Try to imagine March Madness without a 3-pointer swishing through the net. Picture the PMAC floor without its signature arc.
There would be no Bryce Drew. Mario Chalmers' game-tying shot to send the 2008 national championship into overtime would have been meaningless. Austin Rivers still might be better known as Doc Rivers' son.
As the 3-point line in college basketball reaches its 25th season, the shot continues to become more prevalent, inspiring the acclaim it was rarely afforded when the line debuted for the 1986-87 season.
"Implementing the 3-point line put the shooters back into the game," said former LSU forward Ricky Blanton, who holds the fourth-best 3-point percentage in the LSU record books at 41.1 percent. "If you weren't overly quick or athletic, but could shoot, you had a place on the floor. The game is more exciting now."
The NBA has used the line since 1976, and the ABA had it by 1967. But college coaches were hesitant to install what they saw as a gimmick into the game.
"I never liked the shot," said Dale Brown, LSU's coach when the arc was added. "You can launch a 3-pointer from planet Saturn. It doesn't take any teamwork to do it."
Brown wasn't alone in his displeasure, as the rule was accepted in most coaching circles with all the joy of a colonoscopy. Former St. John's coach Lou Carnesecca famously called the line a "Mickey Mouse rule."
The primary force in pushing the NCAA to adopt a 3-point line, former secretary-editor of the rules committee Ed Steitz, was jokingly called the "Three Stooge."
Those complaints have since faded, as players and coaches learned how to maximize the shot, and fans saw the late-game fireworks a point distinction could bring.
"I really couldn't picture a court without that line," said LSU sophomore guard Ralston Turner. "I looked at old videos and there's just the key. That seems pretty boring to me. It wouldn't look right."
The arc has brought more than just a different aesthetic. It has helped produce some of the game's most indelible moments.
Whether it was Chalmers' shot that eventually spurred Kansas' national title victory, Drew's magical shot to upset Ole Miss in the 1998 NCAA Tournament or Rivers' buzzer-beater to clip North Carolina on Wednesday night, the 3-pointer has morphed into college basketball's knockout punch, its grand slam.
It has also increased parity, especially in one-and-done situations like the NCAA Tournament. Upsets have become commonplace when Cinderella's sharp-shooting prevents midnight from ever striking.
"The sport used to be all about big men," Blanton said. "The 3-point line helped teams that couldn't match up athletically inside and keeps great shooting teams in every game. It's no accident more ‘upsets' seem to happen every year."
The 3-point shot's impact on LSU has been mixed with memorable highs and lows, resulting from the three-ball's fickle nature.
Former LSU guard Chris Jackson burst onto the national scene in winter of 1989 when he flashed impressive shooting range during two 50-plus point outings at Ole Miss and Florida.
"In the discussion of great 3-point shooters at LSU, that starts and ends with Chris Jackson," said Blanton, who played with Jackson during the 1988-89 season. "He was the first Tiger shooter that made you say ‘wow.' His percentages may not be the best since he took so many, but anyone who saw him remembers how special he was."
Jackson is sixth in LSU history with 172 made 3-pointers, despite playing only two seasons. He's 10th in 3-point percentage at 37.2 percent.
Former Tiger guard Darrel Mitchell knocked down a three with 3.9 seconds remaining to give LSU a 58-57 win against Texas A&M in the 2006 NCAA Tournament second round.
The Tigers then shut down vaunted long-range shooter J.J. Redick and top-seeded Duke in the Sweet 16 before knocking out Texas in the Elite 8 to earn the program's fourth Final Four appearance.
Legendary LSU scorer Pete Maravich averaged 44.2 points per game during the late 1960s — still an unassailable NCAA record — without the 3-pointer. Brown actually calculated Maravich's shot charts and estimated ‘Pistol Pete' would have averaged a staggering 57 points per game with the arc.
"I looked at those numbers that Maravich put up," said senior forward Storm Warren. "I can't imagine scoring that many points already. Without 3-pointers, that's crazy."
There's the bad, too — most notably Kentucky's legendary 1994 ‘Mardi Gras Miracle,' when the Wildcats used 11 3-pointers to erase a 31-point LSU second-half lead in the PMAC.
Even as this season's squad struggles beyond the arc — LSU is shooting 32 percent from downtown — Tigers coach Trent Johnson said he prefers the higher skill level a game with 3-pointers requires.
"Being able to shoot on the perimeter is a skill," Johnson said. "Just being big and strong doesn't make you a basketball player. A great 3-pointer is just as impressive to me as dunking the ball."
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Contact Chris Abshire at cabshire@lsureveille.com
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