Pop on three-point shooting

[-Sammy-]

He's discussed it before, but Pop's recent comments on three-point shooting are intriguing to me, and I'd like to get a sense of what some of y'all think.

[imagump1313]

I like the three but as usual, the league has gone way overboard with it IMO. It is a lazy way to play basketball and quite frankly ugly to watch. The way teams pass up layups to jack up contested threes all night long is infuriating.

The game has pretty much turned into a shooting contest. If I wanted to see that I could go to my YMCA and play some HORSE.
And I really dont understand why teams just dont overplay the three and just give opponents uncontested long 2's all night. You can beat most teams 100 out of 100 times doing that in this league.

I thought this team might be able to make a splash this year by playing the inside-out game but we just aren't talented or athletic enough to beat most teams. We would be a bad team even without all the threes.

[-Sammy-]

Yeah; the three used to function as a bailout from the contact basketball being played inside the line. Human skill and efficiency in training have outpaced the evolution of the sport, so now we have a majority of players who can consistently produce results doing something that used to be regarded as unreliable.

The league will either adjust the rules over the next decade, or I'm truly out-of-touch and the majority of money-spending fans truly prefer watching players shoot the long ball.

[G R E Y]

Contrary to popular belief, chicks don't dig the long ball.

My least favourite opponent is the Rockets, because they easily average half their FG's from beyond the arc.

ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz...

It's ruined the game especially when teams over-rely on it at the expense of developing other facets of the game.

Funny thing is, GSW take a lot of mid-range shots, too. They actually have a decent balance of 2s and 3s. So there is precedent to winning with a balanced shot selection even in this 3-on-steroids era.

We actually take more 3s this season that we did in our 2013-2014 season. I think I heard a stat that our output in attempts this season would put us near the top five then, yet we're close to last now. We scored 131 going 11-15 from the 3, so it's possible to score a lot without over-relying on it (though it was a historically good shooting night for us versus the Blazers). We have more shooters, and if Beli could find his shot, we'd be better for it, though I say that because I know we shoot them within the context of our system.

I'd like to see the All-Star game or some other one that does not count (pre-season?) experiment with the 3-point shot being nullified. It would be interesting to see how the game would be altered without the 3 being so relied on, and how it would open the game up to strategy and more diverse scoring opportunities.

[imagump1313]

I don't want to eliminate the three, its just being obnoxiously overused and it doesn't seem like anyone tries to play any defense to stop it.
I don't understand why (supposedly the cream of the crop)NBA coaches aren't smart enough to over-scheme to stop the three. The problem should work itself out when coaches become smarter.

[G R E Y]

I don't want to eliminate the three, its just being obnoxiously overused and it doesn't seem like anyone tries to play any defense to stop it.
I don't understand why (supposedly the cream of the crop)NBA coaches aren't smart enough to over-scheme to stop the three. The problem should work itself out when coaches become smarter.

How? Genuinely curious.

By the time I started watching the NBA (mid-80s or so) it was already in place, so now I'm wondering what the game was like before it, and what it would look like with current players. It was considered too gimmicky when first implemented. Now with generations not having experienced any alternative, fans take is as a given that the 3 arc is 'naturally' integral part of the game.

Maybe the NBA could have an annual retro exhibition game without the arc, just something to reintroduce a different perspective of the game and open up viewer minds about how many other ways of scoring can play a bigger part. Adds more flavour to the game.

[imagump1313]

I don't want to eliminate the three, its just being obnoxiously overused and it doesn't seem like anyone tries to play any defense to stop it.
I don't understand why (supposedly the cream of the crop)NBA coaches aren't smart enough to over-scheme to stop the three. The problem should work itself out when coaches become smarter.

How? Genuinely curious.

By the time I started watching the NBA (mid-80s or so) it was already in place, so now I'm wondering what the game was like before it, and what it would look like with current players. It was considered too gimmicky when first implemented. Now with generations not having experienced any alternative, fans take is as a given that the 3 arc is 'naturally' integral part of the game.

Maybe the NBA could have an annual retro exhibition game without the arc, just something to reintroduce a different perspective of the game and open up viewer minds about how many other ways of scoring can play a bigger part. Adds more flavour to the game.

Well, believe it or not, back in the day before the three there were actually people who wanted to make the court bigger because the lane was soo clogged up. People complained the game was getting bogged down because the players were too big.(They are much bigger now than they were back then). The three was a gimmick at first but it did actually open up the floor and make the game much better. But lazy people took it way too far and now we have what we have. Just like back then people took it way too far and tried to clog the lanes with seven footers.

It would be rather simple to adjust a defense to combat the three in today's game. But you would have to construct a team capable of doing that. The Spurs could never do that as constructed today because we lack speed length and athleticism. You would need 4 sizeable wing defenders(kind of like Toronto) and a quick lengthy shot blocker(Like Whiteside or Gobert).
I believe it is still legal to play a zone defense in the league today but no one does. Take 4 perimeter defenders and play a 4 man zone way out near the three point line, let players drive by them and just defend the three and skip passes to open up the three. Let players drive to the basket where a shot blocker can defend against bunnies and dunks. Force teams to beat you with long 2's if you can.
I think the team best built for this today would be Milwaukee.
Obviously you would have to adjust for pick and rolls but the main focus would be to rotate outside to defend the three instead of under to defend the drive and kick out for the three. It can be done.

Also a couple of rule changes would allow teams to at least defend the onslaught of threes. Eliminate the moving screens and holding you see on every high pick in the game today. Every single one of them is illegal but its rarely ever called. Or just eliminate any picks outside the three point line and let defenders defend.

There are plenty of old NBA games you can check on YouTube to see how the game flowed before the three.
Like this one:

Watch on YouTube