3-ball ruined a great sport

Call me old-fashioned, but I’m getting bored out of my skull trying to watch college basketball.

And the hell of this is that I played the sport, and used to love seeing every second of a decent game.

There is no question that the athletes are better than ever, and capable of things we only dreamed about in the fairly recent past. Unfortunately, most of these gifted players have spectacular – but very limited – offensive skill sets.

The game has been reduced to three kinds of shots: 3-pointers, twisting drives to the hoop and rim-rattling dunks.

Wait, there’s a fourth shot: the 3-foot hook floated in by a hulking 7-footer from Croatia.

Think about it.

How often do you see an actual 10-foot jump shot, or someone coming off a screen to get an open look at the foul line?

I mean, why would they, when a 3-pointer is just about as easy and it’s all they ever practice?

FANS supposedly love the excitement of 3-pointers, which is the rationale for its use by every recognized league in the world.

The idea behind adding the 3-point line was to open up the game and allow players more space in the lane.

What’s happened, though, is that the original premise of basketball offense – working the ball closer to the hoop through passes and screens in search of a good shot – has disappeared entirely.

Now the idea is to spread the floor with good shooters and eventually, let somebody drive to the basket.

This wizard either spins in an acrobatic layup, gives the ball off at the last moment to his designated 7-footer for an uncontested jam, or kicks it all the way out to someone standing wide open behind the 3-point arc.

That last option is the most deadly, because we’ve come to an era where your Aunt Mable can hit an unguarded 3-pointer.

The line in American college basketball is 20 feet, 9 inches from the hoop — the equivalent of a routine jump shot that you’d take even if it were only worth two points.

A FEW years ago, I worked in the Midwest and covered the University of Illinois on a day-to-day basis.

One afternoon, I showed up early to watch practice. The court was still empty, but two racks of basketballs already were sitting near the playing floor.

The temptation was just too much, so I strolled out there with another sports writer and, after just a brief warm-up, we decided to get the feel of real 3-pointers.

First thought: “My God, this is close!”

Wearing street clothes and without the muscle memory from regular play in any gym league, I took 10 3-point jumpers — most from around the top of the key — and made seven of them.

Granted, there was no 6-foot-4 defender racing out at me, but still…

A 40-something journalist with no practice hitting 70 percent on a shot that is supposed to challenge college stars?

We’re talking about less than six feet beyond the free-throw line.

And the result, of course, is what bores me. Every game revolves around the 3-point shot — either taking them or using the threat of an easy 3-ball to draw defenders and set up thunderous dunks inside.

If you flip TV channels some Saturday afternoon, every game will look exactly the same.

I’m sorry, but…

Yawn!

Steve Cameron is a special assignment reports for The Press and has covered sports at all levels for more than three decades. Reach Steve at [email protected].