Detroit Pistons: Area where Jaden Ivey needs to take more shots

Jaden Ivey has had an up and down season for the Detroit Pistons, which you expect from a rookie guard with a lot of responsibility in the offense.

He seemed to hit the proverbial “rookie wall” a few weeks ago and was really struggling, but over the last five games he’s been figuring some things out. It’s evident not just in the overall numbers, but in the types of shots he’s been getting.

He had a few nice hesitation moves against the Knicks that led to little floaters in the lane, and Ivey is starting to better harness his incredible speed and athleticism, being more patient as he waits to attack.

His overall shooting splits of 41/32/72 are not great, particularly the 72 percent from the free-throw line, as getting to the line can be a real weapon for him. In fact, it’s that mid-range distance where Jaden Ivey not only needs to take but make more shots in the future.

Detroit Pistons: Jaden Ivey’s shooting percentages by distance

If you look at the breakdown of Jaden Ivey’s shots, you’ll see that he doesn’t take many from the mid-range. The mid-range game has been abandoned by a lot of guards, as efficiency gurus continually tell us that getting to the rim and taking 3-point shots is the most effective way to score over the long term.

They are correct about long two-point shots, but the 10-15 footer can be a weapon, as we’ve seen with guys like Chris Paul over the years and more recently with Cade Cunningham.

Here is Ivey’s shot chart breakdown, and as you can see, the mid-range is not featured much:

• <5 feet: 5.2 attempts, 55%
• 5-9 feet: 1.4 attempts, 30%
• 10-14 feet: .8 attempts, 28.6 %
• 15-19 feet: 1 attempt, 27.9%
• 20-24 feet: 1.1 attempts, 32.6%
• 25-29 feet: 2.9 attempts, 36.5%

Ivey need to improve his efficiency from pretty much everywhere, but it would be nice to see him take some more attempts in that 10-14 foot range, as he getting less than a shot per game while taking nearly three long 3-point shots per game.

Ivey can be a menace in the pick-and-roll for the Detroit Pistons, as he is a threat to get to the rim and finish at any point, but those paths would be more open if he were actually a threat to pull up and shoot once in awhile as well.

The mid-range game takes time to develop, as it requires more patience, better reads of the defense and the ability to stop and start on a dime. While we don’t want Ivey chucking a bunch of long two-point shots every game, that free-throw line mid-range is there for him all night, as defenses continue to sag to prevent him from getting to the rim.

Starting to shoot and make a few more of those (as he did against the Knicks) will help open up the rest of his game and it’s something I do think we’ll see more of from Ivey as the season goes on.