Tommy Heinsohn's take on the low shooting percentages of the 50's & 60's

As always, I find the tweets of @frostybias fascinating. This one got my particular attention.

For those that bash the shooting percentages of the older NBA, here is Tom Heinsohn on the Celtics perspective during their titles in the 50s and 60s. There is a reason those numbers were so low pic.twitter.com/N8M5ZHtPQu
— Frosty Bias (@frostybias) January 2, 2022

Out of curiosity, I compared the Celtics team from the 1964-65 season to the present 2021-22 crew. I compared "Field Goals Attempted" and "Field Goal Percentage" from both versions of The Green. Some of what Tommy proposed holds true, but I don't think that tells the whole story. Here are the stats looking at the top-8 players in minutes-played from both the old and the new:

FIELD GOALS ATTEMPTED

THE OLD: 101.0 FIELD GOALS ATTEMPTED PER GAME

THE NEW: 93.5 FIELD GOALS ATTEMPTED PER GAME

Okay, so the 64-65 team attempted an average of 7.5 shots per game. Now let's look at the percentages:

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

THE OLD: .420

THE NEW: .480

What's in question with the FG% numbers? Well, there was no 3-point shot in the mid-60's, opening up the stance that the accuracy numbers are even further apart than they appear.

I watched the most Celtics games in person in the mid-60's at the Old Garden and fast breaks by Boston were a "given". I fondly recall Heinsohn running the floor - circling the ball around his body - and laying it up while being guarded by the 76ers' Luke Jackson.

Tommy's argument has validity, but my take is that today's players are more athletic - have better hand/eye coordination - and can put that ball, through the hoop with more precision that the players of the past. What think you, my readers?

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