Kentucky AD worries about where the game is going

Mitch Barnhart is the AD at Kentucky. He is saying the same things about the 3-point line that I am saying. At least misery loves company.
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“But as a fan I always loved to watch the game with cutting and moving and inside games with interior passing. I think that’s a lost art in some respects.”

Barnhart, like most, has noticed a dramatic shift to 3-point shooting.

“I watched a pro game and one team shot close to 40 3-pointers and made six or seven of them,” Barnhart said. “I’m thinking, ‘If that’s where our game has gone, I’m not sure I want to watch,’ from a fan’s perspective. I appreciate the college game because I think it has some of the pieces of interior passing, moving people, some zone, some man-to-man so that part of it is good. The complete reliance on the 3-point shot? I wish we could get back to where the mid-range jumper was important.”

Some have proposed moving the collegiate 3-point line back to the NBA distance might deter teams?

“I think if you put the 3-point line at 27 feet they would shoot it,” Barnhart said. “It’s so funny to watch young people warming up. Nobody warms up at 10 or 12 feet. They all go three places – layup, free throw line, 3-point line. That’s clearly the emphasis of the game.”