The MCW Shooting Challenge

Range is what we call this.

A week or so ago I was perusing the stats of the Sixers standout rookie Michael Carter-Williams. I knew the lanky rookie of the year had some pretty impressive numbers. For instance, he’s one of three rookies to average at least 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. The other two men to accomplish that feat are Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson. That’s remarkable company to keep.

MCW did have a bit of an issue shooting the basketball from deep though. I looked it up. There was only one guy who took more than 200 3 pointers this season who shot as bad as MCDubs from beyond the arc. Carter-Williams took 208 and made a rather depressing 55 of those attempts for a 26.4%. Only Josh Smith, a notorious chucker of clanking 3s, and miraculously Celtics big man Jared Sullinger had comparable numbers. Sullinger was almost the exact same at 56-208, and Smith, wow, you’d think Smith would learn but he doesn’t. Josh Smith went an incredible 70-265. His coach’s head must’ve exploded a good 265 times this year because Smith clearly doesn’t understand that a shot that goes in 26.4% of the time is not a good shot.

So why am I telling you all of this? Well it just so happens that the lone thing I can do competently on a basketball court is shoot the ball from distance. It’s quite the conundrum, my chances of making a shot literally dwindle as I get closer to the basket. Worst player you’ve perhaps ever seen try to make a lay-up with as much experience as I have. The 3 ball though. The 3 ball is a different story. I’ve always been able to knock down long-range shots. I don’t have enough athleticism to get myself open a lot of the time and the guys I play with know I can shoot a bit so I was rarely allowed an open look from close to the 3 point line. Out of necessity, I started to back up and push out the limits of my range to launch 3s from NBA distance just because guys were willing to give me that open look.

So when I saw that Michael Carter-Williams had some pretty ugly numbers I sniffed out a challenge with my good friend Andrew Eisenhart. The $50 bet was made that out of 200 attempts I could knock down better than 25% of 3s from NBA range. Quite the large amount of shit talking ensued around the bet.

Can I really shoot 200 3s without dying?

Should Drew have to match my number since he considers himself a better shooter than me?

Why should I have to travel to West Philly (where Drew lives) since I’m the one who created the MCW Shooting Challenge?

This court better have single rims, double rims would be brutal.

I sent an email out to quite a few of my friends letting them all know they were cordially invited to the MCW Shooting Challenge. My friend and official handicapper of all action replied with the following lines regarding my chances in the MCW Shooting Challenge.

I believe the opening line is Team Riley -180, Team Drewbacca +130.

If you're into spreads, well we got you covered!

Riley Shots Made over 47 (Ryes +3 spread) @ -280.

Riley Shots Made over 53 (Ryes -3 spread and to actually beat MCW's %) @ -110.

You can see from the spreads vegas thinks it'll be close.

We are also offering several props that have been getting action.

Longest Make Streak: o/u 6.5 @ -110

Longest Miss Streak: over 13.5 @ -135, under 13.5 -105

First 100 shots: over 29.5 makes -125, under 29.5 @ +105

Alex punts the basketball and takes his shirt off: -200 (action only if loss on main line)

Abbs pays more attention to the contest than Aves: +200

# times Drew quotes Caddyshack or White Men Can't Jump: over 10 (-10,000), under 10 (plus infinity)

All lines subject to change based on action and weather.

There was a lot of action on the streaks. We’ll get to that, but it was nice to see I was a favorite going in.

So parameters were laid down. I would not be able to take more than a one minute break more than three times. I would have to hit 51 or more 3s to win the bet. 50 was a push, 49 or less was a loss. A park was selected, much to my chagrin, in West Philadelphia (born and raised). And a time was decided upon – 10:30 AM Saturday morning.

So Saturday morning me, my future wife Abigail, and daughter Avery traveled to Clark Park at 43^rd and Baltimore to conduct the MCW Shooting Challenge. Drew brought his tape measure and chalk to make sure I was chucking from distance. My buddy Matt also came for moral support and rebounding. The stage was set after we waited for two young bucks to finish a game of one-on-one.

I had practiced two different sets of 100 3s during the week and felt decent but not great about the fact that I had hit 28 of 100 during both those practice sessions. Somewhere Allen Iverson shakes his head. So we got started with Drew and Matt (in a Lakers Nick Van Exel jersey) rebounding while the ladies watched from the sideline.

I got off to an inauspicious start hitting 5 of my first 20 shots. Twenty-Five percent was right on pace but I certainly wanted to build myself a cushion figuring that I had to tire out in the second half of the MCW Shooting Challenge.

After the first 20 shots I took off. If it was NBA Jam the ball may have caught fire for a bit. By the time I was 50 shots through I had made 20 for a highly respectable 40% and was 15 for my last 30. I didn’t cool off much from there as I finished my first 100 shots with 40 makes and the challenge was all but over. I have to tell you I took quite a bit of enjoyment letting them fly, yelling “GOOD!” a la Prince in Chappelle’s Show and watching Drew follow the ball through the basket and put his head down as he sent me back another pass.

3 outta 5 aint bad

I forget what number shot exactly I hit my 51^st but it was well before 150 attempts. I kept going, following through on taking all 200 3s. My second 100 I still managed a solid 33 out of 100 for a grand total of 73 for 200 and 36.5 percent.

This was an utter shellacking and Drew took the walk to the ATM. Imagine that, being so confident you don’t even come to the bet with money and losing by a whopping 24 makes.

As for the streaks:

The most missed in a row was clocked at 9 – UNDER

There was enough action on the UNDER of the makes streak that it actually moved to 5.5 prior to the MCW Shooting Challenge.

I did get down 5 in a row but that still did not hit the over – UNDER

This challenge will undoubtedly go down as one of my top 5 sporting moments and certainly the first since I played organized sports. It also gives me solid bragging rights and reasons to give Drew a hard time which is something I enjoy almost as much as taking long 3s.

Thanks for staying with me.