I know that this would vary depending on the angle to the hoop, but (on average) is a shot in basketball more likely to go in if it hits the backboard first (because it loses a certain amount of kinetic energy in that first rebound and will thus hang around the rim longer) or less likely (because the shot has to travel farther, thus lessening the margin for error). It’s probably unfair to base one’s conclusion on what happens in the NBA because everyone is trying for a swish 9 times out of 10 and, hence, have relatively little practice shooting long bank shots. On the other hand, some players often go glass intentionally from about 15 feet (e.g. Scottie Pippen), seemingly with a high success rate.
Personally, I think that the backboard woud offer the best odds if anybody knew how to use it. The again, I got D’s in Physics, so don’t take my word on it.
But you need to consider how elite players shoot the basketball. They always try to shoot the ball directly through the rim. Why? Because they’ve discovered that it usually goes in that way.
A long bank shot is quite difficult because you have to enough energy to get the ball to the backboard, but not too much so it doesn’t bounce away from the rim.
As I see it, if you’re going to shoot the ball with so much energy to bank the ball in, why don’t you expend less energy and try to swish the ball in.
Good players don’t bank in 3-pointers and free throws. That’s a low percentage shot. The backboard is better for close shots where the shooter is at a severe angle.
Well it’s certainly longer, but I don’t think one expends that much energy in getting the ball to the backboard. It’s effectively the same as stepping back six or twleve inches before the shot. That being the case, the ball has, realistically, just as much energy when it hits the rim, and is at least as likely to bounce away if it hits anything but the bottom of the net. And, like I implied in the OP, I’m not sure pro players shoot at the rim because it’s inherently better, but rather because that’s how everyone else does it. (That’s how I do it, and I don’t even believe in it.)
There are probably a few reasons why the rim is aimed at much more often than a backboard. Off the top of my head…
Baseline shots. If you shoot from there, there is no chance use the backboard. Therefore, if you have only the rim to work with there, why learn to do it both ways depending on shot location. Learn one way and perfect it as best as you can.
Backboard type. What basketball player hasn’t played with rims on wood/iron/glass/brick/etc. Each of these gives a different response to the shot. On some the ball caroms harder. On others, it just dies. But, the rim is always the same diameter and the same material.
History. When the game first started the rim consisted of a peach basket without a backboard. Players learned how to make a shot without the chance to carom the ball in. Even when the backboard came into play, people knew how to shoot without using it. They passed this on to the next generation and so on.
Angles. Just because a backboard is available, it is not necessarily helpful. Again, see baseline shots. Shots from straightaway or from a long distance are not going to be any easier because a person can bank it in.
Aesthetics. What looks cooler? A person banking in a 3 point shot with a clang, or a person swishing a 3 point shot so smoothly that they hag the net? A better shooter is viewed as someone that doesn’t even need the rim, so why waste time with the backboard.
There are certainly others, but I think that covers my stance.
I think that the “angles” answer is the closest. There are several shots (dead center, from the sides) where banking it isn’t possible or is a tougher shot. If you typically go for a bank shot, you need to adjust to shoot from these locations. In some cases, you may need to think about whether you can bank it in or go directly for the basket. If you’ve got Kevin Garnett coming atcha trying to swat it, the last thing you want to do is hesitate to figure out which shot you want.
Unlike Mullinator, I think that the bank shot looks cooler. But I play in shelltoes with my socks pulled up so my idea of style may be wack.
Don’t get me wrong. I like a good bank shot, but I don’t think it looks as pretty as a pure swish. On the plus side, my friends and I perfected the backboard pass to use in pickup ball. It was always good for a few wide open shots every game.
But I believe the answer lies in the arc. The greater the arc on a shot, the better the chance it will go in. Put your coffee mug on the desk in front of you. Look directly down at it. It’s a circle. Now move your head away in any direction. It begins to “squeeze” and the space available to drop something through it decreases.
When you’re a significant distance away from the rim, it’s very difficult to get the same effective “rim size” from a banked shot as you can from a straight arc. All things being equal, you want to take the shot with the greater effective rim size.
Close to the hoop, things switch up- you need to shoot the ball almost directly vertical to get a good landing angle. This reduces your control. In this situation, bouncing the ball off the backboard gives you a better angle.
Additionally, once you hit the backboard, all kinds of funky things can happen due to the spin on the ball, imperfections in the backboard, etc. Better to leave it out of the equation if it doesn’t help your shot, which it doesnt.
In short, they do it that way because it works better that way.