Making Some Noise

If you’ve loved all of the upsets and the drama of this NCAA tournament, thank the three-point shot. And if you love the three-point shot, thank Gary Colson.

Colson was the member of the men’s basketball rules committee who proposed the introduction of the three-pointer in 1986. Surprisingly -- even to him -- it was adopted. The game’s been better off ever since.

If you look for a common plot link through all of the great stories of this tournament -- be it West Virginia’s improbable run to the Elite Eight, Illinois’ amazing comeback against Arizona, or Kentucky guard Patrick Sparks’ multi-bounce, buzzer-beating shot to force the first of two overtimes against Michigan State -- you’ll find it right behind that arc painted 19 feet 9 inches from the hoop.

If you want to know if Louisville can beat Illinois today and win a possible matchup against North Carolina in the championship game, check this stat: The Cardinals have made more three-pointers than any other team in the country. It could happen.

If you want to go inside, then don’t even try to bring in the weak stuff about how the three-pointer is a gimmick, or how it’s led to the demise of the mid-range jump shot.

The three-point shot means every team has a chance, no matter how badly outmatched, no matter how late the going gets. It’s like holding a stack of “Get out of jail free” cards.

Illinois trailed Arizona by 15 points in the final four minutes of regulation in the Chicago regional final before the Illini made four three-pointers -- two in the final minute -- to help wipe out the deficit and force overtime.

“It keeps the fans there,” Colson said. “They are very understanding about the three-point play. They do the math, they’re just two possessions out [when they’re] down by six. I think it’s terrific.”

Colson was New Mexico’s coach when he began serving his four-year stint on the rules committee in March 1986. When the committee met at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas, “All these old-timers told me, ‘Don’t bring up the three-point thing.’

“As soon as I got in there I said, ‘I’d like to have a straw vote.’ All these hands started going up.”

The group took a recess, and when it reconvened, Colson brought the rule to a formal vote. It passed.

“I couldn’t have been happier,” Colson said. “The guys that could shoot the ball could not have been happier.”

Just like that, David had his slingshot. Talent-poor teams, which had relied on stalling to hang with tougher foes, lost that tactic when the shot clock came to college ball in 1986. Now, those who couldn’t out-jump or out-muscle ‘em had a new choice: outshoot ‘em. Imagine that: Basketball games being decided by jump shots.

“I think where the game was, was not a good place,” Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said. “It’s hard to say that then, but it’s easy to say that now. You look at the games, 1980-1985, you couldn’t tell the difference between the guard and the forward. Everybody was crowded in the lane, nobody would shoot from the outside.”

Combined scoring went from a peak of 155.4 points a game in the 1970-71 season to 138.7 in 1985-86.

“The game had gotten very conservative,” Delany said. “It was very predictable. It was really important to open the game up and stress skill, not just length. I think it eventually led to more movement.”

Rick Pitino was what the tech folks call an “early adapter.” Coaching Providence at the time, he initially planned to have his team shoot 10 to 13 three-pointers a game. Then the Soviet Union team fired up 30 threes against him in an exhibition game, and he realized he needed to cut loose. On the fly, he revamped his philosophy.

“I was very excited about it, because I didn’t feel we had a very good team, but I felt we had a very good shooting team,” Pitino said.

“We led the nation in three-point shooting. I realized that was one of the reasons we went to the Final Four.”

Then, after he’d revitalized Kentucky, his Wildcats had NBA talent but still launched three-pointers all the way to three Final Fours in five years.

This year, the rule almost did him in. When Louisville played West Virginia in the Albuquerque Regional final, the Mountaineers made 18 of 27 three-pointers and led by as many as 20 points in the first half.

“I’ve not quite seen anything like that in my life,” Pitino said.

Somehow, the Cardinals prevailed -- thanks in part to 11 three-pointers of their own.

Of course, the big winner is the college basketball fan. Higher scores, better potential for comebacks, a better flow to the game.

“I just think it opens up the court more,” said Colson, now an assistant to Memphis Grizzly President Jerry West. “You’ve got to guard people more. You look at teams like West Virginia, how well they shot the ball. They spread that court wide open. It just makes for a better ballgame.”

The only complaint is that the line is too close. It’s too easy to shoot, and too tempting -- Illinois took 35 three-pointers a week ago. There’s a growing consensus, and Pitino and Colson agree, that the international three-point distance of 20 feet 6 inches would be better.

Just because it needs tinkering doesn’t mean it’s a bad rule. Even the U.S. Constitution, perhaps the greatest political rule book ever created, has been amended 27 times. Even at its current measure, the three-point line has been a boon to the sport, especially this tournament.

“It’s like you’re watching a movie that’s going to win an Oscar,” Pitino said. “It’s just incredible how entertaining it is.”

Fellas, keep firing away.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande, go to latimes.com/adande.