Starting Monday night, the NCAA launches a new basketball season by moving the 3-point line back one foot to 20 feet, 9 inches. The change may usher in a new series of challenges to young players.
It may also prove confusing because the NCAA did not change the line for women's basketball, which means there will be two lines on the courts that men and women share.
Back when the rule was passed, ESPN said:
A number of coaches expressed concern about how officials will handle the two-line discrepancy, especially early in the season. "It may depend on which line is the darker color," Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said. "At our place, the women's line will be the dark line like it always has been and ours will be lighter. It may be difficult for the officials to determine. Everyone has to be really focused to get it right." Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said the biggest change will come with more zone defense and less hedging out to challenge a shooter.
The Washington Post reports:
Regardless of impact, coaches generally applauded the NCAA basketball rules committee's decision in May 2007 to move the arc for men's basketball, a far more positive reaction than the introduction of the old line received before the 1986-87 season. After experimenting with different arcs in different conferences, the move 22 years ago to adopt a universal arc marked a seismic change. The late Jim Valvano, then North Carolina State's coach, offered a three-word characterization: "Stupid. Awful. Horrible." Reggie Miller, then at UCLA, was so giddy about the short distance he felt he could shoot it underhanded.
Over the years, compelling evidence mounted to suggest the shot was too close and overused. Teams attempted 9.2 three-pointers per game during the 1986-87 season. Last season, teams attempted 19.07 three-pointers per game. For Butler, the successful small school from Indiana, 40.9 percent of its points came on three-pointers.
The (Lafayette, Ind.,) Journal and Courier says:
Boilermakers coach Matt Painter is curious to see what happens.
"A lot of guys who sit on those committees have talked about it being an easier game to call. They talk about how it is going to help your spacing," he said.
"From a shooting standpoint, percentages have not skyrocketed. It will affect guys who couldn't shoot it anyway. The guys who can shoot, it doesn't bother them. It bothers the people who shouldn't be shooting 3-pointers in the first place."
It is worth pointing out that a lot of players do not shoot with their feet on the line. They shoot behind it, so the shot may not change much for them. Still, it would be a fun sports story to take players to the new 3-point line and see what changes they have to make to hit the new arc consistently.
