Gregg Popovich Wishes Three-Pointers Didn’t Exist

The Spurs’ three point shooting has been one of their major strengths this season — San Antonio broke its own team record by knocking down 671 from deep, and is leading the L in accuracy (39.9%) — but if it were up to their coach, that shot wouldn’t exist in the NBA. From the Express-News: “If Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had his way, every arena in the NBA would be due a makeover. If the league rules committee would allow it, he would personally travel to every building from the Staples Center to Madison Square Garden and scrub the 3-point line off the court himself. ‘I’m old-school, I wish there weren’t any threes,’ Popovich said. ‘It would be more basketball-like to me.’ Instead, each NBA gym comes equipped with an arc painted 23 feet, 9 inches from the basket at its apex, beckoning shooters to step right up and gamble for extra points. This season, the 3-point shot has been uncommonly good to the Spurs, who have made 671 of them, shattering the franchise mark of 625 and sparking the most prolific offense of Popovich’s 15 seasons. As the postseason approaches, it is a record some Spurs view with a strange brew of admiration and suspicion.”