Ian Levy of Five Thirty Eight: “In the NBA, the apex of individual shooting is a 50-40-90 season — shooting 50 percent from the field, 40 percent on 3-pointers and 90 percent on free throws. Not many people can sustain that kind of accuracy from inside and out. Since the three-point line was adopted for the 1979-80 campaign, just six players (in 10 seasons overall) have hit 50-40-90 on their percentages.1 Kyle Korver is doing his best to become the 11th. There are a handful of players within striking distance of 50-40-90, but only Korver, the Atlanta Hawks’ All-Star shooting guard, is on pace to achieve it. Korver is operating on a different plane of existence right now — shooting 51.2 percent from the field, 52.3 percent on 3-pointers and 91.1 percent from the free-throw line. He could have the first-ever 50-50-90 season.”
Kurt Kragthorpe of The Salt Lake Tribune: “The NBA cleverly went to the heart of the Atlanta Hawks’ success, without actually stealing Real Salt Lake’s theme. The Team is the Star? I’d say so. The league distributed the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Month award for January among Atlanta’s five starters in an unprecedented move that captured the Hawks’ ability to share everything. Atlanta’s story should be celebrated in Utah, never mind that the Jazz gave away three-fifths of that remarkable lineup. Amid the lament of having lost Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver and DeMarre Carroll to free agency in the past five years, there’s hope that Jazz coach Quin Snyder can replicate the Hawks’ model with the Jazz, as a former Atlanta assistant.”
Nick Birdsong of AL.Com: “Much like the blue-collar town that made him, DeMarre Carroll often goes unnoticed to NBA novices. His native Birmingham is a forgotten gem in the Southeast. With Nashville, the country music capitol of the world and the place where he began his college career to its north and Memphis, the home of Justin Timberlake and the bright lights of Beale Street, where he started his journey as a pro, to its west, the Magic City is typically perceived as anything but enchanted. And then there’s Atlanta–the monster of a metropolitan area some two hours down I-20 East. It’s become the Hollywood of the Bible Belt and is home to an estimated 5.5 million people, including Carroll.”
