Best pure shooter in Cal Basketball History

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KoreAmBear
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Big C said:

SFCityBear said:

KoreAmBear said:

Theo. I mean going almost 50% from three one year was amazing.
Theo was above 50% for most of the season, but tailed off at the end. Sportsreference doesn't have him listed among the national leaders in 3pt%, maybe because he didn't take enough attempts, only 115 where the top leaders were over 200 attempts. There were a few years where one or two national leaders in 3pt% were over 50%.

Billy Dreher was our best, shooting 0.500 in 1991 with 112 attempts. He was not listed among the national leaders that year, just like Theo was not listed in 2009. Interesting that Dreher could be our best percentage three-point shooter and also had his name mentioned as a great dunker of the basketball in the current thread on Cal dunkers. Not often that a Cal player had the ability to dunk and the skills to shoot from downtown.








Dreher's rep as a dunker was forged on one dunk. IIRC, early-ish in his Cal career, south basket, in a half-court set, he drove down the center of the lane and tomahawked it left-handed. And a legend was born...
Yes, I thought he was going to be a great player but Lou grinded him down.
concordtom
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UCBerkGrad said:

From a statistical perspective, here are the Cal 3PM leaders since the 1986-87 season:

15. Jerome Randle: 252 3PM, 40.5%
37. Ryan Drew: 214 3PM, 38.2%
39. Allen Crabbe: 209 3PM, 38.2%
48. Jordan Mathews: 201 3PM, 40.9%
61. Jabari Bird: 187 3PM, 37.1%
66. Richard Midgley: 183 3PM, 37.9%
92. Patrick Christopher: 164 3PM, 34.2%
97. Ayinde Ubaka: 160 3PM, 33.8%
101. Joe Shipp: 157 3PM, 33.8%
105. Theo Robertson: 154 3PM, 44.0%
108. Randy Duck: 153 3PM, 36.2%

Note: Rank is Pac-12 ranking in 3PM since 1986-87


Where will Darius McNeill end up on this list?
he made 67 3's last year, setting the high mark for Cal freshmen. Was 67 of 190 = 35.3% rate.
21 of 52 at 40.4% so far this year.
RedlessWardrobe
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Big C said:

RonO said:

Big C said:

joe amos yaks said:

Sam Potter went 50% FG and 90% FTs before transferring to ORu.

Maybe Sam and GFranklin, Jr should do lunch.
Sam Potter: Now there's a name from the past! Yes, good shooter, as a 6-7 small forward. Some Sam stories...

His senior year in HS, he led the state (CA) in scoring. Before his first game at Cal, an African American sports writer set up an appointment to interview him. When they met, said writer was surprised to find out that Potter was white and supposedly left w/o the interview.

I've attended maybe 2-3 Cal Basketball practices in my life. In one of them, right in the middle, Kuchen kicked Potter out of the practice. As I was way up in the stands, I couldn't tell what it was for, maybe loafing or mouthing off. Thus, I wasn't surprised when Potter transferred. Too bad, because those teams in the early-mid '80s needed all the talent they could get. I wanna say Potter averaged something like 15-18 ppg his senior year at Oral Roberts.


So here's my favorite Sam Potter story - well actually maybe it's a Bill Walton story. Recently retired Bill got a gig on a Bear game, and then as always he was unprepared. After Sam hit three or four from the conner, he was raging about how far over his head he was, he can't do that, it's the best five minutes of his life, .... The play by play guy then said, "well he was city player of the year". Bill quickly yelled "yeah, but what city". The play by play guy deadpanned "Los Angeles".
Thanks and you may have jogged my memory... it could be that I was thinking "leading scoring in Cali", when Potter's senior honor was actually "LA city player of the year". I may have confused it with when KJ was "leading scorer in Cali" (or maybe SP was both).
Sam Potter had a decent shot but other than that he was one of the most disappointing Cal players I can remember. The guy basically did nothing on the court. No hustle, no defense. He was one of the few players who's leaving Cal made me happy. I can understand why Kuchen kicked him out of a practice.
bearister
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Eric Vierneisel.....if he never played again after his first game when he hit 4 treys.
Cancel my subscription to the Resurrection
Send my credentials to the House of Detention
I got some friends inside
concordtom
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concordtom said:

UCBerkGrad said:

From a statistical perspective, here are the Cal 3PM leaders since the 1986-87 season:

15. Jerome Randle: 252 3PM, 40.5%
37. Ryan Drew: 214 3PM, 38.2%
39. Allen Crabbe: 209 3PM, 38.2%
48. Jordan Mathews: 201 3PM, 40.9%
61. Jabari Bird: 187 3PM, 37.1%
66. Richard Midgley: 183 3PM, 37.9%
92. Patrick Christopher: 164 3PM, 34.2%
97. Ayinde Ubaka: 160 3PM, 33.8%
101. Joe Shipp: 157 3PM, 33.8%
105. Theo Robertson: 154 3PM, 44.0%
108. Randy Duck: 153 3PM, 36.2%

Note: Rank is Pac-12 ranking in 3PM since 1986-87


Where will Darius McNeill end up on this list?
he made 67 3's last year, setting the high mark for Cal freshmen. Was 67 of 190 = 35.3% rate.
21 of 52 at 40.4% so far this year.
Darius has played 9 and has 22 left this season.
That means he may equal last year's total made.
Let's say he gets only 63, and ends up with 130 after 2 years.
He'd then be just over halfway to Randle's 252 with 2 to go.
Not bad.
Then again, I was counting the chickens for Jordan Mathews before they were hatched, too.
(Don't get injured.)
EricBear
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Staff
bearister said:

Eric Vierneisel.....if he never played again after his first game when he hit 4 treys.
BearGreg and I were at the Cal @ Northwestern football game several years ago. Vierneisel was in the crowd, one section over from us. Wearing an official Cal "Vierneisel" jersey. Remains one of the best things I've ever seen at a sporting event.

That was also the weekend Mike Williams was introduced to donors as our new "interim-ish" AD, following Sandy's departure. He made a short speech at the bar where Cal Alums were gathered pregame. I will never forget turning to Greg a minute or two into his "speech" and saying "we are screwed," Greg replying "absolutely screwed."
calgo430
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im an old bear so i go with larry friend.
SFCityBear
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calgo430 said:

im an old bear so i go with larry friend.
Me too. Tom's list is only Cal players who made 3 pointers since 1987 or so. Larry Friend, Tandy Gillis, Dan Wolthers, Rusty Critchfield, and others could all shoot from deep.
SFCityBear
SFCityBear
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concordtom said:

concordtom said:

UCBerkGrad said:

From a statistical perspective, here are the Cal 3PM leaders since the 1986-87 season:

15. Jerome Randle: 252 3PM, 40.5%
37. Ryan Drew: 214 3PM, 38.2%
39. Allen Crabbe: 209 3PM, 38.2%
48. Jordan Mathews: 201 3PM, 40.9%
61. Jabari Bird: 187 3PM, 37.1%
66. Richard Midgley: 183 3PM, 37.9%
92. Patrick Christopher: 164 3PM, 34.2%
97. Ayinde Ubaka: 160 3PM, 33.8%
101. Joe Shipp: 157 3PM, 33.8%
105. Theo Robertson: 154 3PM, 44.0%
108. Randy Duck: 153 3PM, 36.2%

Note: Rank is Pac-12 ranking in 3PM since 1986-87


Where will Darius McNeill end up on this list?
he made 67 3's last year, setting the high mark for Cal freshmen. Was 67 of 190 = 35.3% rate.
21 of 52 at 40.4% so far this year.
Darius has played 9 and has 22 left this season.
That means he may equal last year's total made.
Let's say he gets only 63, and ends up with 130 after 2 years.
He'd then be just over halfway to Randle's 252 with 2 to go.
Not bad.
Then again, I was counting the chickens for Jordan Mathews before they were hatched, too.
(Don't get injured.)
McNeill started better than this (47% thru 9 games) last season and tailed off mostly in conference to 35%. Hopefully he will be more consistent this season and not tail off, especially when it counts, in conference.
SFCityBear
BearSD
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UrsaMajor said:

Yogi Bear said:

ddc_Cal said:

Long ago, I remember NBA announcers referring to some players as 'pure shooters'. What that meant back then was someone who was an excellent shot, in terms of medium and long range, but did not offer much in the way of defense or rebounding.

IOW, they were very good at what they did -- but don't expect much more from them. They were usually a role player that would come off the bench.
It just means good shooter to me. Larry Bird was a pure shooter, even though he did other things well.
I remember Lou Campanelli (I know, consider the source) saying that a pure shooter was someone who would drain 2/3 of his shots if there wasn't a hand in his face. (of course, Lou then used that to say none of his shooters were good enough, so they didn't have a green light)


That reminds me of a game way back when... Ryan Drew (who was a freshman at the time, IIRC) took terrible shots on two consecutive possessions. Right after the second one, Campanelli barked for a player on the bench to go in and pushed him in the back toward the scorer's table. Couldn't wait another minute to take out Drew.
cal83dls79
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SF City: I wonder when the whole tryout thing died? Seemed like a heck of a process/guantlet to get the best walk-on imaginable. I'm curious, were the tryouts for kids who had actually been admitted to Cal already or were hopeful of being admitted (and where perhaps the coach could put in a word to the admin?). Also, you were right about the intramurals, even in the 80s those leagues had good players where being in the C league was more than I could handle and focused my limited basketball skills on rebounding, passing and defense. Great share btw.
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santacruzbear
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Great informative post.
concordtom
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EricBear said:

bearister said:

Eric Vierneisel.....if he never played again after his first game when he hit 4 treys.
BearGreg and I were at the Cal @ Northwestern football game several years ago. Vierneisel was in the crowd, one section over from us. Wearing an official Cal "Vierneisel" jersey. Remains one of the best things I've ever seen at a sporting event.

That was also the weekend Mike Williams was introduced to donors as our new "interim-ish" AD, following Sandy's departure. He made a short speech at the bar where Cal Alums were gathered pregame. I will never forget turning to Greg a minute or two into his "speech" and saying "we are screwed," Greg replying "absolutely screwed."

That's a funny story about the jersey, and a revealing one about the introduction speech.
SFCityBear
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cal83dls79 said:

SF City: I wonder when the whole tryout thing died? Seemed like a heck of a process/guantlet to get the best walk-on imaginable. I'm curious, were the tryouts for kids who had actually been admitted to Cal already or were hopeful of being admitted (and where perhaps the coach could put in a word to the admin?). Also, you were right about the intramurals, even in the 80s those leagues had good players where being in the C league was more than I could handle and focused my limited basketball skills on rebounding, passing and defense. Great share btw.
Thanks. I didn't intend to write that much, but was reacting to a post which I took offense to, and I got carried away..

In the Fall of 1959, after I arrived on campus, tryouts for the Frosh basketball team were just quietly announced somewhere. It could have been in the Daily Cal, or it could have been just a notice on the bulletin board at Harmon Gym. As I remember it was a simple notice, one sentence, such as: "Open tryouts will be held for the Cal Frosh Basketball team in the Harmon Gym for three consecutive days, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from 2PM to 5 PM each day." At the first scrimmage, players of all sizes showed up, and we were told the tryouts would consist of three days of full court scrimmages, with teams to be made up by the coaches, and at the end of the 3 days, a team of 18 players will be chosen to make up the 1959 Frosh team. It was very similar to the team tryouts I had in all 4 years of high school basketball, except that at Lowell, it was one day of scrimmaging, not three consecutive days, which was grueling.

Coach Herrerias never told us directly, but we soon found out, first by rumor, word of mouth, then later confirmed by one of the assistant coaches, that some of the players already had scholarships, 17 of them to be exact. So we were competing with or against scholarship players. I don't know if one of us had played better than a scholarship player, then the scholarship player might have been cut. I do think if we had know that those of us who had no scholarship were all just trying out for only one walk-on spot, then against those odds, there would likely have been far fewer of us trying out for the team.

There was also a varsity tryout and in the Fall of 1960, I was invited to try out for that team. I had spent the summer weight-lifting and bulking up at the direction of the coaches, but I had played little basketball. With my new body and new muscles, I shot so poorly in the first day of scrimmaging, that I got pretty embarrassed and bailed out. I don't know when Cal discontinued tryouts for their basketball teams. Maybe the interest wasn't there among the studentbody.

As to intramurals, I had lunch with a high school teammate not long ago, a Japanese-American and he said his son's intramural team had won the Cal intramural championship after a few years of trying. His son told him, "Dad, we finally figured out how to win the championship. We went out and got the tallest players we could find."
SFCityBear
Big C
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Little guys: Jerome Randle, Michael Chavez
Bigger point guards/combo guards: Keith Smith, Ayinde Ubaka (Darius McNeill?)
Wings: Ray Murray, Allen Crabbe
Bigs: Amit Tamir, Ryan Anderson (Connor Vanover?)

Wait, did I post this a few months ago?
Civil Bear
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UrsaMajor said:

SFCity Bear.

He never actually made the team, but by his own admission, he was the greatest pure shooter of all time.

If BI posters are eligible, then you have to include ConcordTom.
SmellinRoses
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Sam Potter - great pick!
cal83dls79
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SFCityBear said:

cal83dls79 said:

SF City: I wonder when the whole tryout thing died? Seemed like a heck of a process/guantlet to get the best walk-on imaginable. I'm curious, were the tryouts for kids who had actually been admitted to Cal already or were hopeful of being admitted (and where perhaps the coach could put in a word to the admin?). Also, you were right about the intramurals, even in the 80s those leagues had good players where being in the C league was more than I could handle and focused my limited basketball skills on rebounding, passing and defense. Great share btw.
Thanks. I didn't intend to write that much, but was reacting to a post which I took offense to, and I got carried away..

In the Fall of 1959, after I arrived on campus, tryouts for the Frosh basketball team were just quietly announced somewhere. It could have been in the Daily Cal, or it could have been just a notice on the bulletin board at Harmon Gym. As I remember it was a simple notice, one sentence, such as: "Open tryouts will be held for the Cal Frosh Basketball team in the Harmon Gym for three consecutive days, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from 2PM to 5 PM each day." At the first scrimmage, players of all sizes showed up, and we were told the tryouts would consist of three days of full court scrimmages, with teams to be made up by the coaches, and at the end of the 3 days, a team of 18 players will be chosen to make up the 1959 Frosh team. It was very similar to the team tryouts I had in all 4 years of high school basketball, except that at Lowell, it was one day of scrimmaging, not three consecutive days, which was grueling.

Coach Herrerias never told us directly, but we soon found out, first by rumor, word of mouth, then later confirmed by one of the assistant coaches, that some of the players already had scholarships, 17 of them to be exact. So we were competing with or against scholarship players. I don't know if one of us had played better than a scholarship player, then the scholarship player might have been cut. I do think if we had know that those of us who had no scholarship were all just trying out for only one walk-on spot, then against those odds, there would likely have been far fewer of us trying out for the team.

There was also a varsity tryout and in the Fall of 1960, I was invited to try out for that team. I had spent the summer weight-lifting and bulking up at the direction of the coaches, but I had played little basketball. With my new body and new muscles, I shot so poorly in the first day of scrimmaging, that I got pretty embarrassed and bailed out. I don't know when Cal discontinued tryouts for their basketball teams. Maybe the interest wasn't there among the studentbody.

As to intramurals, I had lunch with a high school teammate not long ago, a Japanese-American and he said his son's intramural team had won the Cal intramural championship after a few years of trying. His son told him, "Dad, we finally figured out how to win the championship. We went out and got the tallest players we could find."
hilarious. I had friends roommates that I played baseball with at DLS in Concord. They walked on to Cals team which had tryouts so to speak and what do you know one kid made the team, started, and won the Wolfman award for Chris sakes. Milano was loathe to start walk ons, much less local kids whom he never recruited.
Priest of the Patty Hearst Shrine
 
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