Syracuse Basketball: SU will thrive with longer 3-point line in every way

With the NCAA announcing that the three-point line will be moved back to FIBA regulations, Syracuse basketball should be able to thrive.

The NCAA is doing something that could have HUGE significance on college hoops moving forward. Brett McMurphy of Stadium revealed that the NCAA will move the three-point line back to international distance (22 feet 1 3/4 inches) starting next season.

Yes, you read that right, Syracuse basketball – the 2019-20 edition – should be able to take advantage of a longer three-point line. And not just a little bit longer, but well over a whole foot.

Call me crazy? Stop and think for a moment, because in reality, Jim Boeheim’s squad may be the best suited in the country for this rule change.

First and foremost, you have to look at the offensive side of things.

Cuse didn’t have a great long distance shooting team a season ago, but that could all change this time around.

With Elijah Hughes and Buddy Boeheim, the Orange have two lethal three-point shooters who can easily go off for five or more treys on any given night. Pair that with incoming freshman Joe Girard III, and you’ve got three guys that could very well shoot over 40% from behind the arc this season.

For context, Hughes and Boeheim both only shot around 35% from distance last season, but I don’t think 40% is completely out of the question, especially for Boeheim, who really lit it up during the second half of last year. However, not only can Hughes, Boeheim, and Girard hit the long ball, but they have DEEP range. Boeheim showed that last year, Girard has Jimmer range, and well Hughes… just ask Duke!

Can the longer three-point line have an effect on some guys?

For sure. Guys like Jalen Carey and Marek Dolezaj can certainly make threes – but more often than not will opt for shots closer to the basket. An even further distance would really force these guys to work on extending their range even more.

However, on the flip side, it could work for their mid-range games even better. Carey’s game is really based off of the drive, and Dolezaj is big on mid-range jumpers. With the longer three-point line, guys like Boeheim and Hughes will often pop out off of screens for the trifecta, opening up even more space for post players and cuts to the basket.

Let’s not just stop there though. This new rule change will certainly benefit the Orange on defense as well. The vaunted 2-3 zone has always forced opposing teams to try their luck behind the arc, as it often wears them down in the post and teases them to try and hit threes over the top of the zone.

Sure, Baylor exposed that in the NCAA Tournament last season, but the way Jim Boeheim’s zone works, the top two guys are almost always right at the top of the three-point arc, meaning that these threes are WAY out there. Moving the line back will without a doubt mean that over 50% of the threes taken against the Syracuse zone will be NBA range. After all, there are probably only a handful of teams who have more than one guy who can consistently drain threes from 25 feet plus.

So, I guess this is a thank you note to the NCAA for wanting to help out Syracuse basketball after a pretty rough past couple of years. Expect to see a lot of threes flying in from downtown off the hands of Hughes, Boeheim, and Girard, and the exact opposite from opposing teams against the zone.