When Dr. Ed Steitz, the longtime secretary, editor and national interpreter for the NCAA men's basketball rules committee, convinced skeptical coaches to adopt the 3-point shot in the mid-1980s, his goal was to bring more excitement to the game.

He had seen what the 3-point shot did for the NBA and the international game and felt strongly that the NCAA should follow suit. Without much backing from college coaches, Dr. Steitz aggressively pushed through legislation for the arc in college basketball.

Where would we be without it?

The NCAA tournament, fraught yearly with last-second buzzer beaters and big comebacks, is among the nation's most treasured sporting events, due in large part to the 3-point shot. March heroes such as Billy Donovan, Barry Goheen, Bryce Drew and Gerry McNamara would not be a part of college basketball lore without it.

Contrast that with the United States Olympic team debacle during the Summer Olympics in Athens. That team, made up of second- and third-tier NBA stars, couldn't shoot, pass or play team basketball as well as its counterparts from Europe and South America.

Staples of the American game in previous generations, such as the midrange jump shot, shooting off the dribble and team-concept passing have all but disappeared from the game.

Therein lies the paradoxical problem as the college game gets set to enter its 19th season with the 3-point arc. The game is prosperous, popular and more exciting than ever, but the players being developed for NBA and, consequently, our national teams aren't good enough to compete for first place, as evidenced by Argentina and Italy gaining gold and silver in Athens ahead of the Americans.

"Watching the Olympic team, the two skills that have eroded most from our game is spot-up shooting and passing, two things the Europeans do very well," said Dave Gavitt, a past president of USA Basketball and former Big East commissioner.

"It's so lacking in our game. You can see it when we're forced to attack zones. We're very athletic and quick and have enormous abilities, but we can't do those two things."

So where does American basketball go from here?

The NBA and NCAA are experimenting with rules changes this season in hope of discovering ways to improve the game. There is talk of better coaching, teaching more disciplined shooting and other basic skills.

And then there is the talk that purists don't want to hear, that the highly commercial, TV-friendly yet fundamentally unsound game of today is here to stay. For better or worse.

But first a history lesson.

The Pitino factor

The NBA first adopted the 3-point line on a trial basis in the 1979-80 season. It became a permanent part of the league the following season.

The International Basketball Federation, also known as FIBA, adopted it a few years later, and the NCAA followed, with the arc making its debut in the college game for the 1986-87 season.

Rick Pitino was the first college coach to use the 3-point line to his advantage. The national average for 3-point attempts that first season was 9.2. Pitino's Providence team attempted 19.5 per game.

Providence's penchant for shooting might have gone unnoticed had the Friars not made a miraculous run to the Final Four on the strength of Billy Donovan's 3-point precision.

Providence, a run-of-the-mill Big East team during the regular season, got hot from 3-point range in the NCAA tournament, shooting 46.4 percent, and won four games before bowing to Syracuse in a national semifinal.

"Rick's success using the 3 really made it take off," Gavitt said. "By the next year, coaches were really putting it in their philosophy."

The national average for attempted 3-point shots per game has increased almost every season since 1986-87. The national average for attempted shots per game is double what it was that first season.

The 327 Division I teams last season averaged a record-high 18.3 3-point attempts per game. The national average for 3-point shooting percentage, however, has decreased steadily. Last season, it was 34.6 percent, which is almost four points below the 38.4 percentage from the first season with the 3-point shot.

The 3-point phenomenon has spawned, it seems, a growing number of players who are unqualified to take such shots.

"At first, I think people thought it was designed for a special player," said Duquesne coach Danny Nee, in his 24th season as a head coach in Division I. "Now everyone thinks they're a 3-point shooter."

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon agreed, but he also said shooting percentages have gone down from behind the arc and in front of it because defenses have become more sophisticated.

"It's easy to say it's the shooting. But, if you watch the old games, the defense has completely changed," he said.

"They're not getting the shots they were getting back in [that] day. You're not getting midrange 15-footers. With the different athletes, players being longer, bigger and stronger, it just makes sense that there's going to be less room to operate.

"It's going to be harder to hit open shots. I think that's the biggest thing. When you play against tougher people, that has more effect on it more than anything. Good defense has taken away easier shots."

Pitt's problems

The Pitt Panthers have stood on the precipice of college basketball's holy grail -- the Final Four -- for the past three seasons. They failed to make it past the Sweet 16 last season largely for one reason: their inability to make 3-point shots.

The Panthers had all the makings of a championship club -- great defense, unselfish play and a strong post game. What they lacked was a player who could make the shot from behind the arc.

Pitt was 320th of the 327 Division I teams in 3-point field goals per game (4.2). The Panthers' 30.6 3-point shooting percentage was among the worst as well.

Dixon was an assistant under Ben Howland at Northern Arizona when their motto was: "Recruit to Shoot." Howland and Dixon had some of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country.

But when he and Howland arrived at Pitt, in order to compete athletically with the other teams in the Big East, the recruiting philosophy had to change. Now, the Panthers recruit tough, physical players first. Shooting ability is an important component, but a player must be able to compete athletically.

"You have to recruit the guys you can get," Dixon said. "You realize the type of player you're going to be able to get at your school and you adapt. You get those talents and then adapt your style of play to that."

While Pitt didn't advance past the third round for the third consecutive season, a lower seeded team from the Atlantic 10 rode a hot streak to the Elite Eight.

Xavier shot 43 percent from 3-point range in four NCAA tournament games, including 68 percent (13 for 19) in a second-round upset of No. 2 seed Mississippi State.

As has been the case in many NCAA tournament upsets over the years, the 3-point shot was the great equalizer for a team with less talent than its opponents.

"I think what the 3-point shot did was it recentered the game on shooting," said Xavier coach Sean Miller, who played at Blackhawk High and Pitt. "Teams that have shooters can beat anyone on any given night. That means a lot in tournament settings, like the NCAA tournament.

"An example of that was our game against Mississippi State. Lionel Chalmers was 4 for 4 from 3-point range. That has a huge impact in college. Recruiting perimeter players who can shoot now is such a priority.

"Having a guard who can't shoot is really a disadvantage."

That's a reality Pitt knows all too well. Dixon hopes to have solved his team's shooting woes by recruiting Ronald Ramon out of All Hallows High in the Bronx, N.Y. Ramon, a freshman, is expected to be the Panthers' main source for 3-point field goals this season.

"He can shoot it from anywhere," Pitt point guard Carl Krauser said.

Trickle down, trickle up

So why does the United States lag behind European countries when it comes to producing shooters?

It has to do with the way the game is being taught at the AAU level and the influences of the NBA on television and in video games. Since the inception of ESPN and "SportsCenter" in 1979, sports highlight shows dominate the landscape of cable television. The highlight shows focus more on the athleticism of the game than the fundamental side.

"Everything has changed over the years," Nee said. "I don't think the 3-point line has been a significant change. Dunking has probably had more of an effect on the game. If they would just enforce the rules -- the palming and the walking -- that would have more of an impact on the game. What's changed today is the game is played so much more vertically. People are playing above the rim. That's the biggest change from '87 to now, how high above the rim the game is played.

"We used to be lucky to get two guys who could touch the rim. Now it seems like if you can't dunk, you're left out. It goes back to the whole streetball thing. It has diluted the purist part of the game -- the pass, the backdoor play, the medium-range jump shot."

But it's more than the ESPN-ization of the game. Former Pitt guard Jason Matthews, one of the top 3-point shooters in NCAA history, has witnessed a deterioration of fundamental play at all levels since graduating from Pitt in 1991. The reason is a lack of quality coaching at the AAU level.

"My AAU coach, Benny Davenport, he had defensive practices for two hours," said Matthews, a Los Angeles native. "We would practice without the ball. You learned every aspect of the game. College coaches now spend more time coaching fundamentals and player development.

"People compare Michael Jordan to Kobe Bryant, but Jordan went to North Carolina and played for Dean Smith. Kobe went from high school to the pros. In crunch time, you never saw Michael Jordan make mistakes because he had great fundamentals.

"In crunch time -- and I'm a diehard Lakers fan -- Kobe sometimes makes mistakes. It all goes back to the fundamentals."

Nee has recruited players from Europe in recent years and said he was amazed at how differently the game is taught over there.

"I was talking to some foreign coaches, and they told me some interesting things," Nee said.

"They shoot by age group over there. When you're 8 years old, you shoot from 8 feet out. When you're 10 years old, you shoot from 10 feet out. When you're 15, you shoot from 15 feet out. They don't have young kids throwing up 3-pointers over there. They wait until they're adults. With our children, that's all you see."

Chartiers Valley High School coach Tim McConnell agreed that coaching at the lower levels in the United States has to improve. He said many of the problems could be solved by eliminating the 3-point shot at the elementary and middle school levels and concentrating players' focus on shooting shorter distances.

"I wish we wouldn't have a 3-pointer for young kids," McConnell said. "When I watch young kids, they have bad form. They're throwing the ball instead of shooting the ball. They're forming bad habits.

"When you've been doing something since the third grade and then they get to you in the 10th grade, it's too late sometimes. Bad habits are hard to break.

"The first thing they want to do when they walk in the gym is stand behind the 3-point line and shoot. You have to learn how to shoot close before you move away from the basket."

Solutions

Administrators from the NBA and NCAA are trying to develop some changes with the 3-point rules they believe will help make the game better. In exempt tournament games this season, NCAA teams will experiment with the international 3-point line and trapezoid lane. The line now stands at 19 feet 9 inches. The international line is 20 feet 6 inches.

The trapezoid lane is credited in international play for eliminating rough play in the post, something many coaches in the American game believe has gotten out of control. The longer 3-point line and trapezoid lane could become permanent fixtures soon.

The NBA might experiment in its developmental league this season by not allowing 3-point shots until the final five minutes.

NBA executive Stu Jackson said the league wants to study the effect the change has on midrange jumpers, offensive coaching strategies and overall field-goal percentages. He said there is no plan to eliminate the 3-point shot from any part of the NBA.

"We wanted to see if teams would take more midrange jump shots," Jackson said. "And to see if it does have an effect on team play and shot selection."

Gavitt, the rare figure who has coached or been an executive at the pro, college and international level, believes moving the 3-point line back permanently will be a plus for the college game. But he said it's going to be hard to change the style of the game as long as it is played the way it is in the NBA.

"Walt Frazier and Bill Bradley made basketball an art form," Gavitt said. "It was really spectacular to watch. But you can't blame the kids. It's a cultural thing. Al McGuire always used to say 'Look in their refrigerator.' Of course they aspire to play in the NBA. Along the way, the game has been affected."

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