The value of the mid-range jump shot was greater before the 3-point line was introduced. It was a way to get away from the basket where all the taller (and slower) players could congregate and defend shots easier. With the introduction of the 3-point shot, the reward became greater to stay outside. The extra point makes a more difficult shot worth it. Just inside the 3-point line, you've lost a point on a shot that's just as difficult as it would be a foot or few farther back.
It makes a ton of sense. There is a really a dead zone from the paint out to the 3-point line where the value of a made shot does not exceed the difficulty enough to offset it on a consistent enough basis to justify taking the shots. It's just taken several decades for that reality to sink in to coaches who had learned the old style offenses since cutting their teeth.
The 3 point line was introduced into Alabama High School basketball in 1988, my senior year.
When I found out about it (sometime in 1987), I went home and got a stick and string and measured off the "3 point line" on my court and I spent the next 6 months or so just shooting the 3.
The next year, I was the first person in school history to make a 3 pointer. Only "record" I have that can never be broken!
The rule has totally changed the game.
In the article, I was interested in the 4 point shot. I've often wondered if 4 point shot would eventually be introduced into the game at some point?
