Allen Crabbe passes D-Will, sets Nets season record for three’s

Allen Crabbe set Nets history and passed Deron Williams for most threes in a season for a Nets player with 170.

Williams set the record back in 2012-2013 when the Nets averaged 21 3-point attempts per game. With the way the game has changed to a more 3-point savvy league, it comes as little surprise that Crabbe hit the mark with nine games left. The Nets in 2018 attempt 35 3-pointers per game.

“That’s neat. It’s fun for all of us, not just the media,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said when Crabbe was on the brink of breaking the record less than a week back.

While Atkinson is proud of Crabbe’s accomplishments, he isn’t surprised in the slightest considering where the league is going and how he’s shot the ball this season. As always with Atkinson, he would like to see him strive for more.

“It’s great with the way the league is going, it’s a pretty neat accomplishment and I know he can do better. I hope he sets a mark and then sets another one next season because I do think he does have lot of room for improvement.”

Crabbe’s had an up and down season. He was pretty inconsistent in the first half of the season, a common trait for 3-point specialists. He’s averaging a career-high 12.8 points per game with the increased role, but his 37 percent 3-point clip is actually the lowest since he shot 35 percent in the 2014-2015 season. That said, he’s taking seven three-pointers per game this season which nearly double his previous career high in attempts per game.

Furthermore, Crabbe was seen as a one-dimensional player entering Brooklyn, but he’s turned into one of their most reliable wing defenders. His game has expanded in different areas and he’s had to adjust playing against starters rather than playing backup units in Portland.

When the Nets offered him over $19 million last offseason as a restricted free agent, they had a vision for what he could be. He’s still only 25-years-old with two years left on his contract.

Expect the numbers to get better. He’s still yet to undergo a full summer with the development staff —he was recovering from surgery last summer, and the Nets expect to have a better roster next season, which should create more space for him.

For right now, Crabbe and the Nets are going to enjoy this one. It’s certainly nice to see some of their preseason vision come to fruition.

“I think it’ll be perfect,“ Crabbe said of Brooklyn’s style of play last summer. “Get up and down and coach Atkinson loves the 3-ball. That’s what I do. Being able to be in that system and have plays ran for you, the fast pace, they say they don’t care if you got an open three, shoot it. You look forward to something like that.”

That’s what got him paid and that’s what helped him notch this record. But like Atkinson said, he wants to see Crabbe strive for even more.