Easy living on the perimeter

               I have commented on this before, but I’ll say it again. I have absolutely no statistical proof, but it just seems to me that teams that lean on the 3-point shot seem to be “soft.” Offense from the arc is so protected (3 free throws per foul), that there is little risk of having to get your hands dirty when you are bombing away from the arc. And, since you are scoring at a 3:2 ratio, there is little incentive (so most think) to venture into the trenches. The trouble is that that mental softness seems to carry over into other parts of the game, notably defense and rebounding. It takes a bulldog to do those well. The PA guy never yells “THREEEEEEEEEEE” for the blue collar guys doing the dirty work.

It does not have to be that way. Three-point teams are not forced to be white-collar, “soft” teams, but it just seems like far too often that is the case. I firmly believe it is a mental attitude fostered by the “easy  pickings” of the 3-point arc.