The Three!!

Funny about the evolution of the three point shot in basketball and how the game has changed in that time. When it first came in, it was rarely taken. Facing the basket, feet set, wide open. Any maybe only two or three players would dare attempt it. Now it's the main attacking weapon of most teams. It doesn't matter if the shooter has a hand in his face, is rising up from a crossover dribble and step back or is receiving the ball off of a full court sprint. And even the seven footers will toe up to the line and take it.

They used to say that shooting 33% on threes was the equal to shooting 50% on twos. You don't hear that these days, maybe because stat geeks are still trying to compile data on how the missed threes affects transition defense.

As much as I've always liked the concept, there are times I wish that limits were placed on it. Like maybe no more than five attempts per quarter .... or seven attempts per half for college games. When the shot is thrown up five on or six consecutive possessions it sometimes seems like the game has become a circus act. As a side effect, it almost seems as if traditional center play has become extinct. Who needs a old school low post center / paint protector, when everyone is shooting long and longer range threes?

I miss those epic center battles. Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russell. Wilt vs Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Kareem vs Bill Walton. Bob Lanier vs Artis Gilmore. David Robinson vs Hakeem Olajuwon. I miss all the hype of years past when the next center of-the-decade was coming up through the ranks. From high school to college to the pros. They don't grow those type of seven footers anymore.

Now it's the wing guys / small forwards who get all the hype from the time they are in the third grade it seems.