Three-point shot has changed basketball

Last Wednesday as I watched the Graves County (Kent.) girls basketball team connect on 11 shots from beyond the 3-point line against Crestview.

The Bulldogs lost the game 44-31 and I couldn’t help but think how the 3-point shot has changed not only that single game but basketball as a whole.

Oh, the much loved 3-pointer that changes the strategy of the game of basketball. Maybe it does level the playing court for a smallish team like Graves that is short on great athletes, but does that make it a better game?

Take away the 11 extra points Graves had shooting the 3-pointers and the one by the Bulldogs and the game is suddenly a 33-30 game and maybe in a closer game Crestview could have found a way to win.

The 3-pointer has changed the way the typical player approaches basketball. Why work on a 12-15-foot jump shot when you can get an extra point by moving out to the arch, which is 19-feet, 9-inches from the basket in high school ball.

I think the 3-point basket can be directly attributed to the problems many teams have hitting free throws, which are 15-foot shots.

Let’s face it, there’s nothing glamorous about standing at the line and hitting a free throw. A player would much rather make the highlight reel by draining the 20-foot shot from behind the arch than going to the line and hitting a pair of free throws. But if you look at the stats on a regular basis you will see that more games are won or lost at the free throw line than the 3-point line.

I’ll admit I never have liked the 3-point shot.

As I’ve searched my collective sports memory, I can’t think of another sport that awards an extra point to the length of a scoring play.

When Chris Pickett scored on a 70-yard run during football season it counted the same six points as when he scored from a yard out. The same is true with a J.T. Arnold field goal, the 20-yard field goal counted just as much as one from 35 or 40 yards out.

In soccer it doesn’t matter from where on the field a player scores. A goal from just in front of the net is rewarded the same point as a goal from long range.

Baseball doesn’t distinguish between a home run down the line that travels 330 feet or one that clears the 400-foot sign in centerfield, both homers count one run.

And back to basketball, if a shot from 19-9 counts for three points shouldn’t a layup or dunk count for less than two points as they are much shorter shots?

I understand I’m probably in the minority about this.

I would guess that most fans think the 3-pointer adds to the excitement of the game when a player steps out to drain a long bomb.

I guess I’m old enough to remember that Jerry West, Oscar Robinson and John Havlicek played an exciting game without the 3-point line and nobody from my generation felt we were being cheated at the time.

I know the 3-pointer is here to stay, but that doesn’t mea