This Year’s Duke Team Is Cleaning Up On Three Point Shots

And at a historical level for the program too.

Teams and players that make threes create an advantage for themselves whether or not their shots consistently go in. Just the threat of their prowess suffices to bend defenses. Louisville is this year’s prime Division I example of a team prospering by embracing the 3-pointer as an integral part of its offense.

More than half of the Cards’ field goal tries are threes. Only Georgia Tech attempts more field goals overall per game. While UL doesn’t hit bonusphere bombs with radar-guided efficiency, it hits enough long-range shots to thrust Pat Kelsey’s squad toward the ACC’s front rank and a spot in the national polls after three years of misery.

The other night Reyne Smith, an Australian guard who came with Kelsey from College of Charleston to UL, hit 10 threes in a perimeter barrage that fueled a 25-point rout at SMU. Every Louisville starter made at least one of the team’s 19 threes.

Despite converting 19 of 42 from 3-point range against the Mustangs, the Cards still rank near the bottom of the ACC in 3-point percentage (.317). But they’re demonstrating that what’s statistically below breakeven may not be practically inadequate.

Kelsey’s strategy entering the league somewhat resembles Cliff Ellis’ unorthodox approach upon taking over a last-place Clemson program in 1984-85. Ellis arrived more or less simultaneously with introduction of the shot clock and 3-pointer, and proceeded to speed up opponents with pressure defense and aggressive shooting.

Three years after Ellis arrived, the Tigers won 25 games and were invited to play in the NCAA tournament for only the second time in school history.

Kelsey may be this season’s most noticeable ACC user of 3-pointers, but he’s not the only noteworthy practitioner. Jon Scheyer’s Duke club is making the most of the shot as well, ranking third in the league in 3-point accuracy (.3696) and leading in threes made per game (10.7) through Jan. 25. The Devils’ 9 threes on 32 tries accounted for nearly 43 percent of their scoring in a hard-fought battle at Winston-Salem to subdue Wake Forest, 63-56.

The victory over the Demon Deacons illustrated the power of the three – while Duke made barely 28 percent of its distance tries, the cumulative point production from the shot made a huge difference.

When it comes to productive bonusphere shooting, on average the ’25 Blue Devils score 38.73 percent of their points from beyond the arc. That’s best at Duke in this century, marginally edging the 2015 NCAA champions.