Columnist Dean Juipe: Colleges need to alter lines, lanes

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2002 | 9:55 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

The arc was written into the rule book in 1986 and drawn 19 feet, 9 inches from the basket. College basketball added the three-point shot and its game would never be the same.

At first players and coaches alike were cautious in their approach to it. But in time, the three-point field goal became a mainstay of almost every team's offensive attack.

Since its debut for the '86-'87 season, the number of three-point field goals attempted has risen every single year without exception. Today a game doesn't go a minute or two without at least one being launched.

But something else has happened: As the number of three-point shots has increased, the percentage of successfully made shots from that range has decreased. The quantity is up, while the quality is down.

Factor in a widespread belief that there has been a decline in fundamental skills, and those who set the rules for college basketball are looking for solutions. Two that are being tested in the early portion of this season have a chance to be permanently adopted next year, and both strike me as worthwhile changes: Back the three-point line up to the NBA standard of 20 feet, 6 inches; and widen the free-throw lane from its current 12-by-19 feet to the NBA size of 16-by-19 feet.

The effect of moving the three-point line would be both subliminal and real: That 9-inch retreat is just intimidating enough to prevent borderline marksmen from firing up shots, while, at the same time, it forces teams to play with a greater unity than we ordinarily see today.

And widening the free-throw lane makes sense, too, in that it would alleviate congestion and allow smaller players -- who won't be shooting as many 3's -- a chance to penetrate and drive to the basket.

These modified rules are being tested in some 24 early-season men's games, so the jury, in essence, is still deliberating. Yet fans can only hope the rules committee likes what it sees and votes to make the changes permanent when it meets again next spring.

What brought this on -- beyond the logical desire to have the college rules conform with the pros' -- was the United States' unexpectedly poor showing in last summer's world championships. Argentina, Yugoslavia and Spain each defeated the U.S., and did it with a sense of teamwork and finesse that the Americans failed to employ.

The U.S. team lived and died on its three-point shooting and it wasn't a pretty sight. But by backing up the line and widening the lane at the college level, still-developing American players would be required to place a greater emphasis on team play at the expense of gunning up so many 3's.

Even at UNLV, where an energetic style and a succession of long-range bombers have given the Rebels the distinction of the longest streak (508 games) in the nation with at least one successful three-point field goal, opening up the floor would have to be seen as beneficial. Legitimately good shooters -- such as those the Rebels regularly enjoy and those that play in the NBA -- aren't deterred by that extra nine inches of flight.

Change can be good, and these changes under consideration would only help the college game.