NBA Officials concerned about too much 3-point shooting

[eliteballer]

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/sto...-critical-mass

[RRR3]

If Silver let them play perimeter defense, 3s would go down. Not hard.

[Micku]

If Silver let them play perimeter defense, 3s would go down. Not hard.

I dunno if that'll stop the attempts. Maybe the percentages.

They'll still shoot 3s. But driving to the paint will be a little harder. But it's beneficial to have 3pt shooters since it expands the spacing. And let yo superstars go to work.

[Indian guy]

If Silver let them play perimeter defense, 3s would go down. Not hard.

Not by any meaningful amount though. With physical D 3's may go down from the current average of 35 to maybe 32-33. The shot is simply too valuable for teams to not continue chucking 'em up.

I'm a huge proponent of Morey's idea of capping 3's, but it seems like an unpopular idea. Yet I've seen the same people propose lengthening the 3pt line/court or changing the distribution of points itself (counting 2's as 3's and 3's as 4's). As if that wouldn't render the entire statistical history of the league meaningless.

[TheGoatest]

Prior to 1979 the game was dominated by big men, for obvious mathematical reasons. Then the league introduced the three-point line to balance the game out in favor of the guards, which was the 100% correct decision.
Now the 3 pointer is dominating the game and basketball needs to be balanced out in the opposite direction again.
I don't know what the solution for that is, whether it's making the 3-point line longer, eliminating the corner 3, expanding the court, making the rim smaller, whatever. But something needs to be done. This is getting ridiculous and at times comical - see the infamous Nuggets fast break situation a few games back.
I do have one suggestion that needs to be introduced to slightly nerf the 3, no matter what decision is made: If you're fouled on a 3-pointer, you get no more than 2 free throws.

[BigShotBob]

Just revert the freedom of movement rules, bring back handchecking, eliminate defensive 3 seconds, and allow players to fight over screens.

The problem is that untalented teams have no reason not to chuck up more threes because they can't do anything else that's actually creative. It's out of desperation.

Attempts will go down when it's seen as a suboptimal shot. An artificial cap won't do the deed because teams should be allowed to shoot themselves out of a game or back into it if it came down to it.

[light]

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/sto...-critical-mass

"For a growing number of NBA executives and coaches, the problem isn't that NBA offenses are wrong for firing up an average of 35 attempts per game from long distance. The problem is that they're right."

I don't see a problem.

So the old guys don't like the way the new game flows. They'll get used to it.

[TheGoatest]

To those who are against the NBA doing anything about the current state of the 3 pointer, do you think that it was wrong for the league to go back to the regular 3 point line in 1997-98 after their brief experiment with a shortened 3 point line in the 3 seasons between 1994-95 and 1996-97? Or were they also "giving in to players who can't shoot" when they did that?

[Xiao Yao You]

it took Utah leading the league for them to get concerned

[light]

To those who are against the NBA doing anything about the current state of the 3 pointer, do you think that it was wrong for the league to go back to the regular 3 point line in 1997-98 after their brief experiment with a shortened 3 point line in the 3 seasons between 1994-95 and 1996-97? Or were they also "giving in to players who can't shoot" when they did that?

The league reverted back to the original three point line in 1997-98 because the idea to shorten the line to increasing scoring didn't work. Scoring still declined with the shorter three point line.

In 1985 the league scoring average was 110.8.
By 1994 it had fallen to 101.5.

They tried to reverse this trend by shortening the three point line to help boost scoring, but scoring still declined.

By 1998 the league scoring average was 95.6.
In 1999 they hit rock bottom at 91.6.

In other words the shorter three point line distance didn't solve their problem so they went back to the original distance.

The issue today is an entirely different one. In fact the issue today is just a matter of taste.

[k0kakw0rld]

If you shoot, you shoot. It doesn't matter the defense.

[Walk on Water]

I wonder how a game would look today if they took away the 3 point line. Would players still be shooting long 3 point shots as often? Or do they shoot them simply because they are worth more? It almost seems like 3 point shots are easier to take because you don't have to drive to the rim.

Would be funny if they made 3 pointers worth 2 points and 2 pointers worth 3 points. Then we'd see way less.

[LAL]

If you shoot, you shoot. It doesn't matter the defense.

You can alter shots with good defense, alter confidence of the shooter, even when he doesn't miss, it helps in the long run in many ways.

Not saying it's the "solution" or whatever, i would say let these kids shoot, there is no issue, it's evolution and stuff, it's just that more coaches simply should start forcing a zero tolerance policy on defensive end of things, especially individually, you don't have to be talented.. just the freaking EFFORT to begin with. Because i would.

[k0kakw0rld]

I don't know what y'all are watching. In order for your team to play defense, your coach or coaching staff needs to have a defensive-minded mentality and defensive-minded players.

Nick Nurse is an example with the right roster he is often able to slow down stars.
Spoelstra is also another example - Miami Heat actually plays decent defense. They got a bulldog-like Jimmy and Bam inside.
The Celtics also have proved to be a great defensive team - Brad Stevens also has some tricks under his sleeves.

[k0kakw0rld]

I wonder how a game would look today if they took away the 3 point line. Would players still be shooting long 3 point shots as often? Or do they shoot them simply because they are worth more? It almost seems like 3 point shots are easier to take because you don't have to drive to the rim.

Would be funny if they made 3 pointers worth 2 points and 2 pointers worth 3 points. Then we'd see way less.

You always go with the option that gives you more points, so 3s > 2s.