Why all high school 3-pointers are not created equal despite a uniform 19-foot 9-inch line
The corner 3 is the most valuable shot in the modern NBA.
It may have always been the most valuable shot, but teams were glacially slow to see the value of the 3-pointer. Larry Bird, one of the greatest shooters of all time, made just 11 3-pointers in his third season and never hit 100 in any of his 13 seasons. Would the Bulls have won six NBA titles if rivals shot corner 3s? In their last title year in 1998, ESPN reports only 3 percent of shots in the league were corner 3s. Now it is 20 percent of total jump shots, with teams averaging 1.17 points per corner 3, tying the layup for the league’s most efficient shot.
It’s easy to see why the corner 3 means so much in the NBA, home of the world’s greatest shooters. The 3-point line in the pros is nearly two feet shorter in the corner (22 feet) than from the top of the key (23 feet, 9 inches). In high school, where the line is a uniform 19 feet 9 inches, the layup remains the best shot. But a corner 3 is also more valuable in high school than a 3 from the top of the key or any mid-range jumper.
“The corner 3 is the most difficult 3 to defend,” said Pecatonica boys coach Bobby Heisler, whose team is ranked No. 2 in Class 1A. “Most of your principles on defense have the defender at the rim line, whether it’s man-to-man or zone. The amount of ground you have to close out is why that shot is more open. and the more open you are the easier it is to make shots.”
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It’s not a shot that was taken much before the explosion in 3-pointers. Part of that, Heisler said, is because it is easier for the defense to grab a rebound of a missed shot from the corner than from the wing or top of the key. “The rebound from the corner comes off one of two ways, either short or long,” Heisler said. “From the top of the key, there are multiple angles the ball can rebound off of.”
Baseline shots can also be harder to make.
“It’s not the easiest shot in the game because you don’t have the backboard or anything,” Scales Mound All-State guard Thomas Hereau said after making three consecutive corner 3s to rally the Hornets to a 55-51 win at South Beloit in December. “It’s just the hoop.
“But,” Hereau added, “it’s open most of the time.”
That’s what makes the corner 3 so valuable at any level. In the early years of the 3-pointer, players liked to shoot from the top of the key or the wing. The most common airball came from the corner, where you either make the shot, hit the rim or hit nothing.
“In our 3-2 zone, we want to funnel you to the corner because that is the most difficult 3 of the 3s, mainly because they don’t have the backboard there for depth perception,” said Erik Kudronowicz, coach of Scales Mound, which has finished third and second in the state in Class 1A the last two years and is ranked No. 5 this season. “You also see people shoot long from the top of the key and they bank in sometimes. You don’t get that from the corner.”
But what you do get from the corner are more open looks. Against Legacy of Spring Texas, with three 6-7 or taller players on the court, Auburn players were shooting from NBA range — or even farther out — on 3s from the top of the key. From the corner, they shot from the normal distance if they got their shots off quick enough.
“I had to get several feet off the 3-point line (from the top of the key) because there were 6-9, 7-footers all over,” Auburn sophomore guard Amir Danforth said. “I train for that. I am always shooting.”
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He also trains for corner 3s, where the main thing is to catch and shoot quickly before the defense can react. That’s at all levels. In the NBA, 91 percent of corner 3s are catch-and-shoot attempts, according to ESPN.
“It is very important to get set, have your feet ready and not rush the shot,” Danforth said. “You have to be ready when the ball comes to you. Then just shoot it.
“You don’t stand in one spot. You set screens. You create for teammates. If you are open, the ball will find its way to you.”
That means the ball will often go to the corner. That’s where the openings are in most zones. And even if teams play man-to-man, they tend to sag off a little from the sides to help defend the middle.
“You are more likely to be guarded harder at the top of the floor,” said Auburn coach Bryan Ott, whose Knights reached the Class 4A supersectionals last year. “Most of our 3s that are made tend to be made on inside-out action. And more often than not, those inside to the post going out passes are usually to the wing or the corner rather than the top.
“So many offenses run sets and plays which involve moving the ball over to the opposite wing. Defenses adjust to that, so you need to throw one more pass, and that’s usually to the corner. We drill that: one extra pass to turn a good shot into a great shot. You find yourself the recipient of that in the corner more often than not.”
Most teams don’t preach the corner 3 the way the NBA does. But even if teams aren’t specifically trying to get corner 3s, that’s where many of their 3s are coming from.
“We definitely do space the floor with guys in the corner, but I don’t put any extra preference on it,” said Tom Guse, who has coached Rockford Lutheran’s boys team to four consecutive unbeaten Big Northern Conference titles. “I have never tracked it or paid much attention; I just want open 3s.
“If it’s in the corner, so be it. And against a 1-3-1 zone, the 3s are going to be more prevalent in the corner.”
In the NBA, the corner 3 means so much because it’s the closest 3. It’s almost as valuable in high school because it’s the open 3. Either way, it’s the best 3.
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Why the corner 3 is the best 3 in high school, as well as the NBA
