What’s the difference?
Impact of new 3-point line unknown.

Matt Lawrence hasn’t hesitated to launch shots from well beyond the 3-point arc during his two seasons playing for Coach Mike Anderson.

But he could find himself setting up closer to the line today when the Missouri basketball team opens its season at 3:30 p.m. against Prairie View A&M.

That’s because a change in NCAA rules taking effect this fall in the men’s game has pushed the arc back one foot from its old place at 19 feet, 9 inches. It marks the first change to the 3-point line since it was established across college basketball in the 1986-87 season.

The new 3-point arc was a popular topic of conversation last month during the Big 12 Conference’s media day in Oklahoma City, but nobody could seem to reach a consensus about what impact, if any, it would have on the game this season.

"I really thought, as we began planning for this year, that the line would be a factor, moving it back a little bit," Texas Coach Rick Barnes said last month. "And my original thoughts were that we would probably play a little more zone. But after being in practice and really being there with it, I’m not sure if it’s going to be that big a factor."

Kansas Coach Bill Self took the opposite viewpoint. He predicted that percentages would fall and that some players would get caught stepping out of bounds while setting up on for a 3-point shot in the corner because of the closer proximity to the sideline.

"I just can’t believe that you can move it back - it becomes a harder shot - and that does not occur," he said. "So I do think it will impact our game."

As for Missouri Coach Mike Anderson, he was more inclined to side with Barnes, but he said he hasn’t spent a lot of time talking about the new line with his team.

"The thing about it, the more you stress, the more you think about it, the more they’re going to be looking at that line," he said. "You just want them to go ahead and play basketball."

Even at 20-9, Anderson seems to have no problem with at least four or five of his players taking a 3-point shot, so long as it’s open.

Eleven players attempted at least one during Missouri’s two exhibition games. They combined to go 13 for 38 from beyond the arc - a 34.2 percent clip - in those contests. That was roughly the same percentage the Tigers shot last season when they ranked 10th in the Big 12 in 3-point accuracy.

"I always tell our guys, take good shots," Anderson said. "Let’s say a 3-point shot for this guy may not be a good shot for that particular guy."

Lawrence struggled from long range, going 2 for 9 against Lincoln University and Missouri Southern, but he thinks the new 3-point arc will benefit him over the course of the season.

"For me, I’ve been shooting 3s deep anyway the past couple years I’ve been here," Lawrence said. "I don’t think it’s going to affect me too much. … With this extra little bit of space, I think there’s more room for me to get lost. A defender has to go further away to keep up with me off screens. I’m going to try to use it to my advantage."

Usually ignored in discussions of the 3-point arc is the real reason the change was made - to spread out the defense inside the arc to create more space in the paint, but it’s unclear if one foot is a big enough difference to accomplish that goal.

"I think it will," MU junior guard J.T. Tiller said. "I think there’s going to be more drives to the lane, more attacks, more fouls and more excitement to the game now that it’s more spread out."

But again, there’s no way to be certain until it’s been in effect awhile.

Maybe the only thing anyone knows for sure is that a shot from 19-9 is now the worst shot in basketball.

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Reach Steve Walentik at (573) 815-1788 or swalentik@tribmail.com.

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