Jon Diebler's bold philosophy: Three is more than two

Three is more than two. So why waste time shooting anything but three-pointers?

That seems to be the philosophy of Jon Diebler, and it has worked out very well for him. Over the course of his four-year career at Ohio State, Diebler shot 1109 field goals, a whopping 900 of which were from beyond the arc. Four out of every five shots that he took at OSU were three-pointers.

Out of those 900 attempts, 3bler (rhymes with Diebler) converted on 374 of them, which is the most of any Big Ten player in history. After a rough freshman year where he only shot 30% from deep, Diebler improved his accuracy each year. He shot an impressive 50% this past season.

Diebler knows what his team needs and he does it very well. Take a look at his 2011 numbers at statsheet.com. His reliance on the three-point shot and his deadly accuracy have contributed to his number one national ranking in both Offensive Rating and True Shooting %.

Click on to read about the boldest game of his career.

On March 1, 2011 Ohio State went into Bryce Jordan Center looking to clinch at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title. It was Senior Night at Penn State, where Nittany Lions had previously dispatched of some quality opponents in conference play. The normally half-full arena was packed and the home team was fighting to earn a place in the NCAA tournament.

The game wasn't close. The Buckeyes dominated and clinched their championship, but that wasn't the biggest story of the night. Jon Diebler's performance was one for the ages.

Dielber scored 30 points to lead all scorers in the game. Scoring 30 points is pretty good, but why was this his boldest performance? Diebler scored all of his points on made three-pointers, setting the Buckeye single game record and tying the conference mark.

There is one more detail that makes this game the perfect embodiment of the "three is more than two" philosophy. Diebler didn't shoot anything but threes that night. He missed his first attempt, made ten in a row, and then missed his last shot. I have not been able to verify this, but I don't think that anyone has ever scored thirty points without shooting either a two-point field goal attempt or a free throw.

Jon Diebler may not seem like a bold player. There aren't a lot of highlights of him dunking in someone's face or swatting a shot into the stands, but that is the conventional definition of bold basketball. Diebler's "three is more than two" is bold where it matters: the scoreboard.