Early-season struggles defending 3-pointers spell disaster for Syracuse

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Tucker Richardson colliding into his own teammate couldn’t stop him from drilling a 3-pointer against Syracuse. Midway through the first half, Richardson bumped shoulders with Braeden Smith at the top of the key while receiving a pass from the paint.

Instead of firing yet another wide open 3, the contact allowed Joe Girard II to readjust from the free throw line and get right in front of Richardson. It didn’t matter, as Richardson calmly rose up over Girard’s outstretched hand, nailing one of the Raiders’ 19 3s on the night.

Two possessions later, Richardson settled in the left corner and watched as Smith conducted the offense. The ball eventually made it back to Richardson in three passes around the arc, leading to an open 3. Open 3s became the norm throughout a deep-ball onslaught against Syracuse.

“We were in it, we had a chance. But we let their best shooter shoot three 3s,” head coach Jim Boeheim said after the Colgate loss. “That’s something we’ve prided ourselves in not allowing.”

Teams know they can put up 3-pointers with relative success against the Orange. SU ranks 230th in the country in defending 3-pointers and opponents score 34.3% of their shots from beyond the arc against Syracuse in a given game. Illinois lived by the long ball and banked on an eventual breakdown from SU’s defense, which came early in the second half. Richmond utilized the 3 to storm back and take Syracuse into overtime. It’s played just seven games, but SU’s 3-point defense is a clear problem, one that will likely hinder it as nonconference play wraps up.

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Whether it’s from the new man-to-man defense or the traditional 2-3 zone, SU is struggling defending the long ball. Its win over Northeastern and its recent loss to Illinois are the only games this year in which the opponent shot below 30% from deep.

After Syracuse’s loss to Colgate, Boeheim said that the Raiders are used to playing against a man-to-man. The team has recruited players to be pass-first guards and even forwards and centers that look up when deep in the lane. Teams like Virginia, Duke and North Carolina are going to use the same blueprint in their approach against Syracuse, Boeheim added.

Boeheim said prior to the season that it’s much harder for a team — specifically one with six freshmen — to learn man defense versus the zone. There’s dozens of different offensive plays and schemes that take younger players a long time to learn. No matter if it’s against Richardson, Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr. or St. John’s David Jones, settling into a man defense can cause players to lose their man. Boeheim mentioned that fact after the Colgate loss and in a blowout win against Lehigh when Evan Taylor scored 20 points, shooting 4-of-5 from deep.

In its best form, a zone allows centers to bleed out and stick a hand in a shooter’s face, and when the forwards crash inside, it can lead to quality defensive rebounds and halted possessions. At its worst, the zone creates open chances, especially when younger players are caught motionless.

“Our freshmen have got to learn that you can’t stand there and let people shoot,” Boeheim said after SU’s first win over Lehigh. “Guys are going to make those shots.”

The problem hasn’t gone away thus far, with Boeheim frustratedly reiterating the same line after it allowed Richmond to go 13-for-31 from deep. SU’s struggles have come despite having a strength of schedule that ranks 120nd in the country.

After the game, one that also featured poor shooting from the Illini, head coach Brad Underwood said there’s no reason to drive more against the zone despite Terrence Shannon Jr. missing 10 shots from beyond the arc. If Syracuse is going to stick with the 2-3 — even though Boeheim said before the season that SU’s personnel lent itself to a man-to-man defense — the scouting report for opponents is out on how to beat the Orange. Illinois managed to make just 28.2% of its 3s against the Orange, yet when Jayden Epps hit a 3 with 9:28 left to go in the second half, it sunk Syracuse into a 13-point hole.

Teams are putting up many 3s in the country against Syracuse and opponents are making enough to completely blow out the Orange. Syracuse defenders are left on their heels in a zone defense that causes open takes from the wings and corners. Coupled with a paint defense that allows 45% of shots from inside the arc, SU has developed a costly habit that — in part — is responsible for a skittish 3-4 start.

“It’s something we have to learn, every game we’re learning that as a team,” Jesse Edwards said of the zone after the loss to St. John’s. “We stopped those shooters more at the end than before.”

At the start of the Bryant game, KenPom gave Syracuse an 88% chance to beat the Bulldogs. Coming off of a 1-1 record in the Empire Classic, a tournament in which Boeheim said Syracuse played “really well,” the Orange were hoping to rebound against a Bryant team that it beat two years ago.

With just over 16 minutes left versus the Bulldogs, SU battled for slim leads and small boosts of momentum, trading baskets after Mintz’s ejection.

Charles Pride began a 10-2 scoring run over the next three minutes with an offensive rebound and putback. Then in transition, the Orange left Miles Latimer wide open in the right corner, where he calmly put up a 3-point shot.

“We don’t really know all the principles that are involved in the 2-3 so those corner shots won’t happen,” Symir Torrence said after the loss to Colgate. “We just have to figure out how to do that.”