Waynes Word Best Of ~ In Praise of the 3-Ball

(First posted May 2006)
In Praise of the 3-Ball… A Poet/Fan’s View

I watched an NBA game near the end of the ’06 season in which Ben Gordon hit 9-for-9 from 3-point land. It was a home game for Chicago, and the roar from the crowd grew louder and more amazed with every deep rainbow shot of his that dropped through the bottom of the nylon net. Gordon’s performance tied a record for most consecutive 3’s without a miss, set by Latrell Sprewell for the Knicks in better times a few years ago. Better yet, the last three-ball he took from the deep left corner was essentially the game-breaker, putting the Bulls ahead to stay against the Wizards to cap a comeback and keep their strong winning streak going at the end of the season. That was the big test—to take the clutch shot at crunch time and risk keeping his wicked run going at the same time—young Mr. Gordon has a flair for 4th quarter hoop drama. The deeper the three, the more contested the shot—the more the drama, no?

Ray Allen of Seattle recently finished his season by hitting 5 threes in the first quarter of a game against Denver, and 8 in the game, to end with a season-record 272 on the season, breaking Dennis Scott’s record of 269 from ’94-95. Allen shoots one of the sweetest pro threes you’ve ever seen, never woofs or changes expression, and is now second all-time in NBA 3’s, behind only the recently retired Reggie Miller. His range is ridiculous and his perfect form the same from 15 or 40 feet.

Vince Carter and Dwyane Wade—perhaps Miles’s favorite two players these days—have gotten into three-ball fever in the early part of the ’06 playoffs lately as well. Carter recently completed a hot streak in an 18 or 20 point quarter by putting up a picture-perfect jumper off the dribble, fading right, to beat the quarter buzzer with about a 42-footer for a clean snap at the end. Wade blew open the 1st quarter of the second game against the Nets in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs with 3 consecutive three-ball swishes, and 5 in the first half—not normally his forte. I heard the announcers say later he had only hit 13 all year before this! Shooting like that not only adds points to your side of the board, it demoralizes the opponent.

On the college level this year Adam Morrison and J.J. Redick both achieved national fame in large part because of shooting about 44% from distance in averaging 28 or 29 ppg. for their teams. They were fearless bombardiers—even when defenders were out on them, knowing they were going to shoot, they got the shot off again and again. Morrison was compared to a more raggedy, gangly version of Pete Maravich, though in my mind he didn’t have the fluidity and grace of the Pistol—and he didn’t quite score 44 per game (as Pete did, three times, before the three was invented).

JJ might have been compared to a Mark Price or a Rick Mount or maybe even a Jerry West, for those with long memories of classic shooters. I never saw a dude who could come off a pick, going away from the basket, turn and fire as accurately as Redick. I hope both of these guys get to continue their prolific shooting in the pros.

On the local level, we have yet another year to watch the shooting exploits of 2 of the greatest high school shooters of recent history: Talor Battle (of Bishop Maginn) and Jimmer Fredette (of Glens Falls High). In their junior year’s they each I believe hit something like 80 apiece, averaging close to three 3’s a game, which is more than the top average per game for the best shooting pros (at a slightly deeper distance, of course). Either one of these guys is capable of hitting a half-dozen in a game, and either might hit ten of them one night if they get hot enough. It’s a blast to watch each of these guys play—and to see the impunity with which they bomb away from ridiculous distances, off the pass, or off the dribble.

I love threes. I love the fact that three threes is worth more than four slams.
Love the fact that there is no quicker way to come from behind than hitting threes.
Love the fact that a pull-up three off the dribble is now a viable offensive option, even on the fast break, when in my day it would get you sent to the bench whether you hit it or not.

I love the fact that the threat of the three will force the defense to extend, and not allow them to pack it back in the lane. I love the fact that if you have two or three 3-point threats on a team, the opponent cannot usually double-team any one of those deep shooters. I obviously also love the fact that the three is the great equalizer, and a good-shooting team can effectively beat a bigger, badder batch of rivals.

I love the perfect logic of the parabolic curve the three must travel—the deeper the three, the steeper that parabola. And the geometry of the shot means that a 28-footer actually seems to travel 60 or 70 feet in the air, from the hand of the shooter to the hoop, sometimes seeming to scrape the rafters of the gym. Some of those high-arched bombs seem to take 4 or 5 seconds to hang in the air, to complete their trajectory, but it’s probably only 2 and a half—one, two—splash!

Unlike the dunk, which is usually over in an instant, or the lay-up, a 2-beat event, the three-ball shot seems to be suspended in time, and I love how long it takes to fall through the net…or not. The crowd hangs on, and follows, the vision of its path, especially in a close game, when the three can swing the outcome by itself.

Every parent or coach who’s watched his own son (or daughter!) hit threes in a game knows that it’s akin to watching your kid hit a home run in baseball. But you don’t have to wait as long between attempts, or worrying about anyone catching the deep shot at the fence.

I’ve seen my son Miles hit threes since he was about age seven, not much over four feet tall. My encouragement of his pursuit of deep shooting was inspired in part by having seen a televised video of former NBA player Rex Chapman’s son hitting consecutive threes at the age of 5, when Miles was roughly the same age. I went out to the driveway hoop after that and told him to expand his range beyond lay-ups and short bank shots, to start pumping it up from distance. Most of the rec leagues he was in after that never recognized or counted the 3, but the Jr. NBA finally did, and by the time he was 11 he was hitting up to as many as 6 of them a game.

Accurately nailing threes can get a kid noticed no matter how big they are, way before they have a chance to dunk. The well-stroked three can be the counterbalancing weapon of the little man, even if they CAN dunk, a la Nate Robinson, 5’8” fan favorite of the Knicks this year. Gilbert Arenas often used the three in becoming the surprise fourth leading scorer of the NBA this past year. He hit a beauty from about 34’ with time running out in the playoffs to salvage one first round game against LeBron’s team, deep bombing highlight material. But it is not necessarily the sole domain of the guards and perimeter players. In college there were guys like 6’11” Kevin Pittsnogle knocking them down with alacrity, and in the pros we’ve formerly seen centers like Bill Laimbeer or Jack Sikma or a lanky lefty named Sam Perkins making the three with ease; while these days we all can see dudes as big as 7’ Dirk Nowitzky or 6’11” Rasheed Wallace drill them with accuracy, impunity, and fearlessness as well. The size of the shooter seems not as much of an issue as acumen and “shooting eye”, and how much the shooter has practiced his craft. It’s an equal-opportunity weapon of choice for those who choose to use it.

I love almost all of aspects of hoop, but most of all-- I love the long arc of the rock from beyond the arch. Later, once my son can dunk, I might think differently.
But for now, that two-full-second long float of the ball in the air from deep three-land is my favorite part of the game.