Past 35 years: Cats 3-Point Shooting

[megablue]

I see that Mark Pope has stated that he wants to shoot 35 threes a game and lead the country in made threes. This will be a drastic change in offensive philosophy over the past thirty-five (35) years and it will be interesting and fun to see how the approach works out. For example: It appears he's talking about shooting more than twice as many threes as Cal's teams shot during his fifteen (15) years here and almost twelve (12) more than Pitino's teams did. That's a lot of threes !!
For review, reference, discussion and just plain FUN, here are some statistics I compiled since the Pitino era.
What jumps out at me, sadly so, is just how bad we were on defense last year, with such great offense. It totally killed us ... !!
Also, I noted that Pitino's best teams shot less threes that they'd been shooting earlier in his coaching career here ... !!

COACH	SEASON	GAMES	3PTA/GM	3PT	3PTA	3PT%	OFF	DEF	MGN	WINS	LOSS	WIN%	COACH
PITINO	1989-90	28	28.9	281	810	0.347	88.8	87.9	0.9	14	14	0.500	PITINO
PITINO	1990-91	28	25.5	242	715	0.338	85.9	78.1	7.8	22	6	0.786	PITINO
PITINO	1991-92	36	24.7	317	888	0.357	85.7	74.4	11.3	29	7	0.806	PITINO
PITINO	1992-93	34	25.4	340	862	0.394	87.5	69.8	17.7	30	4	0.882	PITINO
PITINO	1993-94	34	25.2	301	857	0.351	86.9	74.6	12.3	27	7	0.794	PITINO
PITINO	1994-95	33	22.3	276	736	0.375	87.4	69.0	18.4	28	5	0.848	PITINO
PITINO	1995-96	36	18.6	266	670	0.397	91.4	69.4	22.0	34	2	0.944	PITINO
PITINO	1996-98	40	19.4	287	777	0.369	83.1	62.8	20.3	35	5	0.875	PITINO
SMITH	1997-98	39	17.5	250	681	0.367	80.1	67.0	13.1	35	4	0.897	SMITH
SMITH	1998-99	37	18.3	226	676	0.334	75.4	62.7	12.7	28	9	0.757	SMITH
SMITH	1999-00	33	19.5	188	643	0.292	69.1	62.8	6.3	23	10	0.697	SMITH
SMITH	2000-01	34	20.8	245	707	0.347	79.8	70.6	9.2	24	10	0.706	SMITH
SMITH	2001-02	32	21.6	219	692	0.316	76.9	68.2	8.7	22	10	0.688	SMITH
SMITH	2002-03	36	16.3	208	585	0.356	77.3	64.1	13.2	32	4	0.889	SMITH
SMITH	2003-04	32	17.9	204	572	0.357	73.9	63.6	10.3	27	5	0.844	SMITH
SMITH	2004-05	34	18.7	218	635	0.343	73.6	62.6	11.0	28	6	0.824	SMITH
SMITH	2005-06	35	21.7	265	758	0.350	70.8	66.2	4.6	22	13	0.629	SMITH
SMITH	2006-07	34	19.1	231	651	0.355	73.4	67.7	5.7	22	12	0.647	SMITH
GILLISPIE	2007-08	31	15.9	182	493	0.369	68.5	65.6	2.9	18	13	0.581	GILLISPIE
GILLISPIE	2008-09	36	15.9	202	573	0.353	74.1	66.3	7.8	22	14	0.611	GILLISPIE
CALIPARI	2009-10	38	18.3	231	697	0.331	79.3	64.9	14.4	35	3	0.921	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2010-11	38	18.6	281	707	0.397	74.9	63.5	11.4	29	9	0.763	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2011-12	40	14.9	225	595	0.378	77.4	60.6	16.8	38	2	0.950	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2012-13	33	16.1	184	532	0.346	72.6	64.5	8.1	21	12	0.636	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2013-14	40	15.3	203	611	0.332	74.8	66.6	8.2	29	11	0.725	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2014-15	39	14.9	203	582	0.349	74.4	54.3	20.1	38	1	0.974	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2015-16	36	18.5	244	666	0.366	79.5	68.1	11.4	27	9	0.750	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2016-17	38	19.9	267	756	0.353	84.9	71.5	13.4	32	6	0.842	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2017-18	37	14.8	195	546	0.357	76.8	70.2	6.6	26	11	0.703	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2018-19	37	16.4	215	607	0.354	75.8	64.7	11.1	30	7	0.811	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2019-20	31	14.8	157	458	0.343	74.4	66.1	8.3	25	6	0.806	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2020-21	25	19.0	160	475	0.337	70.4	70.2	0.2	9	16	0.360	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2021-22	34	17.5	207	596	0.347	79.4	66.6	12.8	26	8	0.765	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2022-23	34	18.0	213	613	0.347	74.5	67.7	6.8	22	12	0.647	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2023-24	33	24.2	327	800	0.409	89.0	79.7	9.3	23	10	0.697	CALIPARI
PITINO	8 YRS	269	23.5	2310	6315	0.366	87.0	72.6	14.4	219	50	0.814	PITINO
SMITH	10 YRS	346	19.1	2254	6600	0.342	75.1	65.5	9.6	263	83	0.760	SMITH
GILLISPIE	2 YRS	67	15.9	384	1066	0.360	71.5	66.0	5.5	40	27	0.597	GILLISPIE
CALIPARI	15 YRS	533	17.3	3312	9241	0.358	77.3	66.4	10.9	410	123	0.769	CALIPARI
	35 YRS	1215	19.1	8260	23222	0.356	78.5	67.5	11.0	932	283	0.767

 

[H00SIER-Cat]

2024 Cats averaged more points than anybody but the 96 Cats. and defended worse than the 21 Cats.

 

[megablue]

2024 Cats averaged more points than anybody but the 96 Cats. and defended worse than the 21 Cats.

You are 10000% correct. Second best offense in the country last year, but inept on defense. Actually, you had to see it to believe it, as Cal's teams were usually pretty solid on defense. It was truly awful last year.

 

[BlueBomb]

35 threes a game? Sorry, but that ain't smart. JMO

 

[JonathanW]

35 threes a game, is "a goal". Like company management, coaches set goals higher than is realistic, so that you always can do better.
I would be surprised if we average over 30, my best guess would be 28-29 (which is still a lot). That would be about 40% of your shots. Look at RP's first UK team, incredibly unathletic, they were either shooting 3's or getting back door cuts for layups, yet they averaged 29.
Notice, as RP got more and more athletes, his teams shot fewer 3's.

 

[megablue]

35 threes a game, is "a goal". Like company management, coaches set goals higher than is realistic, so that you always can do better.
I would be surprised if we average over 30, my best guess would be 28-29 (which is still a lot). That would be about 40% of your shots. Look at RP's first UK team, incredibly unathletic, they were either shooting 3's or getting back door cuts for layups, yet they averaged 29.
Notice, as RP got more and more athletes, his teams shot fewer 3's.

BYU was second in country last year at 32.0, fwiw ...

NCAA College Men's Basketball DI Stats | NCAA.com

Discover the current NCAA Division I Men's Basketball leaders in every stats category, as well as historic leaders.

www.ncaa.com

 

[Crums Bald Spot]

35 threes a game? Sorry, but that ain't smart. JMO

Depends on how clean those shots are and who is shooting them. If you are 12 of 36 from 3 (33%), or 18 of 36 (50%) from 2, you have the same amount of points.

Again - I wouldn't want the 2009-10 Wall led Cats, with John C as head coach, jacking up that many 3s. But a Mark Pope team with Kerr, Robinson, Brea, Almonor, Perry, Carr, Chandler, Noah... not the worst idea.

 

[megablue]

Unless I've made a mistake, in the 1,215 games played over the prior thirty-five (35) years, KY has only shot 35 (or more) three-pointers a total of twenty-six (26) times ... and only three (3) times in the last twenty-five (25) seasons. KY's record in these twenty-six (26) games is 11-15. Most importantly, they did so twice in the NCAA tournament (38 & 36) and lost both games.

DATE	OPPONENT	3PT	3PTA	3PT%	FT	FTA	FT%	OFF	DEF	W	L
12/04/1989	Mississippi State	13	35	0.371	25	37	0.676	102	97	1
12/06/1989	Tennessee Tech	18	41	0.439	11	15	0.733	111	75	1
12/09/1989	Kansas	17	40	0.425	18	25	0.720	95	150		1
12/19/1989	Furman	19	47	0.404	11	16	0.688	104	73	1
12/23/1989	SW Louisiana	15	53	0.283	12	15	0.800	113	116		1
12/27/1989	North Carolina	21	48	0.438	11	13	0.846	110	121		1
01/06/1990	Vanderbilt	12	37	0.324	11	17	0.647	85	92		1
01/13/1990	Louisiana State	17	46	0.370	8	13	0.615	81	94		1
12/21/1990	Western Kentucky	9	36	0.250	17	24	0.708	84	70	1
01/05/1991	Louisiana State	17	37	0.459	12	21	0.571	93	80	1
01/26/1991	Alabama	11	36	0.306	8	13	0.615	83	88		1
02/05/1991	Louisiana State	8	40	0.200	24	32	0.750	88	107		1
11/22/1991	Pittsburgh	7	36	0.194	18	27	0.667	85	67		1
02/02/1992	Louisiana State	8	44	0.182	7	10	0.70	53	74		1
01/03/1993	Indiana	16	41	0.390	9	17	0.529	81	78	1
03/14/1993	Louisiana State	14	44	0.318	6	10	0.600	82	65	1
02/09/1994	Arkansas	10	40	0.250	14	26	0.538	82	90		1
02/15/1994	Louisiana State	15	37	0.405	10	21	0.476	99	95	1
03/12/1994	Arkansas	16	36	0.444	16	24	0.667	90	78	1
03/20/1994	Marquette	10	38	0.263	5	9	0.556	63	75		1	NCAA
01/07/1995	South Carolina	17	37	0.459	9	12	0.750	80	55	1
03/04/1995	Louisiana State	20	35	0.571	25	32	0.781	127	80	1
03/25/1995	North Carolina	7	36	0.194	12	16	0.750	61	74		1	NCAA
11/10/2000	UCLA	13	36	0.361	17	28	0.607	92	97		1
11/14/2023	Kansas	12	38	0.316	22	30	0.733	84	89		1
01/13/2024	Texas A &M	15	39	0.385	13	21	0.619	92	97		1
26	Totals	357	1033	0.345	351	524	0.668	2320	2277	11	15
26	Averages	13.7	39.7	0.345	13.5	20.2	0.668	89.2	87.6

 

[DreadLox]

7 of them were against LSU

 

[megablue]

7 of them were against LSU

Yep ... apparently they zoned us, I guess. We were 4-3 in those games, including the UFB comeback on 02/15/94.
Pitino seemed to realize that shooting inordinate numbers of threes is not a winning formula in the tournament, under brighter lights and tougher competition ... as the rims tighten up.
After the North Carolina loss, they won it the next year. He never shot that many again. Live and learn ... 😎

 

[UKWildcats1987]

How many 3s per game have national champs averaged this century? I'd be curious. 35 seems like an excessive amount.

 

[megablue]

How many 3s per game have national champs averaged this century? I'd be curious. 35 seems like an excessive amount.

Averaging 35 for 6 games in the tournament seems excessive, I agree.

 

[Ron Mehico]

35 would be insane

 

[Mike-D]

15.9	202	573	0.353	74.1	66.3	7.8	22	14	0.611	GILLISPIE
CALIPARI	2009-10	38	18.3	231	697	0.331	79.3	64.9	14.4	35	3	0.921	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2010-11	38	18.6	281	707	0.397	74.9	63.5	11.4	29	9	0.763	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2011-12	40	14.9	225	595	0.378	77.4	60.6	16.8	38	2	0.950	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2012-13	33	16.1	184	532	0.346	72.6	64.5	8.1	21	12	0.636	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2013-14	40	15.3	203	611	0.332	74.8	66.6	8.2	29	11	0.725	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2014-15	39	14.9	203	582	0.349	74.4	54.3	20.1	38	1	0.974	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2015-16	36	18.5	244	666	0.366	79.5	68.1	11.4	27	9	0.750	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2016-17	38	19.9	267	756	0.353	84.9	71.5	13.4	32	6	0.842	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2017-18	37	14.8	195	546	0.357	76.8	70.2	6.6	26	11	0.703	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2018-19	37	16.4	215	607	0.354	75.8	64.7	11.1	30	7	0.811	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2019-20	31	14.8	157	458	0.343	74.4	66.1	8.3	25	6	0.806	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2020-21	25	19.0	160	475	0.337	70.4	70.2	0.2	9	16	0.360	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2021-22	34	17.5	207	596	0.347	79.4	66.6	12.8	26	8	0.765	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2022-23	34	18.0	213	613	0.347	74.5	67.7	6.8	22	12	0.647	CALIPARI
CALIPARI	2023-24	33	24.2	327	800	0.409	89.0	79.7	9.3	23	10	0.697	CALIPARI
PITINO	8 YRS	269	23.5	2310	6315	0.366	87.0	72.6	14.4	219	50	0.814	PITINO
SMITH	10 YRS	346	19.1	2254	6600	0.342	75.1	65.5	9.6	263	83	0.760	SMITH
GILLISPIE	2 YRS	67	15.9	384	1066	0.360	71.5	66.0	5.5	40	27	0.597	GILLISPIE
CALIPARI	15 YRS	533	17.3	3312	9241	0.358	77.3	66.4	10.9	410	123	0.769	CALIPARI
	35 YRS	1215	19.1	8260	23222	0.356	78.5	67.5	11.0	932	283	0.767

Cal had to Cal with our potent offense last year, though. Couldn't win 95-87. Had to lose 80-76. Same old bullshit 4 or 5 years running under the dude. Go look at our NCAA tournament scoring averages. Losing games while scoring 63 points in the modern era.

 

[JPScott]

If anyone prefers graphics, below is the chart of UK's historic 3-pt Field Goal Attempts (in blue). Green represents UK's opponent's 3pt FGA and red is the NCAA average for that season.

Link to Historical UK Statistical Trends

 

[megablue]

If anyone prefers graphics, below is the chart of UK's historic 3-pt Field Goal Attempts (in blue). Green represents UK's opponent's 3pt FGA and red is the NCAA average for that season.

Link to Historical UK Statistical Trends

How the new 3-point line might affect college basketball

How will the new 3-point line distance affect college basketball this season? Quite a bit, if history is any indicator.

www.ncaa.com

 

[JonathanW]

Yep ... apparently they zoned us, I guess. We were 4-3 in those games, including the UFB comeback on 02/15/94.
Pitino seemed to realize that shooting inordinate numbers of threes is not a winning formula in the tournament, under brighter lights and tougher competition ... as the rims tighten up.
After the North Carolina loss, they won it the next year. He never shot that many again. Live and learn ... 😎

2 things. One, as Pitino was able to bring in better players (Mashburn, Delk, Rhodes, Walker, Mercer, etc...) his 3's went down. He saw the 3 as the potential equalizer for when the other team is more talented. And two, in the NCAA-T perhaps he realized the F4 was in a Dome with a more challenging background for 3pt shooters to shoot in.

 

[Smashcat]

66K views · 902 reactions | "We will make the most three pointers in the country" - Mark Pope How excited are you to hear that Kentucky will be taking a lot of three pointers this season? #KentuckyWildcats #BigBlueNation | Everything Kentucky Onlin

"We will make the most three pointers in the country" - Mark Pope How excited are you to hear that Kentucky will be taking a lot of three pointers this season? #KentuckyWildcats #BigBlueNation....

www.facebook.com

 

[JPScott]

Unless I've made a mistake, in the 1,215 games played over the prior thirty-five (35) years, KY has only shot 35 (or more) three-pointers a total of twenty-six (26) times ... and only three (3) times in the last twenty-five (25) seasons. KY's record in these twenty-six (26) games is 11-15. Most importantly, they did so twice in the NCAA tournament (38 & 36) and lost both games.

Yes, you are correct. UK has shot 35+ 3pt-FGA 26 times since the rule was implemented.

The last game UK shot that many times under Pitino was the loss in 1995 against North Carolina in the Regional Finals. That game was incredibly frustrating because that was a very good shooting team and most of the looks were open. UK shot 7-36 from behind the arc that game.

 

[megablue]

Yes, you are correct. UK has shot 35+ 3pt-FGA 26 times since the rule was implemented.

The last game UK shot that many times under Pitino was the loss in 1995 against North Carolina in the Regional Finals. That game was incredibly frustrating because that was a very good shooting team and most of the looks were open. UK shot 7-36 from behind the arc that game.

Smith toyed with a young Pitino and simply sagged on us and gave us the three. I remember Pitino looked like a deer in highlights on the sideline ... he learned from that. We won it next year and we shot far fewer threes the rest of Pitino's career here.

 

[JPScott]

Smith toyed with a young Pitino and simply sagged on us and gave us the three. I remember Pitino looked like a deer in highlights on the sideline ... he learned from that. We won it next year and we shot far fewer threes the rest of Pitino's career here.

That’s why it was so frustrating. Dean Smith had a terrible game plan which 9 times out of 10 would have blown up in his face but worked for him that one time.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

"2023/24 - 40.9% 3pt shooting"

 

[megablue]

I just do not like a strategy that seems to guarantee losses against good teams in tournament on off-shooting nights with that much emphasis on the three.

Three-point shooting will make or break the season for Kentucky basketball - NewsBreak

Kentucky will be one of the best shooting teams in college basketball.

share.newsbreak.com