Hogs getting beat from downtown on both sides of the ball
Swinging for the Fences
Matt Watson
Issue date: 1/26/09 Section: Sports
The American Basketball Association introduced the 3-point shot to mainstream America for the first time in the '60s and '70s, giving Will Ferrell and his Flint Tropic teammates an extra point for shots heaved from behind a new stripe on the floor.
ABA officials needed to create some excitement to compete with the National Basketball Association, and the three-ball was popular enough that the NBA instituted it in 1979. College basketball conferences adopted different lines in the coming years, and the NCAA standardized the line in 1986.
Four presidents, three Mission Impossibles, two decades and one St. Louis Cardinals World Series Championship later, that line is killing the Arkansas Razorbacks.
The Hogs shot just 21 percent from behind the arc Saturday, while the Auburn Tigers converted 10-of-25 (40 percent) from 3-point land.
It's not something that just plagued Arkansas last night. The Razorbacks are 11th in the Southeastern Conference in 3-pointers made for the year, even though they were shooting 38 percent before the start of SEC play. But their long-range ineptness has climbed to new levels since then, helping the Hogs to a four-game skid to start the conference season.
Arkansas' 5-of-24 performance against Auburn was actually its best in four games. The Razorbacks only made eight treys combined against Florida, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Those aren't exactly intramural-quality defenses, but the Hogs are a miserable 13-for-75 from downtown against SEC teams. For those of you keeping score at home, that's 17 percent, which is by far the worst in the conference.
The poor shooting rate certainly hasn't hurt their confidence though. Arkansas only made one 3-pointer in the first half against Florida, Ole Miss and Mississippi State, shooting a whopping 12 percent (3-for-25). In the second half of those games, they took more threes (26) without ever heating up (19 percent).
Courtney Fortson is leading the way, shooting 1-for-18 (5.5 percent) in the last four games. It's no coincidence that the freshman point guard's cold streak has coincided with the Razorbacks' collective shooting drought.
ABA officials needed to create some excitement to compete with the National Basketball Association, and the three-ball was popular enough that the NBA instituted it in 1979. College basketball conferences adopted different lines in the coming years, and the NCAA standardized the line in 1986.
Four presidents, three Mission Impossibles, two decades and one St. Louis Cardinals World Series Championship later, that line is killing the Arkansas Razorbacks.
The Hogs shot just 21 percent from behind the arc Saturday, while the Auburn Tigers converted 10-of-25 (40 percent) from 3-point land.
It's not something that just plagued Arkansas last night. The Razorbacks are 11th in the Southeastern Conference in 3-pointers made for the year, even though they were shooting 38 percent before the start of SEC play. But their long-range ineptness has climbed to new levels since then, helping the Hogs to a four-game skid to start the conference season.
Arkansas' 5-of-24 performance against Auburn was actually its best in four games. The Razorbacks only made eight treys combined against Florida, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Those aren't exactly intramural-quality defenses, but the Hogs are a miserable 13-for-75 from downtown against SEC teams. For those of you keeping score at home, that's 17 percent, which is by far the worst in the conference.
The poor shooting rate certainly hasn't hurt their confidence though. Arkansas only made one 3-pointer in the first half against Florida, Ole Miss and Mississippi State, shooting a whopping 12 percent (3-for-25). In the second half of those games, they took more threes (26) without ever heating up (19 percent).
Courtney Fortson is leading the way, shooting 1-for-18 (5.5 percent) in the last four games. It's no coincidence that the freshman point guard's cold streak has coincided with the Razorbacks' collective shooting drought.
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