I didn’t know this, several people don’t like it.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-b...5947628/the-short-lived-basketball-panic-2023
Some excerpts:
The Wilson Evo NXT was rolled out for the first time for all three postseason NCAA events starting in 2022.
Cause and effect or coincidence?
"Bring back the other basketballs," former Villanova star Collin Gillespie tweeted.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few told Stadium's Jeff Goodman that the "brand-new slick basketballs" need to be "inflated less."
"My star point guard just said he hates them," one 2023 postseason team's staffer told ESPN.
An assistant at a different program said the only player on the roster who liked the ball had already used it in high school.
One staffer for a team that reached the Elite Eight told ESPN that in the tournament "the balls are always too fresh and aired up."
"Contributed to the terrible 3-point shooting you're seeing in the tournament," an assistant for still another NCAA tournament team volunteered.
2023 - 31.9% on 3s through 64 games
2022 - 31.8% whole tournament
2021 - 33.7% whole tournament
Attempt rates have remained relatively steady across all three years.
The 2023 men's Big Ten tournament also might be worthy of our attention. In an apparent attempt to better prepare its teams for the field of 68, the Big Ten adopted the NCAA's own postseason ball for use in its conference tournament.
The preparation might not have helped as much as the league hoped: Michigan State was the lone Big Ten team to reach the Sweet 16. Still, the box scores left behind from this well-intentioned attempt reveal that teams shot 33.1% on their 3s with the Evo NXT. If that success rate isn't particularly impressive, it's at least a good deal closer to the 34.0% that all of Division I has shot for the entire season.
"are newer, a little more slick, a little more bouncy." Andrew Funk isn't alone in expanding the question beyond one particular brand of ball. (Buzz) Williams, for one, thinks the issue is instead the presence of multiple different basketballs, plural.
"We shot poorly regardless of [the] ball," he told ESPN, "but constantly changing/practicing with different ones because of [the] opponent is silly in my opinion."
Major-conference programs that used the Evo NXT as their home-court ball during the 2022-23 regular season, according to the company, included Kansas, UCLA, Auburn, Maryland and Northwestern.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-b...5947628/the-short-lived-basketball-panic-2023
Some excerpts:
The Wilson Evo NXT was rolled out for the first time for all three postseason NCAA events starting in 2022.
Cause and effect or coincidence?
"Bring back the other basketballs," former Villanova star Collin Gillespie tweeted.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few told Stadium's Jeff Goodman that the "brand-new slick basketballs" need to be "inflated less."
"My star point guard just said he hates them," one 2023 postseason team's staffer told ESPN.
An assistant at a different program said the only player on the roster who liked the ball had already used it in high school.
One staffer for a team that reached the Elite Eight told ESPN that in the tournament "the balls are always too fresh and aired up."
"Contributed to the terrible 3-point shooting you're seeing in the tournament," an assistant for still another NCAA tournament team volunteered.
2023 - 31.9% on 3s through 64 games
2022 - 31.8% whole tournament
2021 - 33.7% whole tournament
Attempt rates have remained relatively steady across all three years.
The 2023 men's Big Ten tournament also might be worthy of our attention. In an apparent attempt to better prepare its teams for the field of 68, the Big Ten adopted the NCAA's own postseason ball for use in its conference tournament.
The preparation might not have helped as much as the league hoped: Michigan State was the lone Big Ten team to reach the Sweet 16. Still, the box scores left behind from this well-intentioned attempt reveal that teams shot 33.1% on their 3s with the Evo NXT. If that success rate isn't particularly impressive, it's at least a good deal closer to the 34.0% that all of Division I has shot for the entire season.
"are newer, a little more slick, a little more bouncy." Andrew Funk isn't alone in expanding the question beyond one particular brand of ball. (Buzz) Williams, for one, thinks the issue is instead the presence of multiple different basketballs, plural.
"We shot poorly regardless of [the] ball," he told ESPN, "but constantly changing/practicing with different ones because of [the] opponent is silly in my opinion."
Major-conference programs that used the Evo NXT as their home-court ball during the 2022-23 regular season, according to the company, included Kansas, UCLA, Auburn, Maryland and Northwestern.
