Three-point-shooting percentage in decline in college basketball
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Miami Hurricanes guard Jack McClinton has seen his three-point shooting average remain nearly the same, dropping slightly from 42.7 to 42.5. DOUG BENC / GETTY IMAGES
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<!-- id="storyAssets" -->BY MICHELLE KAUFMAN
<!-- begin /production/story/credit_line_format.comp -->mkaufman@MiamiHerald.com
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One month into the college basketball season, and this much we can deduce about the new three-point line: It's one small step back for sharpshooters such as the University of Miami's Jack McClinton, but it's a giant leap for the average player.
McClinton typically fired from beyond the arc, anyway, and he practices from NBA distance, so he says he is unfazed by the NCAA's decision to move the line back a foot to 20 feet, 9 inches this season.
But the majority of college jump shooters are not as fortunate. For every McClinton, there are dozens of marginal shooters for whom the extra sneaker length makes a difference. Those players are likely to be getting gun-shy right about now. And if they're not, you can bet their coaches are reining them in.
Three-point-shooting percentages are down nationwide, from 35 percent to 33.8 percent, according to statsheet.com, a website that tracks basketball statistical trends. Fifty-seven percent of the Division I teams (196 of 341) have a lower shooting percentage from the three-point arc than they did last year. And 20 of the top 25 three-point-shooting teams last season are shooting worse through mid-December.
The University of Miami dropped from 43.7 percent three-point shooting a year ago at this time to 35.6 percent, and four of the team's top six returning shooters have worse percentages from beyond the arc. McClinton has dropped, but only a fraction, from 42.7 percent to 42.5 percent.
Three-point-shooting percentages have also dipped at University of Florida, Florida State, FIU and Florida Atlantic University.
A GOOD MOVE
''There were too many three-point shots being taken, in my opinion, so I think this is a good thing,'' said FAU coach Mike Jarvis. ``I don't like the three-point line, period, but if there's going to be one, then it needed to be pushed back. Ninety percent of the people who were taking threes shouldn't be doing it anyway, so if it does reduce the kids stepping out too far then it's effective if only for that reason.''
The NCAA instituted the three-point line at 19 feet, 9 inches in 1986. At the time, then-St. John's coach Lou Carnesecca called the distance ``a Mickey Mouse shot.''
College players made 38.4 percent of those Mickey Mouse shots in 1987, and the percentage hovered around 34 percent in recent years. Last year, it rose to 35.02 percent, and the NCAA basketball rules committee opted to make the shot a bit more challenging.
The idea was to create more space for half-court offenses to develop. Defenders who collapse to contain penetration or to double-team low-post scorers would have to venture farther to challenge three-point shots.
If the defenders key on the shooters, that would open up space for the big men and penetrating players in the low post.
''I'm really anxious to see [the results],'' said UF coach Billy Donovan, a lethal three-point shooter in his day. 'I think the national average from the three-point line, the percentage, is going to go down. I've noticed just watching our guys shoot, it's definitely a deeper shot. There are certain guys out there that are not affected by the line one bit. There are certain guys that can be affected. People say, `It's not that big of a deal.' I think it's going to make a big difference. It's going to be important who's taking threes, the timing of the three-point shot and how we're going to go about defending the three-point line. I think all those things are very important.''
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