Change Is A Foot

Oregon Coach Ernie Kent believes the new arc will turn average three-point shooting teams into poor ones. The logic: Just because average shooters should not shoot from the new distance does not mean they won't think they can.

"They still want to shoot it," Missouri Coach Mike Anderson said. "They don't make it much, but they want to shoot it."

Players can tout their shooting abilities all they want, Krzyzewski said, but ultimately "talk to the coaches who control the playing time of the players who think they can hit the shots they can't really hit. Once that element is put into the equation, you get a whole new set of actions. There isn't a player alive who doesn't think they can shoot. There are a smaller percentage who can actually hit."

It will create more quandaries for defenses. Leave a good shooter open beyond the new arc, and he will still make it. Cover him tightly, and he will have more space to penetrate. If defenses need to extend a foot farther on the perimeter, it also will create more opportunities for interior players, which plays to the strengths of the nation's top teams.

Top-ranked North Carolina got only 18.8 percent of its points from three-pointers last season, the lowest percentage of any NCAA tournament team. Connecticut, the nation's second-ranked team, had the second-lowest percentage.

But some believe defenses will counter, congesting the half court.

"You'll see more teams use a zone, pack things in, and that makes the game boring," UCLA Coach Ben Howland said. "When you play against zones, you have to be more patient on offense; you're going to see slower-paced games because it takes time to break down a zone."

One unintended consequence could be confusion. Because the women's game will retain the old arc, two three-point lines are now painted on the courts. Washington State Coach Tony Bennett and several prominent players across the country said they have already seen players step on the new line while shooting.

"When you have nonessential lines on the court, then you ask, 'What the hell are those lines doing there?' " Krzyzewski said. "That was a mistake. If a football team was playing, you think they would put an 8-yard line down and say, 'Well, you should know'? The speed with which you do the game, a lot of times you are not thinking of color, you are thinking that there is something on the court."

And if a player gets confused and shoots on the line, it becomes the worst shot attempt on the court: a 20-foot two-pointer. When Kansas played exhibition games in Canada, Coach Bill Self watched his team take a lot of those "bad shots" or, as he said, "2 1/2 -pointers because they did not know the geography of the court."

Miami sharpshooter Jack McClinton said his coaches already have scolded him for taking a 20-footer, which used to be the most popular shot on the court. In the eyes of some, the three-point arc may change, but the 22-year-old philosophy remains the same.

"You don't want to shoot that far to shoot a two," Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez said. "You are either going to shoot real close or you are going to shoot a three."

Staff writer Steve Yanda contributed to this report.