Nerlens Noel spent the summer in Newport, Rhode Island, firing up jump shot after jump shot with a shot doctor with one primary goal …
Add the mid-range shot to his offensive game.
A naturally gifted and savvy defensive player, Noel spent the entire 2013-14 rebuilding his shooting form. After a rookie season where his mid-range game was non-existent, hitting just 40 of 136 shots (29.4 percent) longer than 10 feet, the plan was to develop that potential asset. But in three preseason games, Noel is just 1 for 5 in shots longer than 10 feet.
With 38 points — on just 20 shots — in his three games, Noel has done almost all his scoring in the paint and on free throws. Yes, that’s good, but what happened to the mid-range game?
“He’s spent a lot of time trying to develop that pick-and-pop, 18-foot jump-shot game, 20-foot jump-shot game,” coach Brett Brown said. “We are going to give him the freedom to shoot that shot, also.”
Noel attempted three longer two-pointers in the Sixers' loss to Washington Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center. He stepped into a straight ahead 15-footer in the first quarter and buried it, but missed a 16 footer in each of the next two quarters.
The shots felt pretty good, Noel said.
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“They all looked good and they all felt good,” Noel said after scoring 15 points in 19 minutes in Friday. “I was 1 for 3, but the last one was back rim. I’m going to keep shooting them and try to be consistent and it’s just a matter of time before I feel confident about doing it.”
Noel’s confidence should be growing. He typically stays after practice to fire up mid-range shots from all over the court and after a summer spent working on the shot, he’s put in the reps. However, Noel worked on the mid-range aspect of his game with the idea that he would be playing alongside rookie center Jahlil Okafor, and that has only occurred twice in the preseason.
Chances are, Noel says, when Okafor returns to the lineup from his sore knee, he will have more opportunity to shoot those longer shots.
“He definitely [opens up the floor],” Noel said. “It’s a different facet of the game. When he’s out there the defense has to go with him and he’s a big body. There’s a lot more space when he’s out there and I’ll take it when I have it.
“With him we have so many dynamics.”
In the meantime, Noel isn’t going to force anything. He is 9 for 15 on shots inside of 10 feet and 18 for 28 (64.3 percent) from the free-throw line, including 7 for 10 on Friday night. If Noel can get to the line as much as he has, no one is going to put a stop to it.
“I’m just trying to play within the offense and I’m getting my shots where they come,” Noel said. “I shoot them when I can and when I develop more confidence, I’ll keep shooting them more.”