MBB: Duke 88 FGCU 67 Post-Game Thread

[ChillinDuke]

Regarding Alex Murphy's playing time, I don't think people are claiming that he's some star that has proven he deserves more playing time. I think people, like me, just feel like he should be getting more time in blowouts so that he has the chance to develop into a useful player for the stretch run. It made very little sense to play Curry, he of the banged up leg, in the final 5 minutes of a 20-point game, nor some of the other starters. Why not give Murphy a chance to shake off some of the jitters he seems to have had so far? Let him play the final 5 min and get a couple buckets, build some confidence.

I'm not saying he needs to take minutes away from Hairston or Jefferson -- he needs to take minutes away from starters when the game is in hand. If not, this team could be desperate later on if forced to play a raw, unexperienced Murphy in a tough game due to injury or foul trouble. You can't play the same 7 guys all year -- some games necessitate a deep bench, and it won't be very deep if Murphy is still experiencing freshman jitters come February.

Because then Plumlee doesn't record 28 and 9...say, more like 18 and 6. If this were done with frequency, his lower numbers would hypothetically fall out of the national spotlight and NPOTY running. We would then hear more "Duke can't develop big men" lines and couldn't use Plumlee as an example of a premier Duke big. Many on the board would likely call for Coach K to play Plumlee and inflate his stats in order to refute the big man argument.

My point is not realism. My point is there's two sides to every coin. And that's why we have a Coach to decide which side of each coin is the better option, so to speak.

Clearly, for whatever reason, the side of the coin he likes right now involves Alex not playing. For the moment.

- Chillin

[elvis14]

I am amazed at how much the "Murphy needs to play" story has resonated on the board based on what we've seen him do in the minutes he's been on the court.

Age-wise, Alex was a high school senior last year, taking his classes at Duke. He is the age of a typical freshman this year.

Let the kid develop; I am also unsure why the meme persists that his game is prime-time right now and should be getting more burn.

Let the kid run his race, and let K figure out from practices and match-ups who is on the floor. This is silly.

To understand why people want Alex (and Amile) to play all you have to do is go back to last year. Silent G never made it onto the court and there were times where we needed the balance of having a SF/3 on the court. Then to make matters worse, he transferred. Having 3 of Cook/Curry/Rasheed/Tyler on the court at the same time is different than having a true SF in the mix both offensively and defensively. Some feel that in order to reach our true potential and to match up well against many different kinds of teams that we need Alex (and Amile) to get PT and learn to contribute. In games where we are up by a bunch in the second half it would be cool to see Alex (and Amile) get more PT. Liked what Alex showed last night and would have liked to have seen more. The game wasn't in danger, it would have been cool to see him come back in.

As for the game. I actually ended up at the game and it was a lot of fun. I was glad that FGCU was good enough to make it interesting. Lots of good work particularly from Mason, QC, Rasheed and Ryan.

[ChillinDuke]

To understand why people want Alex (and Amile) to play all you have to do is go back to last year. Silent G never made it onto the court and there were times where we needed the balance of having a SF/3 on the court. Then to make matters worse, he transferred. Having 3 of Cook/Curry/Rasheed/Tyler on the court at the same time is different than having a true SF in the mix both offensively and defensively. Some feel that in order to reach our true potential and to match up well against many different kinds of teams that we need Alex (and Amile) to get PT and learn to contribute. In games where we are up by a bunch in the second half it would be cool to see Alex (and Amile) get more PT. Liked what Alex showed last night and would have liked to have seen more. The game wasn't in danger, it would have been cool to see him come back in.

As for the game. I actually ended up at the game and it was a lot of fun. I was glad that FGCU was good enough to make it interesting. Lots of good work particularly from Mason, QC, Rasheed and Ryan.

Still don't follow. Not trying to put words in your mouth, but do you (or anyone) really think Silent G didn't make the court because we didn't want a SF/3 on the court? If he made the team better, he would've seen the court. K didn't think he made the team better.

No one is sand-bagging here. No one wanted the kid to transfer. No one wants Murph to sit and/or transfer either. But we aren't sitting him because we don't like his size.

- Chillin

[Kedsy]

Some feel that in order to reach our true potential and to match up well against many different kinds of teams that we need Alex (and Amile) to get PT and learn to contribute.

Well, after watching Alex and Amile combine for 6 minutes against Kentucky -- and if there's any team in the country against whom we could use a bigger SF, it's Kentucky -- I would venture that Coach K is not among those who feel the way you do.

When one or both of Alex and Amile have shown in practice that they'd make the team better by playing rotation minutes, at that point my guess is K would increase their playing time.

[Billy Dat]

To understand why people want Alex (and Amile)...

My point is, Amile is playing. He's earning non-scrub-time minutes. Of the three viable 6'7"-6'8" guys on the roster, two are playing non scrub-time minutes - Amile and Josh. Granted, Josh is more of a post player than a wing, but he's earned the minutes. If none of them were playing, or if Amile and Alex were both playing scrub time, I could see the angst.

[jv001]

My point is, Amile is playing. He's earning non-scrub-time minutes. Of the three viable 6'7"-6'8" guys on the roster, two are playing non scrub-time minutes - Amile and Josh. Granted, Josh is more of a post player than a wing, but he's earned the minutes. If none of them were playing, or if Amile and Alex were both playing scrub time, I could see the angst.

Amile is playing well in his minutes and Alex is not. Amile brings energy that gets the team and fans excited. I want to see Alex do the same. It would surely help Alex if he would hit some shots. Hit those free throws. Looks like we're going to have the "play Alex" threads this year in place of the "play Michael" thread of last year. GoDuke!

[Des Esseintes]

Regarding Alex Murphy's playing time, I don't think people are claiming that he's some star that has proven he deserves more playing time. I think people, like me, just feel like he should be getting more time in blowouts so that he has the chance to develop into a useful player for the stretch run. It made very little sense to play Curry, he of the banged up leg, in the final 5 minutes of a 20-point game, nor some of the other starters. Why not give Murphy a chance to shake off some of the jitters he seems to have had so far? Let him play the final 5 min and get a couple buckets, build some confidence.

I'm not saying he needs to take minutes away from Hairston or Jefferson -- he needs to take minutes away from starters when the game is in hand. If not, this team could be desperate later on if forced to play a raw, unexperienced Murphy in a tough game due to injury or foul trouble. You can't play the same 7 guys all year -- some games necessitate a deep bench, and it won't be very deep if Murphy is still experiencing freshman jitters come February.

I hear this argument a lot. What drops out of the equation, though, is that while early in the season the Alex Murphys of the team are not finished products, neither are the heavy-minute rotation players. Nor are the heavy-minute lineups finished products. Establishing a stronger rapport between Mason and Quinn--that's a relationship that could pay big dividends if it gets stronger. Giving Sulaimon more opportunities as playmaker--super-useful to develop. Getting Ryan's head right--IMPORTANT. Just because these guys start doesn't mean they should play the bare minimum that we can have them on the court and still win. The truth of the matter is that if you must make a choice between developmental time on-court for your first-best player and your eighth-best player--and you *do* have to make that choice--it is almost always wiser to keep investing in your first-best player.

[Mcluhan]

There have been quite a few players about that size who need to develop - who needed to stay and work through the growing pains. Some transferred and never really reached their potential. Some stayed (Chris Carrawell sp?) and developed into key leaders by their junior/senior years.

As president of the Chris Carrawell fan club, it is my duty to point out that, in his own highly unorthodox way, Chris was basically killing it from year one.

[jimsumner]

As president of the Chris Carrawell fan club, it is my duty to point out that, in his own highly unorthodox way, Chris was basically killing it from year one.

Agreed. Not the best example to prove the point. Kevin Strickland, John Smith, Alaa Abdelnaby, Brian Davis, Thomas Hill, Marty Clark, Tony Lang, Cherokee Parks, Eric Meek, Carmen Wallace, Sean Dockery, Lee Melchionni, David McClure and others examples of guys who stayed, worked, improved and played.

[Cameron]

Well, we did only shoot 29% from 3 at home against a lower tier div1 team. So I would say the jury is still out. Rasheed's shooting has been encouraging and Kelly is in a perimeter slump which we should be very confident he'll find his way out of. But I still don't think outside shooting is going to be nearly the kind of strength we've been used to over the past decade or so. I still don't think Cook and Thornton are reliable outside shooting options, not in the big games anyways. We actually don't have much of a perimeter threat coming off the bench. We certainly don't want want Hairston, Jefferson, or Murphy tossing it up from deep at this point.

Yeah, our three-point percentage was well below average against Gulf Coast. But that is largely because of the abysmal start we had, converting on just two of our first 12 attempts from beyond the arc. That poor start, however, wasn't the result of great pressure from Gulf Coast or our inability to get open looks; we simply weren't making any shots, which is part of the game, especially when you shoot as many threes as we tend to. We were getting really good looks, but they just weren't falling in.

If you discount two end-of-clock prayers that resulted in misses (i.e. Ryan Kelly's 35-foot launch at the end of the first half and another occasion where Quinn was forced to launch a rainbow three from deep as the shot clock ran out), we made 7 of our last 17 from three as a team. That's over 41 percent, and much more in line with where we've been as a team over the course of the first three games (38%). As our guys get more reps in with each passing game and Ryan finds his groove again, I think we'll hover around 40% by the end of the year, which is a really good number from distance.

I agree that this will be far from one of our marquee years shooting the ball, but Coach K's offensive philosophy depends greatly on spacing the floor with three-point shooters. We are going to hoist a ton of treys every year no matter what. As another poster here said recently (can't remember whom now), it's what we do. Like Rick Pitino and Billy Donovan, Coach K is one of the all-time greats at utilizing the three and he's not going to turn his back on it now. That doesn't mean, however, that we turn our back on Mason Plumlee. He's our generator on offense this year. I think everyone understands that. It's up to our guys to hit shots from outside to open the floor up and make Mason's job easier in the middle.

[jcastranio]

Agreed. Not the best example to prove the point. Kevin Strickland, John Smith, Alaa Abdelnaby, Brian Davis, Thomas Hill, Marty Clark, Tony Lang, Cherokee Parks, Eric Meek, Carmen Wallace, Sean Dockery, Lee Melchionni, David McClure and others examples of guys who stayed, worked, improved and played.

Thanks. I was racking my brain for other examples and coming up somewhat blank. I used Chris because of how much better his senior year was compared to any other year. He was truly exceptional that season.

[Jay29]

I hear this argument a lot. What drops out of the equation, though, is that while early in the season the Alex Murphys of the team are not finished products, neither are the heavy-minute rotation players. Nor are the heavy-minute lineups finished products. Establishing a stronger rapport between Mason and Quinn--that's a relationship that could pay big dividends if it gets stronger. Giving Sulaimon more opportunities as playmaker--super-useful to develop. Getting Ryan's head right--IMPORTANT. Just because these guys start doesn't mean they should play the bare minimum that we can have them on the court and still win. The truth of the matter is that if you must make a choice between developmental time on-court for your first-best player and your eighth-best player--and you *do* have to make that choice--it is almost always wiser to keep investing in your first-best player.

That's actually a great point. I guess we tend to think of the upperclassmen as established players, if not completely finished with their development. And you're right that it's just as important to develop the relationship between players so that their movements are anticipated without thinking. Obviously Murphy is not as important to the team's success this year as, say, Kelly, nor as important as cultivating familiarity amongst the top 7 players (that's a lot of interpersonal relationships that I can't be bothered to calculate right now).

But I also think that it's important to keep all your (potentially useful) players fresh, keep them energized, build their confidence. It's also important to keep the starters healthy (see Curry) and un-fatigued. That's where Murphy should be able to step in and kill two birds with one stone. If he doesn't pick up more minutes, he could be another transfer. Sure, I can't watch practice and know if he's even earned 2 minutes/game, but I would still be giving him time unless he broke team rules or something.

Who knows, maybe with the quality of the incoming players, Coach K thought Gbinije was expendable? Doesn't seem like Coach K to play around with a kid like that, but you've got to play scholarship players if you want to keep them.

[Indoor66]

That's actually a great point. I guess we tend to think of the upperclassmen as established players, if not completely finished with their development. And you're right that it's just as important to develop the relationship between players so that their movements are anticipated without thinking. Obviously Murphy is not as important to the team's success this year as, say, Kelly, nor as important as cultivating familiarity amongst the top 7 players (that's a lot of interpersonal relationships that I can't be bothered to calculate right now).

But I also think that it's important to keep all your (potentially useful) players fresh, keep them energized, build their confidence. It's also important to keep the starters healthy (see Curry) and un-fatigued. That's where Murphy should be able to step in and kill two birds with one stone. If he doesn't pick up more minutes, he could be another transfer. Sure, I can't watch practice and know if he's even earned 2 minutes/game, but I would still be giving him time unless he broke team rules or something.

Who knows, maybe with the quality of the incoming players, Coach K thought Gbinije was expendable? Doesn't seem like Coach K to play around with a kid like that, but you've got to play scholarship players if you want to keep them.

I knew the dreaded "keep all your (potentially useful) players fresh, keep them energized, build their confidence. It's also important to keep the starters healthy (see Curry) and un-fatigued" would rear its ugly head sometime soon.

[Cameron]

I went back to watched some of the game and I'm super excited about what we have in this team. I'm not worried at all about our slow starts. All of our early shots were good, high percentage looks that we just didn't hit. That's nothing to sweat over, because this team is legit.

I think Mason's always been this good, he's just never had a guy like Quinn over his entire career with the exception of 11 games with Kyrie Irving. Now that he's getting the ball consistently, he doesn't have to worry about a few bad plays here and there because he knows he will have more chances, and it's REALLY helped his confidence. He's just dominating out there.

Quinn consistently looked for Mason and I like what we have with that pair of guys. We need to develop some sort of pick and roll game with Quinn and our 2 big guys, it would be devastatingly effective with Quinn's great decision making, Mason's beastliness inside, and Ryan's Euro-game. Honestly, If Quinn was this good last year, then last year's team might have had a chance to be even better than this current team. We had Miles last year, and he was basically a stronger but less skilled Mason, and just as deadly a finisher at the rim. Plus, with Austin as a more dynamic but perhaps less savvy version of what we have in Sulaimon this year, last year's team could REALLY benefitted from a true point guard.

Speaking of Sulaimon, he looks like a vet out there shooting with confidence, getting to the free throw line, and diving on the floor for balls. I like the energy and swagger he brings to this team.

Ryan was only 1-5 from three but he actually played pretty great. He's been pretty active on both sides and is making nice hustle plays all over the place.

Seth has a noticeably improved handle from last year. I see him get in to trouble while dribbling now and still keep the ball away from his defender with his dribble. He's been doing a much better job taking care of the ball than in the past.

Amile needs to pass Josh Hairston on the depth chart, he's much more active when he's in the game, trying to make plays for his teammates, and just having a good nose for the ball. He's probably our 8th man right now and he's pretty solid.

With all that, I think I can safely say this team is definitively better than last year's. All of our returning guys got better, Austin and his insatiable demand for touches is now gone, and with the huge addition of Rasheed, and solid bench contributions from Tyler and Amile, and even without Alex and Marshall really getting in the mix yet, this Duke team a dangerous collection of high quality players with skill at every position. The whole key is still Quinn Cook. If he can keep this level of play up and Mason plays like a legit All-American, I could see us being #1 at some point this season and easily grabbing a #1 seed. Very very exciting.

This sums up my thoughts on our early-season performance superbly. We look light years ahead of where we were at any point last season, even during our three-game stretch in Maui. What we have this year is a team that really enjoys playing with each other and players that are not concerned with individual exploits. This group is already demonstrating signs of an extraordinary passing team with a mastery of ball movement that is typically only seen in teams with a bevy of experienced, veteran guards. Quinn and Rasheed are especially excellent in this regard, especially relative to their experience. Each possesses a tremendous ability to find the open man with that extra pass. Seth has done a great job of this as well early on. That is something that drove me crazy a season ago: stopping one pass short of a good shot, and instead settling for a shot that was either contested or far too difficult or unnecessarily taking the ball on a 30-second journey all the way to the basket ala Allen Iverson.

This year, we are playing with great balance and doing a lovely job of getting everyone involved, which really spreads the court and makes our offense flow that much more effortlessly. The ball movement has just been excellent by comparison. If Quinn can continue to play at the frenetic pace he has while at the same time staying under control, a difficult balance to maintain for any point guard but one that Quinn, with not many starts under his belt heading into the season, has performed rather steadily, our offense could tally up some serious points by the end of the year. We look as fluid as we did during the CBE Classic in 2010, just minus Kyrie Irving. I admit that's a rather big "just minus," but Quinn is doing an admirable job of trying to lead this offense in the same capacity. As licc85 mentions, Quinn has Mason once again looking like the beast that scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as a sophomore in the CBE semi-finals in Kansas City versus Marquette. There is no questions that Mason enjoys playing with Quinn at the helm. We've found our offensive orchestrator. Now let's sit back and watch him mature.

[licc85]

This sums up my thoughts on our early-season performance superbly. We look light years ahead of where we were at any point last season, even during our three-game stretch in Maui. What we have this year is a team that really enjoys playing with each other and players that are not concerned with individual exploits. This group is already demonstrating signs of an extraordinary passing team with a mastery of ball movement that is typically only seen in teams with a bevy of experienced, veteran guards. Quinn and Rasheed are especially excellent in this regard, especially relative to their experience. Each possesses a tremendous ability to find the open man with that extra pass. Seth has done a great job of this as well early on. That is something that drove me crazy a season ago: stopping one pass short of a good shot, and instead settling for a shot that was either contested or far too difficult or unnecessarily taking the ball on a 30-second journey all the way to the basket ala Allen Iverson.

This year, we are playing with great balance and doing a lovely job of getting everyone involved, which really spreads the court and makes our offense flow that much more effortlessly. The ball movement has just been excellent by comparison. If Quinn can continue to play at the frenetic pace he has while at the same time staying under control, a difficult balance to maintain for any point guard but one that Quinn, with not many starts under his belt heading into the season, has performed rather steadily, our offense could tally up some serious points by the end of the year. We look as fluid as we did during the CBE Classic in 2010, just minus Kyrie Irving. I admit that's a rather big "just minus," but Quinn is doing an admirable job of trying to lead this offense in the same capacity. As licc85 mentions, Quinn has Mason once again looking like the beast that scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as a sophomore in the CBE semi-finals in Kansas City versus Marquette. There is no questions that Mason enjoys playing with Quinn at the helm. We've found our offensive orchestrator. Now let's sit back and watch him mature.

I like that you emphasized in your post how much we are sharing the ball this year compared to last year. BludevilBrowns mentioned this in the in-game thread, and I agree completely: the stat of the game has to be that we had 18 assists on 29 FGs. That's a sign of a mature and highly effective offense. We were among the bottom of the ACC in assist numbers last year, and I don't think that will be the case again. I love the way this team shares the rock.

[dukebballcamper90-91]

Like to see QC knock the 3 ball down consistently. If he does that, watch out. I hope Sheed don't start settling for the 3 ball too much, he has the quickness to get a foul line type jumper a lot. Mason is improving every game. AJeff is going to earn playing time because he is a K type player. Not sure what is going on with Murphy, mental? Got a tough stretch coming, Seth will not get time to heal before OSU, ouch.

[Kedsy]

As our guys get more reps in with each passing game and Ryan finds his groove again, I think we'll hover around 40% by the end of the year, which is a really good number from distance.

Well, if we end up there then it would justify taking so many three point shots, but I'll be surprised if it happens. Looking at our shooters' form, rather than simply if the ball they shot happened to go into the basket during our first three games, it doesn't look nearly as rosy to me. Really, only Seth displays shooter's form that you would expect would sustain a high percentage. Rasheed's form isn't terrible, but it isn't great either, and to me at least it doesn't look like he'll be able to keep up a high percentage -- I'd expect him to drop to probably 35% or lower. Ryan's form has always been a bit odd, but he does have a full season of high percentage production to point to, so who knows. If you watch Quinn take a shot, he has "streak shooter" written all over him and it's hard to see him hitting those wristy fade-away shots against quicker or taller guards. And Tyler just sort of flings the ball at the basket. Obviously anything can happen, and especially Rasheed and Quinn may improve with experience, but I'll be very surprised if our season numbers as a team are anywhere close to 40%.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

With respect to 3pt shooting, I suspect this year we will be strong enough from behind the arc to warrant all the shots that will be taken. As K says, it's all about taking good shots... shots in rhythm. Just to set expectations, here's a look at 3pt shooting % back to 2001-02. As we can see, 40% as a team is highly unlikely. Last time we hit 40% was in 91-92 - shot an unbelievable 43.4% with Laettner, Hurley and T Hill leading the way. But if we play within ourselves and guys like Curry, Sheed and Kelly lead the way, shooting in the high 30s seems pretty reasonable.

Season... 3pt%
2001-02... 36.3%
2002-03... 36.2%
2003-04... 36.8%
2004-05... 38.0%
2005-06... 38.6%
2006-07... 38.1%
2007-08... 37.7%
2008-09... 34.9%
2009-10... 38.7%
2010-11... 37.4%
2011-12... 37.1%

Our 3pt shooting notwithstanding, I think the most important and most exciting development so far is the TEAM defense we are playing. Not talking about individual defensive skills but rather the team's overall defensive prowess as a unit. 30-0 runs are obviously rare but they aren't the result of amazing offense. They are sparked by great team defensive focus and intensity. To me, that was the single most remarkable and exciting element of the FGCU game.

[Cameron]

With respect to 3pt shooting, I suspect this year we will be strong enough from behind the arc to warrant all the shots that will be taken. As K says, it's all about taking good shots... shots in rhythm. Just to set expectations, here's a look at 3pt shooting % back to 2001-02. As we can see, 40% as a team is highly unlikely. Last time we hit 40% was in 91-92 - shot an unbelievable 43.4% with Laettner, Hurley and T Hill leading the way. But if we play within ourselves and guys like Curry, Sheed and Kelly lead the way, shooting in the high 30s seems pretty reasonable.

Season... 3pt%
2001-02... 36.3%
2002-03... 36.2%
2003-04... 36.8%
2004-05... 38.0%
2005-06... 38.6%
2006-07... 38.1%
2007-08... 37.7%
2008-09... 34.9%
2009-10... 38.7%
2010-11... 37.4%
2011-12... 37.1%

Our 3pt shooting notwithstanding, I think the most important and most exciting development so far is the TEAM defense we are playing. Not talking about individual defensive skills but rather the team's overall defensive prowess as a unit. 30-0 runs are obviously rare but they aren't the result of amazing offense. They are sparked by great team defensive focus and intensity. To me, that was the single most remarkable and exciting element of the FGCU game.

Good data. Even though my prediction of 40% probably is too high, the fact that we've hovered around 37% or so from three-point range as a team over the last decade, a span of time that has seen some excellent shooting teams in Durham, coupled with the fact that we are at 38% so far this season -- with Ryan Kelly in such a terrible slump -- only serves to prove my point that we have a good cast of bombers on this team.

Really, only Seth displays shooter's form that you would expect would sustain a high percentage. Rasheed's form isn't terrible, but it isn't great either, and to me at least it doesn't look like he'll be able to keep up a high percentage -- I'd expect him to drop to probably 35% or lower.

We'll have to disagree here. I think Rasheed has pretty good form. While he has demonstrated some of the same streaky tendencies as Andre thus far in his short career, Rasheed has that same natural touch from outside. He approaches each shot with great rhythym and, although maybe somewhat of a hot and cold shooter, Rasheed never takes a shot that you look at and say, "Bad shot," no matter whether it's a 22-footer or taken two seconds into the shot clock with nobody back. You are simply surprised it didn't go in. That's how I feel at least. That's not a feeling that is produced by many players, but Rasheed has that vibe. He's opreates with extreme confidence offensively, and that makes me conident that he's going to make the play.

I would be shocked if Rasheed's three-point shooting dipped below 35% for the year.

[roywhite]

Good data. Even though my prediction of 40% probably is too high, the fact that we've hovered around 37% or so from three-point range as a team over the last decade, a span of time that has seen some excellent shooting teams in Durham, coupled with the fact that we are at 38% so far this season -- with Ryan Kelly in such a terrible slump -- only serves to prove my point that we have a good cast of bombers on this team.



We'll have to disagree here. I think Rasheed has pretty good form. While he has demonstrated some of the same streaky tendencies as Andre thus far in his short career, Rasheed has that same natural touch from outside. He approaches each shot with great rhythym and, although maybe somewhat of a hot and cold shooter, Rasheed never takes a shot that you look at and say, "Bad shot," no matter whether it's a 22-footer or taken two seconds into the shot clock with nobody back. You are simply surprised it didn't go in. That's how I feel at least. That's not a feeling that is produced by many players, but Rasheed has that vibe. He's opreates with extreme confidence offensively, and that makes me conident that he's going to make the play.

I would be shocked if Rasheed's three-point shooting dipped below 35% for the year.

A couple quick notes:

The 3-point line for college was extended by approx. 1 foot, effective for the 2008-09 season
The change appears to have had some impact on overall accuracy, but not a huge change

Rasheed won the McDonalds 3-point shooting contest
http://espn.go.com/high-school/boys-...lip?id=7741652