Nikola Vucevic and Orlando Magic searching for shooting balance

Nikola Vucevic is a versatile center with post-up ability and a good jumper. As games go on though, his efficiency greatly decreases, creating a problem.

The Orlando Magic were desperate for a basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder. They were trying to get the ball to Victor Oladipo, forcing it to him really.

Nikola Vucevic flashed to the elbow to receive the ball and he was the trigger to get it to Oladipo. Vucevic’s presence there as a trigger or as a scorer is not a rare site these days for the Magic.

What makes Vucevic unique and what makes him truly special in this league is his ability to step out to the perimeter and hit that 18-foot jumper. There are few centers willing to defend a player from out there and Vucevic is deft enough to drive on centers who venture out too far unbalanced.

The reason Vucevic gets that borderline All-Star treatment, is purely his offensive versatility and the unique skills he brings. His 16.7 points per game are built equally on post ups as they are jumpers — 5.0 points per game on 5.5 post ups per game, according to NBA.com.

Already Vucevic is not getting a ton of post ups, but he takes well more than half of his shots within 10 feet — 53.2 percent to be exact and 8.1 field goal attempts per game. More than half — 361 of his 696 field goal attempts — of his shots this year occur in the paint and restricted area.

As a center, it is expected Vucevic takes more shots in the paint and around the rim. His jump shot makes him more unique but his value and his better efficiency is around the basket still.

Yet the trend persists, as games end, Vucevic takes those close-in shots less and less, he relies on the jumper more and more. That has been a general trend with Vucevic. His tendency is to pop instead of roll after setting a screen.

That may leave the paint open for drivers and put pressure on the defense but it also leaves a strong scoring option out on the perimeter.

Last week while the Magic were in Boston, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel and John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com asked Vucevic about his sudden increase in jump shots over close-range shots:

"“I think offensively I haven’t been playing the way I was in December: having a good flow, mixing it up in the post, post-up jumpers, face-up[s] and drive[s] to the basket. I just need to get back to that: being more aggressive, maybe not thinking as much about getting to my shot. I’ve forced a few jumpers, maybe.”"

Part of the issue, as teammates said, is Vucevic is at the top of scouting reports. They have gotten better at pushing Vucevic further away from the basket on post ups. Teams have gotten more physical with him and so the penchant for jumpers has grown.

Vucevic is right though, his post ups have decreased. In December, Vucevic scored 19.4 points per game on 16.6 field goal attempts per game. In December, 131 of his 249 field goal attempts came in the paint and restricted area.

His shot chart saw him score efficiently in the paint and mix it in with solid jump shooting:

It was not only that Vucevic was getting a solid distribution — 44.6 percent — of shots in the restricted area and around the rim, but he was also making shots at an efficient rate.

In January, Vucevic saw his scoring drop to 15.2 points per game on 15.6 field goal attempts per game. He took 109 of 218 of his shots in the restricted area and the paint — an even 50/50 split essentially between post ups and jumpers.

That split is typically pretty even, but not completely even like it was in January. And Vucevic lost a lot of his efficiency from December.

A month after taking 44.6 percent of his shots in the restricted area and shooting 63.1 percent on those shots, Vucevic shot 40.4 percent of his shots in the restricted area and 54.5 percent on those shots. Those are both major decreases.

And it is clear Vucevic is stepping away from the basket.

The same happens in fourth quarters, particularly lately.

Vucevic has shot 47 mid-range jumpers in the fourth quarter of games this season out of 112 field goal attempts. He is shooting 39.3 percent overall from the field in the fourth quarter. Vucevic generally shoots very bad in the fourth quarter.

In January 16 of his 39 fourth-quarter field goal attempts were mid-range jumpers. And again, he is not shooting the ball particularly well.

There is a perception that Vucevic gets pulled away from the basket too much late in games and of late. There is certainly something to that. His general efficiency has simply decreased. There is no secret to Vucevic’s struggles in that sense.

His versatility as both a jump shooter and a post threat around the basket still make him a valuable player. If he makes shots, he makes the Magic so much more dangerous.

Next: Orlando Magic playoff hopes not out of reach yet

There is no secret though that the ratio of close shots to mid-range jumpers has started to go off kilter with the Magic’s center.