff develop shooters. The staff's greatest transformation was Raja Bell, the guard who, in his first year with the Phoenix Suns in 2005, made more 3-pointers in one season than he had in the previous five seasons combined.

The 3-point shot is emphasized in practice, as are the hot spots. In training camp, the coaches put pieces of tape at four spots on the floor, the two corners and the two spots at the wing referred to as the "45s" because they are at 45-degree angles from the basket. Mr. Williams said that he and a few of the team's other sharpshooters typically take a few hundred shots from those four spots each day.

Mr. Jones said the teams best-equipped to stop the Knicks are athletic teams who can "run them off the 3-point line" and force them to shoot from 2-point range. "There aren't many nights where they will miss on their own, so you have to rush them," he said.

Nalod wrote:
Should be interesting game against the suns. They know whats coming, but can you stop it?

"stopping it" has to do with pace... when a good team like the Celtics forces their pace the Knicks can't ge those open shots because the defense is set along the perimeter. Like the article says, the look for PFs and Cs that can hit the three and play outside. Or when a team like the Heat force their pace, which is similar to the Knicks', it come sdown to which teamhas the better athletes

I expect the Knicks to demolish the Suns. That team was completely mismanaged. It's really a shame for their fans, but i'm happy they're dumb and I get to benefit from it

crzymdups wrote:

Nalod wrote:
Should be interesting game against the suns. They know whats coming, but can you stop it?

The Knicks destroyed the Suns in the Garden last season. It was the best game of the DLee/Duhon era - or at least the biggest win.

I think these Knicks will play well there - Mr. Amar'e might have something to prove after not being offered a guaranteed five year deal.

The Knicks beat the Suns at the garden two years ago, and this was when one of the sickest dunks took place. David Lee shoved one straight down Amar'e throat and thought and still think that was the sickest dunk I saw live. That play, somehow, flew well under the radar. Not sure why.

Silverfuel wrote:is this how wsj sports articles read? Mr. Felton, Mr. Chandler?

I guess he is a Matrix fan.

Allanfan20 wrote:

The Knicks beat the Suns at the garden two years ago, and this was when one of the sickest dunks took place. David Lee shoved one straight down Amar'e throat and thought and still think that was the sickest dunk I saw live. That play, somehow, flew well under the radar. Not sure why.

This was a good one from DLee. What is not told was Amar'e going up for the block attempt. In ALL of Lee's time here, you can't remember him giving that kind of effort on the defensive end OR Lee knocking another player down on a foray into the paint.

I'll take the new and improved version, thank you.