Canzano: Monday Mailbag deals with 3-point fiasco, college football, Final Four, Pac-12 and more
Your questions. My answers.
The NCAA pivoted into damage-control mode on Sunday at Moda Center.
Officials measured the 3-point line before the scheduled start of the women’s NCAA Tournament Regional final between Texas and North Carolina State and realized there was a problem. The 3-point line on the NC State side of the court was shorter than it should have been at the top of the key.
One of my photographers, Naji Saker, was positioned on the baseline of the end of the court in question. He took the picture above and told me: “I’ve been to a lot of basketball games and I’ve never seen anything like that.”
The two head coaches, NC State’s Wes Moore and Texas’ Vic Schaefer, were notified of the discrepancy. The teams were given a choice: either delay the start of the game by an hour to fix the 3-point line; or play on, as is. Given that both teams practiced multiple times and played (and won) on the court, the coaches decided to play.
At halftime, the NCAA issued a statement: “The NCAA was notified today that the 3-point lines on the court at Moda Center in Portland are not the same distance.”
How much different were the lines?
The NCAA wouldn’t say, exactly.
It instructed on-site personnel to avoid making comments. Rick Nixon, a spokesperson for the NCAA, later told me: “With the NC State-Texas game about to tip we didn’t have enough time to get official measurements, only enough to note there was a discrepancy between the two sides of the court.”
Turns out the 3-point line in front of the North Carolina State bench was nine inches shorter than the standard distance (22 feet, 1.75 inches) from the center of the basket to the top of the arc. The 3-point line on the other end was correct.
In five games Friday-Sunday, the teams shot 29 percent on the “short” end of the court (23 for 79) compared to 33 percent (29 for 87) from the side that had a correct line. The NCAA later said a vendor apologized for the error.
I was seated on the press row at Moda Center. After the measurement, I walked back and forth, eyeballing both sides of the court. The difference was apparent (if you were looking for it). That should never have happened.
Connor Sports is responsible for manufacturing the NCAA Tournament courts. The company is located in a small town in Michigan, where it produces the portable courts made from Northern Hard Maple that you see throughout the NCAA Tournament.
Cost per court: $100,000.
I’m told the courts are finished with all the painted lines and graphics at the factory in Michigan. The courts are then shipped to the respective arenas, where they’re reassembled. The NCAA said the basketball court will be fixed in front of Monday’s Portland Regional final between USC and UConn.
The whole episode made me think about a miscue in the same building years ago. I was sitting on press row in 2003 at an NBA Playoff game when 13-year-old Natalie Gilbert froze during the national anthem. She blanked on the words. Portland coach Mo Cheeks came to the rescue and helped the horrified kid get through it.
Then, Gilbert scurried off the court.
I followed her into the arena tunnel that night and spoke with Gilbert and her mother for a few minutes. Natalie was battling a cold. She wore a new dress and had her hair done. When I found her in the arena hallway, she was crying. I assured Gilbert that she’d just given one of the most memorable and inspiring performances ever.
Whenever I hear the national anthem performed, I think about little Natalie grinding through that song with Cheeks standing beside her trying to remember the words himself. I listen far more carefully now. No matter how many times I hear the song done right, I remain tuned in.
I’m sure I will carefully examine and compare the three-point lines on every NCAA Tournament basketball court for the rest of my life.
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Onto the Monday Mailbag…