Re: Changes coming to college hoops?

[richard l. kandell]

The 3 point line is too close - any problem we currently see may be
attributable to the fact that UC did not have anyone this past season who
could make it not only consistently (our point guard sort of did that) but
often (which he did not).  There are too many college players who can make
the shot on a regular basis, certainly at least 1 out of 3, which equates to
50% on 2 point attempts - a shooting percentage which any coach would be
pleased with.  I have no interest in seeing the game taken over by huge
highly skilled inside players, but there aren't a lot of them in college
ball, and why would moving the 3 point line back a foot or two allow people
to "camp" right under the basket any more than they do now?  I assume that
the referees would continue to call 3 second violations as often as they
have historically.  Could it be psychological?  You're not changing the
length or width of the court.  You'd set up your offense/defense positioning
just as far away from, or close to, the basket as before, wouldn't you?

I'm not as thrilled by the prospect of widening the lane, though as I
understand it they are talking about making into a "trapezoid" so that the
difficulties of making/creating an intermediate shot would come along the
base line, but if you move the 3 point line back you'd still have the same
spacing for a 2 point shot (but I guess you wouldn't have much room to set
up for a corner 3 though).

Since UC didn't have much of an inside game last year, and couldn't hit 3's
with any sort of regularity I'm not sure if these rule changes would have
impacted last year's team to any great extent.  What I'm concerned about is
that the same may be true of next year unless White and Whaley make a
significant difference.

Richard K.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Shinkle, Randy" <address@hidden>
To: <address@hidden>
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 9:53 AM
Subject: RE: [UC Basketball] Changes coming to college hoops?


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Zuke [mailto:address@hidden
> Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 9:08 AM
> To: address@hidden
> Subject: Re: [UC Basketball] Changes coming to college hoops?
>
>
> In article <address@hidden>,
> jon breiner <address@hidden> wrote:
> > I dunno, Zuke.  I have always thought the 3-point line was
> way too close.  I
> > can make them for criminy sake!  I do not think the NBA line
> of 23 some odd
> > feet is good, but the Internat'l line is perfect.  I like
> the replay rule,
> > but I am not sure I want to see a 16 foot lane.  But if the
> 3-point line
> > gets moved back, widening the lane would prevent the big
> guys from camping
> > down low.
>
> Can you make them in the time span you get in an NCAA game
> with a defender
> coming into your face?
>
> I saw an NCAA team, it might have been Troy State who I
> thought employed a
> great strategy.  They set up a good two feet behind the 3
> point line and
> threw it up from there.  I wonder how much your percentage
> goes down if you
> just move a foot or so back.  Obviously you are going to get
> much better
> looks.
>
> Anyway, a line change will drastically change the game and I
> think the
> only beneficiaries will be the teams with access to the better bigger
> athletes.  Look at the NBA, surprisingly a lot of the good three point
> guys are not little guys but big guys.
> -- 
> You are in control until you are out of control.


This is all rather simple to me:
  - Are there a lot of interior players in college that dominate by being
able to post up so close that they score at will?  Perhaps I should ask
instead, are there any?
  - Are there a lot of perimeter players in college that dominate by making
a high percentage of 3's?  Perhaps I should ask instead, are there any?

Widening the lane may create more space for perimeter players to penetrate,
but I think a more effective change would involve the charge/block calls,
perhaps by adopting the "no charge" semicircle used in the NBA.  Also, if
you widen the lane, you compress the area between the lane and the 3-point
arc (further reducing the space needed for a "mid-range" game) unless you
also move the arc back at the same time.  And IMO, moving the arc by
anything less than the 4 feet to the NBA line would make little difference.

The objective of most rules changes in sports has been either to correct a
perceived imbalance between offense and defense, brought on by the physical
development of the players (e.g., raise/lower the pitcher's mound, move back
the kickoff point, etc.), or to improve the "flow" of the game for the
spectators (e.g., no free throws until a certain number of fouls, the
shot/play clock, etc.).  Does such an imbalance or "flow" problem exist in
college basketball?  If it does, I'm not seeing it, unless it's how
"unintentional intentional" fouls slow down the end of a game.  The proposed
rules changes do not address that at all.

Randy '78

P.S. -- Having said that, I do expect the changes to be made.