Arizona Basketball: How the new three-point line will impact the Wildcats

Arizona basketball will face many unknowns during the 2019-20 season, including the new three point line.

Three pointers. Everyone is shooting them, including Arizona Basketball. The two point shot has become a thing of the past, in both college and professionally. It’s fun to watch as a fan when a player or team gets on fire from long range, but when they aren’t falling it can really hurt that team. The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel is stepping in to try and eliminate the amount of three pointers taken.

They are moving three-point line from 20 feet and 9 inches to 22 feet and 1 3/4 inches, which is the current international distance. To put that into perspective, the current distance for the NBA is at 23 feet and 9 inches. The NCAA already experimented was this new three-point line during the 2019 NIT Tournament. There was a slight decrease in the in three point percentage from the NIT to the regular season.

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Many teams in college basketball, including the Wildcats, will have to adjust on both sides of the floor with this new rule change. How many three-point shots will teams take? How will coaches adjust their defense schemes? These are questions that teams will need to address prior to the start of the season.

In most recent years, Arizona basketball has been known not to have the greatest three-point defense. With the line now being farther back, they will need to focus even more on teamwork, switching and communication when it comes to limiting good looks at three. Not known to play zone defense, head coach Sean Miller may want to think about implementing that more this year as teams will likely space out more looking for that open three point shot.

On offense, it will be tempting for three point shooters like Brandon Williams, Nico Mannion, Josh Green and others to take three point shots. As long as they are good looks and not forced, that’s fine. Teams more often then not play zone defense against the Wildcats. Just like on defense, the Wildcats will need to be playing as one cohesive unit, moving without the ball and looking for the good shot.

This new rule will also force teams to take higher percentage shots and not just rely on three pointers. Jumpers, layups, low post moves and dunks will be more of the norm. Not to say teams still won’t take a high amount of three point attempts, but there will be a slight decrease in overall efficiency by taking them. As we get into conference play and into the posteason, players will have gotten used to the new distance and perecentage of made three pointers will go up.

The NCAA panel also implemented a new shot reset rule. Normally in seasons past, after a miss shot and rebound is made by the offense, the shot clock would reset back to 30 seconds. No more. Now the shot clock will rese to 20 seconds. This will speed up the pace of the game.

For the Wildcats, this will force them to take smart shots, but also focus on boxing out, grabbing rebounds and immediately have a plan of attack. They have depth in the backcourt and players that can be aggressive on the glass, but also create their own shot. This rule shouldn’t impact the Wildcats too much.

At Zona Zealots, we like to see the NCAA changing things up and coming up with rules to improve the overall college game. Will be exciting to watch and see how they impact the 2019-20 season. Bear Down, Arizona!