USD Men's Basketball 1996-1997

IHI SHOI Of IHI DICADI Continued

ent to winning a national title. In 1987, Indiana won it all with Steve Alford bombing away. In 1989, Michigan wouldn't have had a chance without the three-pointers that Glenn Rice buried. In 1993, Donald Williams helped Dean Smith and North Carolina take the title with his prolific shooting, while the Arkansas Razorbacks had several long-range three– point shooters on the 1994 championship team. "It's become the biggest change in the game," said Villanova coach Steve Lappas. "It's changed what was a good shot and what is not a good shot. Now, an open three-pointer in transition is a good shot as long as the right guy is taking it. In the old days, when each shot was wo1th two points, the 22-foot jumper is not what you looked for. You tried to look for a shot inside as close to the basket as possible." The three-pointer has had an impact on the game in other ways, too. Now, few leads are safe in college basketball. If a team has some long-range jump shooters, they can find their way back into a game in no time. Coaches also run plays for players to score on three-pointers. When Florida broke away from Boston College in an East Regional Final two years ago, Gators coach Lon Kruger set up Craig Brown to score on back-to-back threes off downscreens to win the game in the final minutes. "When you can find someone with a hot hand, it becomes important to make sure you get that person shots from behind the line," said Lappas. "At Villanova the last couple of years, we looked for [Eric) Eberz and [Kerry) Kittles all the time." The inception of the three-point rule has changed the bal– ance of the game as well. Prior to 1986-87, college basket– ball was an outside-inside game where big men were the first priority on offense. That's not necessarily true any– more. "I think it's a more guard-oriented game than ever now," said Allen Iverson, who staned at Georgetown last year before becoming the first pick in the NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. "Guards can set the tempo and pace of the game and can also change the momentum of the game by hitting a three-point shot." Though the three-point line has not been moved back from its original mark of 19 feet 9 inches, many people involved with the game feel that the shot remains too close, and, perhaps, has too much importance placed on it compared with other aspects of the game. "I think it probably has too much impact on strategy today and I'm not sure I like that," said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, whose zone defense forced teams to take three– pointers at alarming rates last year. "But at the same time there isn't a terrible effect and the fans like to see them." "The three-point line in college basketball is too close," said Pitino. "I'm definitely in favor of moving it back. Make it the same as the NBA's. Right now it's just a jump shot for the college players."

Former Washington State star Mark Hendri ckson agret>s: "What people may not realize is that the jump from tht> college line to the pro lint> (23 foe t 9 inches) is a bi g difft> r– ence, and when players get to tht> pros they rea lize that you need to have everything in tune for it to go down from that distance. Overall, though, the fan s ha vt> been most supporti vt> of Lht> three-point shot. Outside of a spec tacular slam dunk or no– look pass, the three-pointer brings Lht>m out of tht> ir St>ats the most. And many people feel it's whal changes tht> momentum of the game the most. "John [Wallace] hit that three-pointer to ti t> th e gamt> against Georgia [in an NCAA second-round game] last yt>a r and helped us move on in the Tournament," said Boeheim. "So there's no question that it gives learns and ils fan s hopt> when they are down. And it's certainly one of the more exciting aspects of the game today."

JEREMY TREATMAN is a freelance writerfrom Ph iladelph ia, 1 Pa. , and a frequent contributor to Coll ege Hoops lllu slrated .

"IT'S A STYLE THAI I HAVE ALWAYSLIKED. I WANTKIDS WHO CANPLAY DEFENSE, RUN UP AND DOWN JHE flOOR, AND HIT JHE JHRH-POINJ SHOJ." Kentucky head coach Rick Pitino