Massachusetts coach Travis Ford says he won’t ask any of his players who have shot 3-pointers routinely in the past to stop.
“I don’t want our guys thinking too much about it,” Ford said. “I want them to have some freedom and confidence when they shoot it. They just need to use their talents and understand their role.”
But, that’s not to say Ford believes there won’t be noticeable differences next season. [B]Ford believes quick guards and wings who excel at beating defenders off the dribble will gain a significant advantage, perhaps more so than the top outside shooters.[/B]
“There’s no question it will change the game,” Ford said.
“[B]It’s going to open up the court and create great spacing. The players with the best individual talents will prevail more. Post players are going to have more room to operate, but I think it will help the perimeter guys even more. The court will be more open and it’s going to help teams get up and down faster[/B].”
That should benefit teams like UMass. Ford has built his roster around athletic and versatile players who are ideal for an uptempo style. The Minutemen ranked eight nationally in scoring offense last season at 81.5 points a game while advancing to the NIT championship game.
“The new line should help our offense. I can only see it being a positive for us,” Ford said.[/QUOTE]
Interesting comments. Based on the bolded statements, do you feel we have built a team to fit the change?
Interesting comments. Based on the bolded statements, do you feel we have built a team to fit the change?
I personally believe the team will do better than others with the change. I will say it first…this rule hurts smaller teams and conferences than the power conferences. Power conferences typically get athletic players while smaller teams have to rely on smart players who are limited athletically. Extending the 3 pt line hurts the equalizing threat of 3pt shots a small team may have in beating a larger team, assuming 3pt FG% goes down. In addition, athletic players will have more space in breaking down a defender one-on-one. The new spacing forces help to come from further away on the court.
As for our team, the athleticism is there, and the new line may actually help our defense. Pushing 3pt shooters back will hopefully lower the shooting percentage of those wide open threes we allow. On the offensive side, it’s not like we shoot from the existing 3pt line anyways. Our threes seem to always be “deep.”
[QUOTE=49er1;314260]I hope it doesn’t make the game more like the nba. The nba SUX![/QUOTE]
Yes I agree, look at my name. Why can’t we just leave college ball in college and leave the junk in the NBA. Why screw up college ball, is the NBA 3 pt shooters % that bad? Maybe its because you draft athletes that can’t shoot so we can watch a bunch of Memphis games, boring.
do we have a team built for this change? I think the bigger issue is do we have a coach built for this change? We will be able to tell pretty quickly whether Lutz deserves his next extension, or whether this one will be his last.
[QUOTE=Anborn;314276]do we have a team built for this change? I think the bigger issue is do we have a coach built for this change? We will be able to tell pretty quickly whether Lutz deserves his next extension, or whether this one will be his last.[/QUOTE]
IIRC, they moved the line on our practice court several months ago.
[QUOTE=NinerAdvocate;314241]Interesting comments. Based on the bolded statements, do you feel we have built a team to fit the change?[/QUOTE] Yes. I think this change will help us in most games, at least for the team we’ll have next year.
I also agree that the change will generally help give teams in the “big 6” conferences and maybe a few other conferences a slight advantage.
it is a change that the players will have to get used to. but so is the change between high school and college three point line, and the nba and college.
in reality its one foot. 12 inches. how many times to u see a player pull up one step behind the line anyway. its what they practice so there foot isnt on the line.
it is a change that the players will have to get used to. but so is the change between high school and college three point line, and the nba and college.
in reality its one foot. 12 inches. how many times to u see a player pull up one step behind the line anyway. its what they practice so there foot isnt on the line.
High School and the current College 3 pt line are the same line.
[QUOTE]It’s going to open up the court and create great spacing. [/QUOTE]
Wrong. Making the three more difficult to make is going to allow teams to play more zone and clog the lane more since the threat of the opponent making the 3 will be less.
[QUOTE]The players with the best individual talents will prevail more.[/QUOTE]
That’s true for any sport, whatever the rules are.
[QUOTE]Post players are going to have more room to operate, but I think it will help the perimeter guys even more. The court will be more open and it’s going to help teams get up and down faster.”[/QUOTE]
Wrong. Think pre-1986 or the NBA. This rule is leading college basketball back in those directions, the wrong ones in my opinion.
How is moving the 3-point line back going to create [B][U]more[/U][/B] spacing? The line is being moved back to make it a more difficult shot. Thus, less people will be able to make it. That means you don’t have to guard shhotersas tight as you did at the old distance. Thus, teams will be playing more zones and defenders will be able to play further off a quick guard who cannot shoot the “new” three. Many bad-shooting guards could make the “old” three, thus you had to guard them further out on the perimeter and could not leave them open unless they had absolutely no shot skill. Now, the risk of playing off of them is less and it will be easier to guard them. Ford’s comments just don’t add up logically.