December 05, 2005
Bombs Away!
Editor's note: the following five posts originally appeared on Syracuse.com's OrangeJuice Blog page. They have been transcribed to this page in order to ensure maximum exposure to the masses.
Last night's 80-64 win over TCU was a statement game for Coach Boeheim and the Orange. On Wednesday while J. Wright was calling the Manhattan win a "miracle" of a comeback, Jimmy B. was expressing concern that the team had developed a perimeter offense that spends too little time in the post. He noted that this will make it very difficult for the Cuse to win, as it forces them to shoot more jumpshots instead of taking advantage of the size differential under the hoop.
Against the lame-named Horned Frogs, though, the SU players proved they are capable of controlling a game by shooting the long ball. Boeheim made the decision to bench Watkins and Onuaku for the majority of the contest, going with a three-guard lineup for several minutes at a time. This made the team much quicker, but also much smaller on the inside. Jimmy B. relied on the team's shooters for points and they didn't disappoint, putting on a show for the Dome crowd by hitting 12 threes (none of them from McNamara, surprisingly) at 41 percent. Nichols and Devendorf each caught fire, with their respective sharpshooting streaks divided by the intermission. Nichols felt good in the first half once more, dropping all six of his treys in the first 20 minutes, then Devendorf made all five of his bombs in the second half, picking up exactly where Nichols had left off. (seems to me there isn't anything more reliable this year than D. Nichols draining everything he attempts between the two half-opening fan claps, then suddenly going dead cold - the man is a completely different player after halftime. I'm starting to think he's under a hypnotic spell in which the trigger is mass synchronized clapping and it turns him into an immortal supershooter with can't-miss touch. However, the hypnotist didn't know the mass clap happens twice during Cuse games, thus allowing Nichols to return to his normal everyday self for the final period...I think we should all agree to stop clapping before the second half - I bet he'd average 40 pts/game for the rest of the season)
Boeheim is dealing with a new sort of team this year, one that he's not accustomed to coaching - a team that can shoot, especially from long range. Take away Gerry's 0 for 6 night beyond the arc and the rest of the squad was 52% in their three point efforts. The last time McNamazing had any help from the outside - let alone 50% help - was never. This year's team is on pace to make 280 threes (assuming they only play the average 33 games) while attempting 796. That's a lot of jumpers, considering the most triples ever attempted by a Syracuse team is 651 by P. Shump, DeShaun Williams, and Q Dawg Duany during the '01-'02 season.
Here are SU's all-time team records for three pointers (by season):
Most 3-point field goals: 233, 1996-97
Most 3-point attempts: 651, 2001-02
Best 3-point FG Percentage: .365, 1996-97
Most 3-point FG per game: 7.3, 1996-97
Most 3-point attempts per game: 19.9, 1996-97
If the Orange continue to shoot as much as they have during the first 8 games of the 2005-06 season, they'll break nearly every record set by the Todd Burgan/Otis Hill team of '96-'97. At this rate, the Cuse is attempting 24 bombs per game and making 8.5 of them, well above the averages set by the trigger happy 96ers. Unfortunately, such three point aptitude has not translated to success for the Orange historically. SU finished the '96-'97 with a very forgettable homecourt loss to Florida State in the first round of the NIT (sorry to remind you). Meanwhile, neither of Syracuse's two most recent Final Four teams attempted more than 16 threes per game, although they were both able to shoot them very well (36% in '95-'96, 34% in '02-'03).
I think it would be safe to say that Jimmy B. knows his basketball, and when his primary concern with the team is its interior strength, SU is in trouble. I love the three point shot (especially now that there's more than one player making it) but The Rza is right: it's time for 'Cuse to diversify their bonds. They can't rely too heavily on one scoring skill - the Big East is too good to allow the Orange to win on threes alone. If they're going to be a perimeter team, that's ok, but they must step it up and start making plays under the basket also. There will be games when the guards struggle from outside (i.e. 1 for 19 vs. Cornell) and they'll have to score in the paint, whether it be by posting up or driving the lane. I enjoyed the 3-guard sets last night, but I get really nervous when I start seeing similarities to '96-'97, perhaps the least productive team in Boeheim's tenure.
Last night's 80-64 win over TCU was a statement game for Coach Boeheim and the Orange. On Wednesday while J. Wright was calling the Manhattan win a "miracle" of a comeback, Jimmy B. was expressing concern that the team had developed a perimeter offense that spends too little time in the post. He noted that this will make it very difficult for the Cuse to win, as it forces them to shoot more jumpshots instead of taking advantage of the size differential under the hoop.
Against the lame-named Horned Frogs, though, the SU players proved they are capable of controlling a game by shooting the long ball. Boeheim made the decision to bench Watkins and Onuaku for the majority of the contest, going with a three-guard lineup for several minutes at a time. This made the team much quicker, but also much smaller on the inside. Jimmy B. relied on the team's shooters for points and they didn't disappoint, putting on a show for the Dome crowd by hitting 12 threes (none of them from McNamara, surprisingly) at 41 percent. Nichols and Devendorf each caught fire, with their respective sharpshooting streaks divided by the intermission. Nichols felt good in the first half once more, dropping all six of his treys in the first 20 minutes, then Devendorf made all five of his bombs in the second half, picking up exactly where Nichols had left off. (seems to me there isn't anything more reliable this year than D. Nichols draining everything he attempts between the two half-opening fan claps, then suddenly going dead cold - the man is a completely different player after halftime. I'm starting to think he's under a hypnotic spell in which the trigger is mass synchronized clapping and it turns him into an immortal supershooter with can't-miss touch. However, the hypnotist didn't know the mass clap happens twice during Cuse games, thus allowing Nichols to return to his normal everyday self for the final period...I think we should all agree to stop clapping before the second half - I bet he'd average 40 pts/game for the rest of the season)
Boeheim is dealing with a new sort of team this year, one that he's not accustomed to coaching - a team that can shoot, especially from long range. Take away Gerry's 0 for 6 night beyond the arc and the rest of the squad was 52% in their three point efforts. The last time McNamazing had any help from the outside - let alone 50% help - was never. This year's team is on pace to make 280 threes (assuming they only play the average 33 games) while attempting 796. That's a lot of jumpers, considering the most triples ever attempted by a Syracuse team is 651 by P. Shump, DeShaun Williams, and Q Dawg Duany during the '01-'02 season.
Here are SU's all-time team records for three pointers (by season):
Most 3-point field goals: 233, 1996-97
Most 3-point attempts: 651, 2001-02
Best 3-point FG Percentage: .365, 1996-97
Most 3-point FG per game: 7.3, 1996-97
Most 3-point attempts per game: 19.9, 1996-97
If the Orange continue to shoot as much as they have during the first 8 games of the 2005-06 season, they'll break nearly every record set by the Todd Burgan/Otis Hill team of '96-'97. At this rate, the Cuse is attempting 24 bombs per game and making 8.5 of them, well above the averages set by the trigger happy 96ers. Unfortunately, such three point aptitude has not translated to success for the Orange historically. SU finished the '96-'97 with a very forgettable homecourt loss to Florida State in the first round of the NIT (sorry to remind you). Meanwhile, neither of Syracuse's two most recent Final Four teams attempted more than 16 threes per game, although they were both able to shoot them very well (36% in '95-'96, 34% in '02-'03).
I think it would be safe to say that Jimmy B. knows his basketball, and when his primary concern with the team is its interior strength, SU is in trouble. I love the three point shot (especially now that there's more than one player making it) but The Rza is right: it's time for 'Cuse to diversify their bonds. They can't rely too heavily on one scoring skill - the Big East is too good to allow the Orange to win on threes alone. If they're going to be a perimeter team, that's ok, but they must step it up and start making plays under the basket also. There will be games when the guards struggle from outside (i.e. 1 for 19 vs. Cornell) and they'll have to score in the paint, whether it be by posting up or driving the lane. I enjoyed the 3-guard sets last night, but I get really nervous when I start seeing similarities to '96-'97, perhaps the least productive team in Boeheim's tenure.
