Wait, What?

The News & Observer has a quick blurb on how Sidney Lowe doesn't like the three-point shot, and backs it up with numbers showing they don't shoot it very often.

Only thing is, both Lowe and the paper are wrong.

N.C. State may be ninth in the league in three-point attempts, but they play pretty slow basketball and don't take much of any type of shot. To wit, here are the ACC teams in order of what percent of their shots are behind the arc:

Team           3FGA/A   3FG %
Virginia        0.387   0.359
NC State        0.345   0.380
Wake Forest     0.336   0.340
Florida State   0.325   0.397
Miami           0.324   0.331
Boston College  0.323   0.342
Clemson         0.320   0.320
Duke            0.303   0.353
Georgia Tech    0.282   0.333
North Carolina  0.259   0.338
Maryland        0.234   0.349
Virginia Tech   0.208   0.370

Now it is true they aren't shooting as many threes as they did in Sendek's last season. But last season State was an obscenely outside shooting team. There's no comparison. To put in perspective, this year State is shooting the three slightly less often than J.J. Redick-powered Duke did last year.

Which isn't to say it's a bad thing for them. Their percentage from behind the arc is also second in the league, and it was, as the N&O says, a key to them beating the Tar Heels earlier this season. But this is the second time the rhetoric doesn't match the numbers. You can't blame Lowe for obfuscating before a big game, but the press has the numbers - is it that hard to check?