A look at the Syracuse men’s basketball shooting breakdown through 10 games

The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team’s offensive numbers have not measured up to Jim Boeheim’s pre-season proclamation that this was his “best shooting team ever”. Last week we looked at shooting by half but let’s dive in a bit deeper and look at the type of shots Syracuse is taking and hitting in each half. Charts and statistics come from CBB Analytics.

The Orange have been strong from the top of the key as Joe Girard (10/16), Buddy Boeheim (5/8) and Jimmy Boeheim (3/6) have all been hitting from this spot in the first half. Those same players are struggling when they are chased off the 3-point line and forced into the lane. The same three players are only shooting 17/48 (35.4%) when they get into the lane but not to the rim.

When you get to the second half Syracuse is finishing more at the rim but the rest of the shooting numbers drop as teams force the Orange to do more than shoot 3s. Buddy (1/6) really cools off from the top of the key. Jimmy’s been focused on driving the ball and that has kept him as an effective offensive player. Girard remains strong from 3 (12/28) but he’s not able to keep up his to shooting when he comes inside the arc (6/16).

You might have noticed that we haven’t talked about the other two starters. Cole Swider’s numbers have not lived up to expectations so far. Syracuse will need him and Buddy to improve if they want to put together a strong ACC campaign. Or the Orange could try and find more opportunities for Jesse Edwards to get touches at the rim because when they do good things happen.

It will be interesting to see if the Orange adjust anything on offense when they return to the court. These shot charts don’t tell the whole story but it does give some hope and reason for concern moving forward. ACC opponents are unlikely to give Syracuse a lot of room on the perimeter so the Orange need to figure out a formula for getting the shots they want.