Ballin' is a Habit

BASKETBALL PROSPECTUS: HOW DID THE NEW THREE POINT LINE CHANGE THINGS?: The answer?

Not all that much.

A lot of interesting number crunching from John Gasaway in that post. The most interesting stat for me was that the three-point percentage in league play for teams in the six major conferences went up from 2008 to 2009.

Easy explanation: by moving the line back a foot, the only real change was getting guys that were marginal three point shooters to be convinced not to take the shot. At that level of basketball, anyone that is considered a "shooter" from 19'9" is going to be a "shooter" from 20'9". And since conference play starts midway through the season, coaches had a chance to identify who their "shooters" were, and who was no longer allowed to take the occasional open look from three. With a smaller number of threes being taken by decent shooters, the overall percentage went up.