Has the 20-foot 9-inch three-point line that was implemented this season had the desired impact?
The arc was moved back a foot to discourage weaker shooters from attempting long-range shots and open up play inside, but not much has changed.
The combined three-point shooting percentage in the seven major conferences — the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Conference USA, Pacific 10 and Southeastern — has dipped only slightly.
The 85 teams in the power leagues have shot 34.9% from three-point range through Sunday's games. Last season they shot 35.3%.
As for opening play in the lane, Central Florida coach Kirk Speraw said it hasn't.
"Maybe it's helped in creating a little more space from the perimeter to the post so that the passing lanes are a little more open," he said. "That's what it was designed for, but I don't know it has helped as much as you would hope."
Florida State assistant Andy Enfield thinks he has the answer — move the line back to 22 feet.
"That would make it a real three," he said. "It would mean something at that point."
A look at which teams have been impacted the most by the news three-point line.
Really disappointing article. Good statistics would dictate analyzing the change in the percentage of shots taken from 2-pt and 3-pt ranges. It would also be helpful to know the how the standard deviation of the averages of individual 3-pt shooters has changed, as this would give us a read on the extent to which the increased distance has discouraged attempts from weak shooters.
Posted by: calltheobvious | January 28, 2009 at 08:06 PM