3-pointers more prevalent than ever in hoops

Throughout its history, it has been frowned upon, seen as a novelty and, in decades past, was often used as a desperation tool to cut into large deficits.

But there has been a drastic evolution in the use of the 3-point shot in recent years in professional and college basketball, and now, more than ever before, it has become an essential part of the game at all levels.

The 2013-2014 season in the NBA saw a record 52,974 3-pointers attempted, and a record 19,054 of those attempts were made. 

A quarter of all shots attempted last season were 3-pointers — another record. 

The shot is also eminent at the college level, especially considering the size difference of small and mid-major programs when taking on elite, power-conference teams with significant size advantages. 

It is, in many ways, the great equalizer where there is dramatic size difference between lineups.

Perhaps more than in any other sport, up-and-coming youth players mimic what they see at the professional and college levels, and so it begs the question: Has this trend made its way down to the high school level?

“There’s a trickle-down effect, I believe, in college and pros that comes to high school,” Dr. Phillips coach Anthony Long said. “There’s less and less mid-range shooting in college and pros — it’s coming down to the high-school level, too.”

Indeed, the decision to let one fly from behind the arc as opposed to two or three feet in front of it is becoming more and more commonplace and, as Ocoee coach Rob Gordon perceives it, is becoming a part of the psyche of today’s ballplayers.

“I do think that kids have lost that sense of what a 15-foot, 16-foot jump shot really means, and they’d rather squeeze off a 25-footer now,” Gordon said.

While up-and-coming ballplayers today seem to have adopted the mentality seen at higher levels, where 3-pointers and layups are believed to be the most effective ways to score by many, high school basketball is still a game where coaches have a higher-than-average amount of influence.

Unlike club and AAU basketball, and similar to college basketball, teams at the high-school level often run very structured sets on offense and defense. 

So what do high-school coaches think on the matter? That answer varies.

“We don’t want our players taking 17-foot jumpers — we’d just prefer it be a 19-foot jumper, a 3-pointer,” Long said. “So we do implement some of that strategy that you see at the college game.”

On the other hand, there are coaches such as Gordon who still see tremendous value in the mid-range game.

“I really think the mid-range game is the lost art in basketball,” Gordon said. “We really work hard with our guys on the mid-range game.”

Whatever the philosophy of a given coach or basketball-junkie, there is no denying that the 3-point shot is one of those things in all of sports that has the power to transform momentum and blow the roof off of a gym near you when taken and made at just the right time.

Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].