The (short-lived) basketball panic of 2023

After watching players in the past two men's NCAA tournaments miss 3-pointers at a higher rate than in previous years, the conventional wisdom was loud and clear last week: It's the ball.

"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…