St. Joe’s basketball: Living and dying by the three
For the fourth season in a row, the St. Joe’s men’s basketball team has done due diligence to honor the phrase, “Live by the three, die by the three.” From the 2016-17 season to today, the Hawks have attempted 2,411 three-point shots.
When Head Coach Billy Lange was hired in the spring of 2019, I hoped that the Hawks would forgo their dependence on the three-point line for an inside-outside style game. Utilizing junior forward Anthony Longpre, junior forward Taylor Funk and junior forward Lorenzo Edwards as playmakers in the lane to open the floor, allowing for plays to be made at the rim and from the arc.
However, my hope has become anything but a reality.
Through the first eight games of the season, not including the game against Lafayette College on Dec. 3, the Hawks have attempted 248 three-point shots, which ranks the Hawks sixth in the nation in three-pointers attempted.
Shooting 248 three-point shots in eight games would not be an issue if the Hawks were converting 35% to 40% of their threes, but the reality of the situation is the Hawks are scoring a mere 30% of attempted three-pointers.
The Hawks rank 263rd in three-point field goal percentage. Compared to their ranking of sixth in three-pointers attempted, ranking 263rd in three-point percentage is atrocious.
There are only three Hawk players who have not attempted more than 12 three-pointers through the first eight games of the season—senior guards Tolliver Freeman and Greg Smith and Longpre. Each of the other eight players on the Hawks roster have attempted more than 12 three-point shots this season.
Junior guard Ryan Daly, Edwards and Funk have attempted a total of 44 shots each from three-point range. There is nothing wrong with having three starters shoot the most three-pointers. The issue arises when these three players are shooting a combined 39-for-132 from three-point range—less than 30%.
In the loss to St. Francis University on Nov. 30, the Hawks attempted 29 three-pointers, but converted only eight. Similarly, in the loss to Loyola University Chicago, the Hawks shot 12-34 from the three-point range.
The Hawks have a problem. They seem to have a magnetic pull to the three-point line, but they are struggling to convert.
The Atlantic-10 Conference is looking to be the best it has been in a decade. A team that relies on the three-point shot, but struggles to convert has a very limited chance to compete against teams like St. Louis University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Virginia Commonwealth University, who play a strong inside-outside game and can defend the three-point arc well.
