The other night, I was playing in a local rec league basketball game. My team was getting drilled by the top team in the league. One of their players showed up for just the second half. He is a short, overweight, unathletic guy. If you saw him, you’d never think he was a good basketball player and you’d be right. Obviously, they didn’t play this guy much, but late in the game they had him out there, trying to get him a bucket. For the last 2-3 possessions it was almost a joke. They’d throw him the ball in the hopes that he’d get in the scoring column. Well, lo and behold, in the last few seconds, he caught a pass, took one dribble and launched a three-pointer. Swish.
When the old fat dude who couldn’t even play ball when he wasn’t old and fat is hitting threes, the shot is too easy.
Well, the NCAA Committee is doing something about it. In a rare correct move, they have voted (of course, it still has to be approved) to move the line back a foot, to 20 feet, 9 inches starting in the 2008-09 season. No, it’s not a huge change, but it will help. It will be slightly more difficult and it might help spread the college game out a bit more. It should also make the mid-range game a bit more significant. Everybody wins!
(Here is where I point out the one crappy part. The women’s committee did NOT approve the same change, so now there will be an extra line on the court. Two lines just one foot apart. Ugh.)