New line may not be noticeable

The 3-pointer has traditionally been friendly to the Gonzaga and Washington State men’s basketball teams.

The Bulldogs’ 3-point accuracy has often been 2-6 percentage points higher than the NCAA Division I average. GU has led the West Coast Conference in 3-point percentage 13 times in 22 seasons since the 3-pointer debuted in 1986-87.

This season, the 3-point line has been moved back 1 foot – from 19 feet, 9 inches to 20-9 – a change the NCAA hopes will create more operating room for offenses and lessen the amount of physical play in the key.

Or not.

“I don’t necessarily see that (happening),” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “I think what you might see are guys packing it in even more, because you’re not going to really make them pay. It might end up having the reverse effect of what they set out to do.”

The added distance figures to drop 3-point percentages as well as the number of shooters who attempt them.

“My guess is you’ll see less of the big guys stepping out and knocking down 3s, which has become pretty commonplace,” Few said. “Some guys it doesn’t affect. It doesn’t affect Steven (Gray) or Micah (Downs).”

Both of those Bulldogs have range out to NBA 3-point distance (22 feet in the corners, 23-9 at the top of key). Gray made a team-best 46.3 percent of his 3s last season. Downs connected on 38.8 percent last year and 43.1 percent in 2007.

The McCarthey Athletic Center, home to GU’s men’s and women’s teams, has two 3-point stripes, a blue line at 20-9 and a white line at 19-9, which remains the distance for the women. That could be a bit confusing, but Gray sees it as a non issue.

“I just put in my time to get that adjustment down (to the new line),” he said. “It’ll make a small difference to some. There are some guys that toe right up to the line, but my dad always told me if you’re going to shoot a 3, make sure the ref knows it’s a 3.”

“In theory, it should drop percentages being that guys are going to take longer shots,” said WSU’s Daven Harmeling, who struggled last season, shooting 37.6 percent from beyond the arc after hitting 43 percent the year before.

“But the flip side of that may be guys who shouldn’t be shooting 3s or had borderline 3-point range last year and still did shoot. Maybe those guys won’t be shooting now.”

That should make teams more inside oriented.

“I think it will make teams more conscientious at getting into the lane or posting up more,” WSU coach Tony Bennett said. “You wouldn’t think 12 inches is that big a difference, but it will separate some of the shooters.

“I think the percentages will drop. I do.”

WSU was one of the nation’s better defensive teams last season, limiting opponents to 56.4 points per game, third best in the NCAA. But the Cougars’ pack defense was also stretched at times, as opponents shot 33 percent from beyond the arc.

Now it is farther for the defenders to go.

“If the new 3-point line gets us too stretched out, we’re bound to break down,” Harmeling said.

“To say now what we are going to change, it’s too early,” Bennett said of his defense. “We may have to adjust that … but I don’t know right now.”

Taylor Rochestie, who led the Cougars in 3-point shooting last season at 43.4 percent, thinks the change will actually help the WSU defense.

“It’s going to make our defense a little tougher, because we pack it in,” he said.

No matter what the effect will be, it may take some time to get used to the extra distance.

Bennett estimates his players in shooting drills are still stepping on the line 25 to 30 percent of the time. It’s not confusion because the women’s line is still on the court, but because they’re not used to it.

The impact of the change has drawn a variety of opinions from coaches. Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim has been quoted as saying the change without adjusting the width of the lane “definitely helped the low-post guy.”

Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl expects to see more zone defenses, particularly matchup zones. Indiana’s Tom Crean suggested post players who can score and pass out of double teams will benefit the most.

Gonzaga senior forward Josh Heytvelt tends to agree with Few that bigs probably won’t enjoy much extra space in the paint.

“We’re such a diverse team with our scoring options,” Heytvelt said. “That’s what’s going to open things up for everyone.”

Guards Matt Bouldin and Jeremy Pargo agree that the impact won’t be too dramatic.

“It might lower some percentages, but nothing drastic because a lot of guys are shooting from back there anyway,” Bouldin said.

“Guys have been shooting NBA 3s since the 3-point line was there in college,” Pargo said. “Most people, if they get an open shot, they’re going to take it no matter where it’s from.”

Gonzaga shot less than the D-I average just once, and that came in the first year of the 3-point line. GU made 37.4 percent in 1987 when the national average was 38.4.

Despite a fairly steady drop in accuracy nationally, D-I teams have increasingly relied on the long-distance shot (from 3.5 made 3s and 9.2 attempted per game in 1987 to highs of 6.7 and 19.1, respectively, last season).

“(The new line) is going to spread out the floor more,” Downs said. “Help defense is going to be a little different because you’re going to have to help a little more (inside) and that’s going to leave people open.”

Still, those open shooters have to knock down a longer 3-point shot.

“I think you’ll separate the really average shooters from the really good ones,” Few said.

Bennett agrees with Few, and he speaks from experience.

In his playing days from 1988 to 1992 at UW-Green Bay, he set the NCAA record for career 3-point shooting accuracy, making 49.7 percent of his attempts. It’s a record that still stands – and may now never be broken.

“For guys who are borderline 3-point shooters, it will make a difference,” Bennett said.

“It will show who the 3-point shooters really are,” Rochestie said.