Not sure, but Oscar Forman is a decent shooter probs top 3 in the leagues history.

Can't see him at top three maybe top 10 lots of other excellent shooters that people forget about.....Ronny 'the rat' Radliff comes to mind as one.

Ian Davies

John Rillie, Brett Maher

You all love living in the past. Much more attention to defense in recent modern era (thanks to Brian G) Three point line has shifted out twice since most of the players mentioned. Oscar must be in conversation. Bailed Hawks out today. Not the first time.

John Rillie was the best I ever saw

Steph Curry kind of staked his claim to that today I'd say...

But yeah, NBL wise, he'd be up there. For his height, absolutely. But we've had some extremely good shooters over the years.

With feet set there are *very* few better than Oscar in NBL history IMO. But yes, most others mentioned above were less one-dimensional.

This is interesting.

Oscar Forman is indeed a very strong three point shooter, in saying that it would a bit weird to spot him above Gaze, Heal, Maher, Smyth, Rillie etc.

As it has been pointed out those guys are less one dimensional, and each stars who would be automatic go-to in any clutch situation. That kind of taints the question in some respects because if we need a three point shot, in say, clutch time, and they are all on the same team....i'd still have gone with them over Forman. BUT, I equally would not be annoyed if Forman were to take the shot in the same team as the rest.

It's not an outrageous claim to make that Forman is the best/one of the best three point shooters in NBL history, it just feels weird in comparison to the others mentioned.

We are not at all saying he is in the same league as gaze and loggins etc. But as far as spot up three point shooters go forman is automatic and the best ive seen when his feet are set. Pearce was elite but good points mentioned here about three point line being further in and less defensive intensity in the old days makes it tough to compare.
Heal was just a chucker compared to forman!

Yeah I was referring directly as a SPOT UP shooter. No way he is in the same category as some of the others, Maher, Gaze on the pull up i mean forget about it those guys were stupid good. But spot up Oscar is automatic.

It's okay to chuck them up if they go in at the rate Heal got them

In my 30 years watching the NBL, the best three I have seen are Andrew Gaze, Darryl Pearce and Brett Maher.

Gaze always seemed to be 'on a roll'. When The Iceman got going there was no stopping him, and the same goes for Mahersy.

Oscar is very good, no doubting that. And he is probably the best currently playing in the NBL. But the three I mentioned above, plus the likes of Shane Heal, Mike McKay, Ron Radliff and John Rillie who would be ahead of him.

Leroy Loggins, Al Green and Cal Bruton were also damn good spot shooters.

Oscar's the best for mine, the numbers he has put up on the extended arc have been phenomenal, especially given he is guarded specifically as a three-point shooter. Darryl Pearce and David Close are a couple of others who would rate highly.

I think Gaze shot at 36% over his career, so while he was unbelievable when on a roll, and was guarded very closely, I don't think he can enter the discussions for the best three-point shooter of all-time.

Gaze, Ian Davies, Radar, Heal, Paul Stanley, Pearce, and a lot more.
I would imagine that in terms of productivity and longevity, Gaze would win hands down. 1826 made 3pt's in 612 games. Forman only has a couple of hundred games to catch Gaze. Let alone be best ever 3 pt shooter.

Unfortunately the NBL's ability to produce a decent media guide and even keep their limited stats up to date rears its head again.

"36% for Gaze's career is amazing when he had to create his own shot as often as he did and was defended as tightly as he was."

Drewey was amazing and guarded really tightly, but at the same time he be had an entire offence run around him his entire career which created shots for him, especially when most of it was in an era with poor scouting. Gaze got a lot of wide open looks.

I guess if you're considering volume then Gaze is the best, if you look at accuracy across volume then the likes of Forman (42%), Maher (41%), Smyth (42%), Pearce (42%), Radliff (44%), Stephen Black (40%) and Jason Smith (40%) are all standouts.

If you just look at accuracy without longevity, guys like Close, Kickert and Tucker etc come into it.

Ian Davies I believe mad 13 3's in a game.
Heal 2nd.

Man I wish i had seen some of the older legends play. Ice man was on the way out of Adelaide when started following the 36ers and always hear about Ian Davies but never saw him.

Rillie reckoned he could take Ray Allen in a 3pt shooting contest - #deluded.

When The Iceman got going there was no better 3 point shooter in the league, Gaze included.

A number of 36ers wins in the mid-late 80's come off the back of Pearce hitting 3 after 3 and putting up 20+ points in a single period to blow the game out of the opposition's reach.

Kirk Penney the best of the Kiwi's followed by Pero Cameron & Phill Jones & Abercrombie

Surely not Abercrombie in that group, never thought of him as a consistent threat. I would've thought Jones of Pero, but i haven't followed them as closely.

Abercrombies 3 point percentage has been solid for most of his career, you probably didn't notice because he has constantly been surrounded with some of the better shooters in the league (Bruton, Penney, Foreman & Corletto)

Another thing worth noting with the players of old vs current players is that the 3 point line has been extended in the last 5 years or so. So an equal shooting percentage in today's game is more impressive than it used to be.

Another thing worth noting with the players of old vs current players is that the 3 point line has been extended in the last 5 years or so. So an equal shooting percentage in today's game is more impressive than it used to be.


I agree to a point, but great shooters are great shooters. The great shooters from previous generations like Davies, Gaze, Pearce, Rillie, Heal, Rucker, McKay etc, would have adapted and been just as effective IMO

Best way to assess this issue is to ask yourself who would you want to shoot a 3 for your life.........Ron Radliff was the most chilled and confident shooter I ever met I'd give him the ball next would be JR.

I would probably take Oscar as a pure spot up shooter over anyone. There are a couple of key points I think that separate him from all the greats like Gaze, Maher, etc as far as pure spot up shooting goes.

Firstly, he has one of the quickest releases I have ever seen, quicker than any of the other names mentioned in this thread.

Secondly, he is the tallest player of anyone mentioned in this thread.

This gives him a big advantage as not only is he such an impressive shooter but these two factors mean he always gets a decent look at the basket and he generally has no issues getting his shot off. Yes his offense is one dimensionsal and he is nowhere near the offensive threat of Gaze etc. but he does that one dimension better than most if not all.

No way is his release quicker than the Rat.

Anyone watched the Paul Stanley eyebrow fake. That's how quick he was.

He is crap

There was a Smith who played for the Magic when they were still around, and IIRC stayed with the Titans.
He was really annoying, would just drain 3 after 3.

A guy who was really good for a Big guy was Fisher, before he had problems with his fingers. He was such great value because not only was he strong inside, but very accurate from 3-point range. I don't suppose he shot a lot from out there, but when he did they were good.

The thing I remember most about Gaze, is not that he necessarily had the highest % in any game, but he was just so consistent. He might have only been hitting say 40~45%, but he would just keep hitting that every game. And if he was kept quiet in the first half, he would come out and start draining them in the 2nd.

"Surely not Abercrombie in that group, never thought of him as a consistent threat. I would've thought Jones of Pero, but i haven't followed them as closely."

Tom's developed into a super shooter. Last season he was around 50% for most of the season before a late drop, and this year he has been around that mark the whole season.

His past four seasons are 43%, 33%, 42%, 48%. If he keeps that going for his career he'll definitely enter the conversation.

Agree, paul. I was surprised when I checked the stats and found Abercrombie had become such a consistent 3 point threat.

On Forman, his 3 point percentage increased materially after the line was moved out in 2010-11. I suspect that suited his "one dimensional" game and size. i.e., the defence had to take an extra half a step to get to him, giving him more room to shoot from the set position.

Forman has been the best 3-point shooter (% wise for a material number of shots taken) for 5 NBL seasons in the past. Next most frequent is Jason Smith (3 seasons), with Butch Hays and Alan Black the only others to achieve that more than once. That says a lot on its own.

Add to that the fact he's on a short list (I found 11) of players to have averaged better than 50% from the 3-point line for an entire NBL season. That's for players who took material numbers of shots from that range (more than 30). Among that group, Forman was the only one to take more than 100 3-point shots in the season he averaged above 50%.

That's a pretty impressive resume for a spot-up, 3-point shooter to have. Regardless of subjective assessments of technique, speed of release etc, those numbers place him in the top half a dozen 3-point shooters of all time in the NBL.

I would say his improvement had more to do with going to Wollongong and playing his more natural PF position than the line extending, but who knows?

What about Madge he's a pretty good spot up shooter despite being inconsistent this season. Still I'd put him before Forman but I'm Biased. Buy Brett Maher was pretty good