Prevailing logic says all you have to do to stop a 3-point shooter is get a hand in their face.
When the shooter is Kansas State’s Brittany Chambers, that’s much easier said than done.
Chambers, on Monday, became the fifth player in school history to earn multiple All-Big 12 first team honors. The 5-8 junior was one of two players in the Big 12 to register 400 or more points, 180 or more rebounds and 60 or more assists this season. She ranks eighth in the league with 14.3 points per game and leads the Big 12 with 2.5 made 3-point field goals per game.
“What you have to do when you are guarding Chambers, is you have to quit looking at what is happening on the floor and focus on Chambers,” said Texas A&M coach Gary Blair.
“She has a great step back move and her range is from here to wherever she is from.”
From her hometown of Jordan, Minn., to Manhattan, Kansas is a seriously long shot. But, Blair isn’t exaggerating by that much.
Chambers is the focal point of opposing defenses and has to extend her range to well beyond the 3-point arc just to get off a shot.
“This year, I’m not getting the wide-open looks I got last year. Teams are guarding me and they’re switching screens so the easy three isn’t there. I’ve had to bring back more of the off-dribble game, shooting floaters and stuff,” said Chambers, who was asked about her shooting range.
“It depends. There are nights when I’m feeling it and I’ll shoot it from pretty much anywhere. It’s one of those things where I just feel if the game comes to me. If I feel like I’m on and I have a good look, I’ll usually take it seven feet back. Obviously, if it’s not that kind of night I’m not going to just chuck it up there.”
One of the most prolific long-range bombers in women’s college basketball, Chambers is far from a chucker. She admits it’s taken a lot of hard work since arriving at Kansas State to get to this point.
“When I was in high school, my shot wasn’t very good. It was okay but when I got to Kansas State, my coaches kind of changed my shot,” said Chambers. “They changed my footwork and they changed my shot. My release is a lot quicker. It’s something I really had to work on in college, something I had to adapt to the game because I wasn’t getting my shots off with the kind of pressure people were showing.
“I used to pull it down. They changed it so I kept it right at my shoulder the whole time. They eliminated extra movement in my shot, just little things that take even a millimeter of a second off. But, the big thing was not dipping it when I caught it. Most players like to catch it and then bend their knees and then go up. They changed it so I immediately catch and then shoot. In high school, I really didn’t shoot it well at all. I was very streaky. The elimination of the extra movement helped my accuracy a ton.”
Tinkering with a player’s shot can be a risky proposition.
“I was scared. I didn’t think I could do it and it was frustrating at first because you don’t make shots at first and you’re not used to it,” she said. “I was not shooting very well right at away. But, it came along faster than I thought it would. It started making a difference in my shot pretty quickly which was nice. Usually, that doesn’t happen.”
Chambers’ shooting motion is hair-trigger quick. Whether it’s catch-and-shoot or off the dribble, her lightning release is remarkable, especially considering the distance of her shots. Coming off screens, she actually catches the ball and shoots it in the same motion.
“The big thing for me is my feet and getting set before the ball even comes,” she explains. “I’m already thinking before it comes to me. I think that’s a huge part. You can’t set your feet down once you catch it. You have to be prepared already before it comes. That was something I had to work on. To get your shot up, you have to already have your feet set and ready before the ball ever hits your hand.”
Having a green light to always think shot first must help.
“Yeah,” she said with a giggle, “very much so.”
Getting a hand in Chambers’ face is a difficult task. She runs around a mine field of screens and has an impressive array of off-the-dribble step back moves. Still, as the Big 12 season wore on, teams have persisted and found ways to limit her looks.
“It’s tough,” said Chambers. “Normal, typical looks like off the screens and stuff just haven’t been there because they’re either double teaming or switching every screen. Going into games, I know that’s coming now so it’s not as hard. At the beginning of the Big 12, it was a lot tougher. It is a little bit of pressure because I know I have to score and find ways to score for my teammates. But, I also feel like we’ve gotten to the point with my team that if I don’t score, it’s not the biggest thing in the world. We’ve had games where I only got four shots because that’s all they’re giving me.
“That’s the thing I’ve had to work on, actually. My mindset was always getting open or making cuts to get myself open. But, I try to think about when I’m not getting a shot, I’m pulling two defenders so I find ways to cut so I can pull a defender with me so someone else can get a wide-open shot. That’s something I had to change that I never really used to think about, making plays or making cuts just to get other people open.”
Kansas State plays Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament Thursday at 11 a.m.
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