LONG-RANGE PLANS
Final Four teams show trend toward 3-pointer
SAN ANTONIO — These days, the Final Four is all about the 3.
Gone are the days when the 3-point shot was the low-percentage bet in men’s college basketball compared to layups and midrange jumpers. Now it’s an indispensable piece of the arsenal for any team with serious hopes of winning the national championship.
Look no further than the four teams at the Alamodome still contending for the NCAA title. Kansas, Loyola-Chicago, Michigan and Villanova can knock down long-range shots at high rates and won’t hesitate to launch them — which could mean a big leap from past Final Fours when 3s weren’t quite so plentiful.
“It’s a huge part of our offense and the other teams as well,” said Michigan junior Moe Wagner, a 6-foot-11 forward who has made just less than 40 percent of his shots from behind the arc this season. “It’s really a big part of college basketball, to be honest with you. There are no good teams out there anymore that can’t shoot.”
The 3-point production jumps out in each team’s stats: ›
Villanova (34-4), the East Regional champion, shoots 40 percent from behind the arc and has made 436 3s, putting the Wildcats six away from matching the NCAA Division I record set by VMI in 2007 entering tonight’s national semifinal against fellow No. 1 seed Kansas.
› Midwest champ Kansas (31-7) ranks 11th nationally in 3-point percentage (.403) with an unusually guard-heavy lineup.›
West winner Michigan (32-7) has five players who have made at least 37 percent of their 3-point attempts this season.
› Loyola (32-5) has averaged the fewest of the four semifinalists this season, at 7.5, but has made 30 of 72 attempts (.417) in its four NCAA tournament games.
The only reason 11th-seeded Loyola and third-seeded Michigan are meeting in tonight’s first semifinal, set to tip off at 6:09, is because each team made a buzzer-beating, miss-and-go-home 3 in the tournament. The Ramblers got one from Donte Ingram to beat Miami in the first round, and the Wolverines needed Jordan Poole’s shot to survive against Houston in the second.
Only one team — Oklahoma in 2016 — had averaged at least nine made 3s per game in the past eight Final Fours, but there are three this weekend alone: Villanova at 11.5, Kansas at 10.1 and Michigan at 9.0.
There was a common refrain among players Friday about their use of the 3.
“We just try to lean on the best shot,” said Loyola freshman Lucas Williamson, who has made 42 percent of his 3-point attempts this season. “We’re not really banking on just winning the game by 3s.”
Still, it’s easy to see where some of that influence is coming from: the NBA.
As the quartet bring the potential for a 3-heavy weekend on college basketball’s biggest stage, the NBA was set Friday night to set a leaguewide record for made 3s for the sixth straight season. And the Golden State Warriors have spent the past three-plus seasons putting on a small-ball show full of 3-point barrages while winning two championships and playing for a third.
Now recruits watch Stephen Curry and James Harden repeatedly launching 3s and arrive in college looking to emulate that free-flowing style that is only growing in popularity. And in the college game, 3s are easier because the line is a good three feet closer to the basket than in the pros. (Noteworthy was that Kansas senior guard Devonte’ Graham, an AP All-American, spent time during Friday’s open practice shooting corner 3s from out of bounds.)
The influence of the pro game isn’t lost on coaches.
“We all learn from those guys; they’re the best — players and coaches,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “And then I think the rules … the emphasis on freedom of movement, lack of physicality is making that the evolution of the game — skill, perimeter shooting.
“And that’s where I think this is going to continue to be a big part of the game. And then in college we all look and see who gets to the Final Four and what they’re doing. And a lot of us emulate that.”
Sometimes it’s borne out of necessity — or in Kansas coach Bill Self’s case, desperation.
The Jayhawks have long had inside-out post play to go with gritty defense. But this year’s team didn’t have a lot of size outside of 7-foot sophomore Udoka Azubuike, and that was before losing 6-10 freshman Billy Preston to an NCAA eligibility problem that ended with him signing with a professional team in Bosnia without playing a game for the Jayhawks.
Instead, the offense is built around Graham, Svi Mykhailiuk, Malik Newman and Lagerald Vick in a strong backcourt, and the Jayhawks have averaged more 3s per game than in any of Self’s 15 seasons in charge.
“You’ve got to coach to your personnel and coach to your roster,” Self said. “And with our situation, the only chance that we felt and certainly the best chance for us to have a good year would be to get guards to be tough enough to defend a big.
“And if you can do that and you can stretch and play around one guy that can score (inside), that’s usually hard to guard.”