I came across a full video of the Cats playing the very good 1988-89 Illini team (Kenny Battle, Nick Anderson, Kendall Gill and Steven Bardo) in Evanston in January 1989. Illinois was ranked number 2 at the time, and ended up #3, losing to Michigan in the semis of the tournament. I remembered the game fairly accurately; The Cats played a tremendous game but just came up a little short.
Outside of seeing an excellent effort, I was struck by how the 3-point shot was starting to change how teams played, but how the changes were still in the early stages. At one point Quinn Buckner, who was the commentator, after Jeff Grose hit a transition 3, said something like "you're starting to see good shooters shoot 3 pointers on fast breaks". Both team set their offenses well within the 3-point line, but there started to be a few kick outs to the better shooters. What really struck me, though was that it appeared that most players used a higher release point on their jump shots compared to current players. I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this change. Assuming it is true, I would guess that when the longest shot taken was 15 feet or less, getting the shot quickly over the defender was more important than having the base to deliver a longer shot with a higher arc and more backspin. The shots generally had a lower trajectory. Is anyone aware of any trend in coaching the reflected this change, or, assuming its true, did it just evolve as the value of 3 point shots became apparent?
Outside of seeing an excellent effort, I was struck by how the 3-point shot was starting to change how teams played, but how the changes were still in the early stages. At one point Quinn Buckner, who was the commentator, after Jeff Grose hit a transition 3, said something like "you're starting to see good shooters shoot 3 pointers on fast breaks". Both team set their offenses well within the 3-point line, but there started to be a few kick outs to the better shooters. What really struck me, though was that it appeared that most players used a higher release point on their jump shots compared to current players. I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this change. Assuming it is true, I would guess that when the longest shot taken was 15 feet or less, getting the shot quickly over the defender was more important than having the base to deliver a longer shot with a higher arc and more backspin. The shots generally had a lower trajectory. Is anyone aware of any trend in coaching the reflected this change, or, assuming its true, did it just evolve as the value of 3 point shots became apparent?
