To Three, or Not to Three, Against the 2-3?
By: Adam Alter
Updated: November 28, 2012
"When you talk about the ultimate challenge, that's what we're going to face here," Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said.
Reeling from back to back losses, Arkansas hosts the #5 team in America, Syracuse, Friday.
"We've got to play more as a team," freshman guard Anthlon Bell explained. We can't just go out there and depend on one person to do it. The way our offense is run, we've got to do it as a team. Especially on defense too. We've got to help each other."
Syracuse's patented 2-3 zone defense baits teams into taking a lot of three pointers. Arkansas has struggled in that category shooting only about 28% for the season. But coach Anderson actually wants his Razorbacks chucking it up more.
"I don't think we've shot enough three pointers," Anderson said Wednesday. I think we shot maybe 16 as a team (in Las Vegas), not even that. So I told our guys, we've got to go ahead and take shots, especially guys that we know can shoot the basketball well."
"Take good shots," junior guard Mardracus Wade said matter-of-factly. "If somebody's in rhythm, we're just going to keep feeding them the ball. At the same time, we don't want to shoot ourselves out of the game if we're not making them, obviously."
There should be chances-a-plenty. Syracuse's opponents have made more threes (23) than Arkansas has made all season (22), and the Hogs have played an extra game.
Reeling from back to back losses, Arkansas hosts the #5 team in America, Syracuse, Friday.
"We've got to play more as a team," freshman guard Anthlon Bell explained. We can't just go out there and depend on one person to do it. The way our offense is run, we've got to do it as a team. Especially on defense too. We've got to help each other."
Syracuse's patented 2-3 zone defense baits teams into taking a lot of three pointers. Arkansas has struggled in that category shooting only about 28% for the season. But coach Anderson actually wants his Razorbacks chucking it up more.
"I don't think we've shot enough three pointers," Anderson said Wednesday. I think we shot maybe 16 as a team (in Las Vegas), not even that. So I told our guys, we've got to go ahead and take shots, especially guys that we know can shoot the basketball well."
"Take good shots," junior guard Mardracus Wade said matter-of-factly. "If somebody's in rhythm, we're just going to keep feeding them the ball. At the same time, we don't want to shoot ourselves out of the game if we're not making them, obviously."
There should be chances-a-plenty. Syracuse's opponents have made more threes (23) than Arkansas has made all season (22), and the Hogs have played an extra game.
