Yeah, I read that Ringer piece in March, too. Color me unconvinced that shooting 34.1% in a sample size of around 40 shots in a subset of road games (using a Nike basketball, which they also don't use in the league) proves the rather silly theory that he can only shoot with one brand of basketball, or that it represents his "true" shooting ability. As for him being "not good" going right or on straightaway pull-ups, you're talking about a sample size of 10 shots. He made 3. And how many of those exactly were with his "preferred Wilson ball"?
No, the 10 shots are not supposed to be a good sample, the point of his going right is that he hasn't been able to do it. To say he's a good shooter you have to ignore the 370 shots he took where he was a sub-35% shooter (with various manufacturers, including Adidas, Nike and others) in favor of the 90 or so where he shot well.
I'm pointing out that the idea he definitely can shoot well is based on a tiny sample, under very particular circumstances (preferred ball, going left) which we know won't be reproduced in the NBA. He'll have to adjust to the new ball, and guys won't let him go left anywhere near as often. The point is not that he can only shoot with one brand of basketball, it's that he only has a very limited track record of success, and only under very specific circumstances, taking that as meaning he can definitely shoot 3s is more wishful thinking than actual evidence.
Edit- as an example... Marcus Smart shot 42% on 75 corner 3s.... he's still one of the worst 3pt shooters in league history. Now, Ball isn't going to be as bad as Marcus, but if he shoots similarly to how he did in college and HS, that likely translates more to the low/mid 30s than the low 40s, the great percentages on 3s going to his left is probably noise, that when using a different ball he fell back to the mean just reinforces that to me.
As for goofy mechanics, one can have weird mechanics and be a good shooter. There's no rule that all guys with weird mechanics shoot like Rondo. Different mechanics but Shawn Marion looked like an 11 year old shooting for the entirely of his 4x all-star career
You mean Shawn Marion.... the career 33% shooter from 3? You should have used Kevin Martin, he's basically the only guy with the side release who shot well in the NBA.