Mayo GAA clubs, players and supporters up and down the county are talking about the new GAA rules. The Football Review Committee (FRC) came up with a plethora of changes to the game in order to make it more exciting to watch and play. 

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. A lesson that is all too familiar for sports coaches. Introducing sweeping changes can have (un-)intended knock on effects.

For many years some pundits, players and fans alike were complaining about the perceived fact, that Gaelic football had become stale, boring or even horrible to watch. Endless hand-passing, side-to-side play, and especially the so called 'blanket defences' were a constant thorn in the audience's eye.

WATCH: Pitchside: 'The two-point arc makes Gaelic football better'

The FRC admittedly had one goal in mind: How can we make the game more exciting to watch? They came up with a brand new two-point arc: Any scores from beyond this arc are worth two points. In my understanding, the 3v3 rule is complimentary to that one, as it eliminates the possibility for a defence to just park the bus.

Most discussions in past weeks were evolving around, for example, Mayo players infringing this 3v3 rule, or the 'roaming' goalkeepers, longer kick-outs, or the solo'n'go option.

But from a tactical point of view, the biggest culture change might be in store with the two point arc.

THE COMPARISON

To grasp the full implications by this new rule, it's beneficial to take a look at the sport of basketball, more precisely: The global behemoth, that's the National Basketball Association (NBA) in North America. Basketball in the NBA has experienced a three-point revolution in the past 20 years.

To level the playing field for the non-basketball buffs among us: There are three ways to score in this sport: a free throw is worth one point, a shot from within the 3pt arc is two points worth and, self-explanatory, a successful shot from anywhere beyond the 3 point arc will get a team three points. That's all we need to know.

In the last two decades, the number of three point attempts taken by a team has exploded. From 15.8 per game in 2005 up to 37.5 per game this season, at the time of writing.

Regarding the fact that NBA teams take about 90 shots on average per game, that means more than 40% of all shots taken are three point attempts.

Why would teams do that, as the probability of scoring is significantly lower on a three point shot. It's about 20% lower than for a 2 pointer.

THE HISTORY

To understand how the three point shot has revolutionised the game, we have to take a brief, simplified, look at its history: It all started on a different basis in basketball to be fair.

The three-point shot was introduced for the 1979-80 season and seen more as a gimmick. During the first years of its existence in the NBA, it was basically only used for the last shot in a quarter or if a team needed three points in the last possession of the game to avoid defeat.

This was clearly reflected in the number of shots taken. Ten years after its introduction, there were only 6.6 attempted 3pt shots per game.

This wouldn't change much until the mid-2000s when a rising awareness for a statistical approach towards sports and an innovative Phoenix Suns head coach called Mike D'Antoni initiated the true revolution.

The Suns embraced a new philosophy, which entailed taking more open shots, instead of slowly building up plays with the goal to end up with a shot as close to the basket as possible. The side effect was a slow but steady rise in open threes taken.

Insiders speak of spacing, which means players spread out in offence, stretching the defence, which before used to mostly guard the area closer to the basket.

Especially the emergence of zone defences in the NBA in 2002 made it harder for teams to create good, open scoring chances close to the basket. They were kind of forced to shoot from further out.

The development was taken to a completely new level with the arrival of players like Stephen Curry into the league in the early 2010s. Him and Klay Thompson would constituted the so called 'Splash Brothers' for their long range shooting, scoring more and more threes.

But what seemed excessive back then with about 24-29 attempted threes per game, has even increased further to the aforementioned 37.5 attempts on average per game in the last couple of years.

The Boston Celtics are currently the team with most 3 pointers taken, at 48 attempts per game. They won the NBA championship last year strictly based on a game play that requires every player on the court being able to shoot threes.

THE NUMBERS

Why could this be relevant to Gaelic football? Well, the new two point arc introduces mathematical factors into the game. It might become a numbers game. Picture this: It is a well calculated decision to take more shots form beyond the arc.

NBA teams figured: Wait a second, we can take ten shots for two points, and are expected to score 6 of them, which gives us 12 points. But then, if we are expected to score 40% of three pointers, we take ten of them and get the same 12 points for just four successful attempts.

The three pointer reduces the number of shots you need to make.

Recap: A team only needs to hit four shots instead of six to score the same amount of points. That's huge. And as soon as coaches and development programs in the NBA had advanced in how they effectively teach three point shooting, with more and more capable shooters entering the floor, it was a no brainer that the game would change.

Because the knock on effect followed suit: Defences were put into a conundrum: Will we let them shoot or will we push out, meet them at the arc and leave space behind us? This gives an offence tactical options.

If you have at least one or better two deadly shooters on the floor, you put a quality big man next to the basket and you create a problem for every defence. It sounds counter intuitive, but dangerous three point shooters also increase your chances of scoring easy twos, because there is more unguarded space closer to the basket.

That is exactly what might happen in Gaelic football. Using the 2 point shot to their advantage, teams will score the same amount of points or even more, with less shots. And on the other hand, as soon as defences spread out, they will find pockets of space behind them to exploit.

Of course, Gaelic football games have always been affected by the wind. And shooting into the wind from further out might not always be an option. But teams just might have to push for scores more when they play with the wind instead. 

HIGHER EFFECT

A final note: The cumulative effect of a two point arc is even more striking than the three pointer in basketball. If a team scores four of ten they get eight points. They would in turn have to yield 8 out of 10 attempts for one point to get the same amount of points. Teams would have to score only half as many shots to put up the same score line.

Every team that develops a handful of high quality long range shooters, and masters the two point game, will have a huge advantage over their opponents.

The sport could truly enter a transformative phase and experience the 2-point revolution. The game might change entirely.

PICTURES: Fans and players delighted as Mayo defeat Kerry