Charlotte Hornets

Steve Clifford is obsessed with the three-point shot

Published Oct. 7, 2015 10:15 a.m. ET

foxsports

The Charlotte Hornets have been one-dimensional over the past couple seasons. Their defense is tremendous and their offense is awful. But this year's team hopes to balance things out a bit by making good use of the three-point line.

Charlotte's head coach Steve Clifford understands how important it is. Here's what he recently told CBS Sports:

The Hornets did not shoot many threes last year. Only four teams scored a lower percentage of their total points behind the three-point line, and only the New York Knicks were more fixated with the mid-range jumper.

Charlotte needs to become more efficient if they want to contend for a playoff spot sans Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Launching as many threes as they can is a good place to start.

“Oh, it's huge," Clifford said about 3-point shooting. "If you look at trends in this league, last year of any statistic 3-point shooting percentage was the No. 1 factor in why teams won. The five best 3-point shooting teams were the four teams that played in the conference finals and the Clippers. All five of them were top 10 all-time in the NBA. That's the way this league has gone. "Every year, you can point at one or two things. but the 3-point shot now ... you know it makes sense. It creates spacing on the floor, which opens things up for everybody else. You've got to be able to shoot threes."