Chris Bell’s on fire, your defense is terrified!
With seven-and-a-half minutes left on the clock, and the Syracuse Orange up by four against Notre Dame, Maliq Brown picked out a clever pass to Chris Bell, who barely had to leave his feet.
Bell has practiced his three-ball thousands and thousands of times and makes it look easy, almost casual, using his elite technique to nonchalantly get the shot off in under a second. Cash money, Cuse up by seven.
Chris Bell with his third 3 of the game!
He has 13 points.
ESPN pic.twitter.com/wTUPaWz4wu— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) February 24, 2024
Over the last four Syracuse basketball games dating back to the upset victory over North Carolina, Chris Bell has gone an impressive 17/29 from three, spearheading the Orange attack and leading them to a 3-1 record over that period. He’s also stepped up on the glass, grabbing 15 rebounds during this stretch, an improvement over his 2.3 per game average this season.
So what has changed for Bell to rocket his three-point shooting efficiency from 43% on the season to an astounding 59% in the last few games? It appears largely to be a change in usage and shot selection for the sophomore bucket-getter.
In the early stages of the season, many Cuse fans complained about the somewhat iso-heavy and disorganized approach that rookie Head Coach Red Autry allowed for in his offense. Most of the guards and wings in the team, including Bell, were given the ability to isolate and create on their own accord. This style did not suit Bell’s game.
In an early season matchup against Gonzaga, Bell went 2/18 from the field including attempting eight shots inside the three-point line. Conversely, in a January ACC matchup against Duke, Bell only took one shot throughout the entire game.
These inconsistencies in the Orange’s offense proved to be detrimental to Bell as his role would often change from game to game. The California native was also sometimes given the freedom to drive and create, often settling for difficult and contested pull-up two-pointers throughout many early games this season.
As the season has gone on and Red Autry has gotten more familiar with his team, he has changed Bell’s shot diet, and the Orange are starting to reap the benefits.
In the last four games, you will see little to no footage of Bell taking his man off the dribble. Instead, Bell is getting basically all of his buckets off of his bread and butter, catch-and-shoot threes.
Gone are the difficult pull-ups or heavily contested threes. In fact, it is pretty uncommon to see Bell cross the three-point line at all on a Syracuse offensive possession.
In the first of this four-game stretch against UNC, Bell went 3-7 from three, hitting at crucial times. The wing also only attempted four shots inside the arc, often being used to stretch the Carolina defense in the corners, allowing his guards to drive and feast inside.
Against Georgia Tech, Bell’s shot opportunities became even more streamlined as he took seven shots throughout the whole game, all of them being threes. Although Bell only hit two of his attempts and the Orange lost, his ability to stretch the game still allowed for openings in the paint for his teammates.
Although going 5/14 across two games isn’t the best return, the tape in these games clearly highlights that Bell is essentially on the court to stretch the defense and provide a threat from three.
Then, the Orange traveled to the PNC Arena to take on NC State. If you didn’t watch the first half of this game, I suggest you go back because the Orange basketball was beautiful, and Bell went absolutely unconscious.
Bell hit eight straight threes in the opening half and finished the game with 11 total shot attempts, ten of them being threes. Bell hit eight of these threes giving him an 80% three-point percentage on the game.
It was no coincidence either that after winning that first half 40-55, Bell’s lack of involvement in the second allowed NC State to win the second half by 11 points, allowing a narrow Syracuse win.
Again, against Notre Dame, Bell was on his strict three-ball diet with eight total shots, five of them threes, and four of those being hit. All of his three-point attempts were catch-and-shoot threes.
Bell rarely crossed the three-point line on the offensive end as he effectively operated as a defense-stretcher while the Orange hung 88 on Notre Dame (the most the Irish have conceded all year).
Through Red Autry’s increased experience with the Syracuse squad, it appears that he has found the best role for Chris Bell as a floor spacer and catch-and-shoot three-point specialist. Bell’s natural fit into this role has seen him thrive personally after hitting 59% of his shots in the last four games. It has also helped the Orange thrive on offense as they have gone 3-1 in their last four, averaging over 80 points per game in that window.
The next test for Bell and the Orange will be a matchup in the JMA Dome against a strong Virginia Tech side on Tuesday the 27th. Stay tuned for updates on Bell, Orange basketball, and more.