By Walter Dubowec

Jason Kapono proved you can quietly be very effective in the NBA without getting in the face of your opposition.

A few well timed three point daggers can deflate most any NBA opponent as Jason Kapono demonstrated in the Raptors remarkable victory against the Indiana Pacers. When you hit six treys, it's game over. In the words of Marv Albert, "he is on fire from downtown".

Kapono is a stone-cold dead eye shooter with no conscience. When he gets hot, its light out. Jason rallied the Raptors with his quiet and cool demeanour and the confidence of a gunslinger. He hit six three balls and after each one, he had the same calm demeanour. 

             

I love the guy. He's blue collar. Jason Kapono was 9 for 14 from the floor and 6 of 7 beyond the arc. Kapono had a career high 29 points.

After every shot, either hit or miss .... Kapono puts his head down and runs back to play defence.

There's no fist-pumping, no chest-thumping, no trash-talking with Jason.

He just goes about his business shooting the ball as well as anyone in the NBA. His release is lightning quick and he's deadly accurate. A couple of times against Indy he had no business getting his shot off, yet he calmly nailed trey after trey.


His 3 point shooting is equivalent to over 76% inside the arc

Kapono is shooting 51% from beyond the arc and 53% overall. That's simply amazing. Remember, his three ball shooting efficiency delivers points at a rate equal to another player who shoots 76.5% inside the arc.

Against Indy, Kapono delivered 21 points on 8 shot attempts (including the foul at the end where he hit all 3 FT's).  For a player to generate 21 points on only 8 shot attempts he'd have to shoot 131% from inside the arc .... which is impossible! 

Kapono's shooting form is picture perfect. His hands are always ready and if opposing players blink or give him an inch - the shot is on its way. I've got so much confidence in Kapono's shot-making ability, that I'm surprised when he misses.

Against Indy, he was feeling it and his team mates repeatedly found the hot hand. "You just want to take 40 shots when you feel like that", said Kapono. "Pass me the ball, I feel good", he yelled at his team mates. Kapono was so hot that he hit a ridiculous shot where he caught the ball above his head and released an instant dagger without so much as a flinch of his arms.


Kapono's entire game is improving

Jason's defensive play has shown marked improvement recently. Plus, he has gotten better at putting the ball on the floor and moving in for uncontested two's - which he struggled with at the beginning of the year.

Kapono, the Raptors and Sam Mitchell are seemingly getting comfortable with each other. They understand how they fit together with Delfino and Jason now often paired together.

And the MLE signing of Kapono that Bryan Colangelo was criticized for early on - is now paying big dividends for the Raptors.

Some may still call Jason Kapono a one-trick pony and that's OK with me. Because that one trick is a deadly accurate three point shot that can literally turn around the Raptors fortunes in a matter of minutes as the Indiana Pacers discovered much to their chagrin.

Raptor fans can't wait to see more of Jason Kapono in the months ahead.