Men's Basketball and 2-point FGs

The fact that BG doesn't like to shoot the 3s is well known.  We are 240th in 3-FGs made and 288th in percentage.  Actually, BG's team is shooting more than normal...at 171 for attempts,which is in the middle of D1.

This was the subject of BG's preview in College Basketball Prospectus...their point was that it is fine to not shoot 3s, but if you do that, you have to make your 2s and get to the line.

For perspective, last year BG averaged 1.02 points per possession and this year it is .98, which doesn't sound like a lot but in college basketball it is.

The work from the field is bad.  BG is 292nd in the nation with an effective field goal % of 44.5.  (That's a metric that credits teams with 1.5 makes for a 3 and 1 make for a 2, and thereby compensates teams for the higher risk long shot).

As noted above, BG is trying for an average amount of attempts but in the bottom 1/4 of D1 for making them.  This is obviously going to make it hard to score.

Now, there are two ways to make that up, as mentioned above.  From the field, you are going to have to make a higher percentage of your 2-FGs...and when I say higher, I mean that you need to be really, really high on your 2-FGs.

The theory here would be that if you aren't shooting 3s than you are shooting shots closer to the basket...and, in the case of the Falcons, the idea is to "play in the paint."  And, therefore, you are taking high percentage shots and therefore should have a higher percentage.

Unless that doesn't happen.  People have talked about the death of the mid-range jumper.  The reason is, if you are five feet in from the 3-point line and you shoot a jumper, you might have a slightly higher percentage of making it but it isn't high enough to justify the point you gave up for those five feet.  You might be more accurate...but not enough to make it worth it.

And I think that might be part of the problem for the Falcons.  Ultimately, the team is 275th in D1 in 2-FG% at 45%.  If you aren't going to focus on 3s, you just have to be better than that.  For reference, last year's team was 112th at 49.6.

The other part of the equation is free throw rate, which is how many free throws you attempt as a percentage of your FG attempts.  BG is at 32.3% which is 233rd in the country and not good---it is also the lowest of the Orr Era by a large margin.  We've helped that a little bit by shooting them well (actually 58th in D1 at 73.5%), but we're right in the middle of D1 in FTs made.

And that is how you struggle offensively.  In essence, you don't have one part of your offensive game that is strong...you're shooting 3s and missing them and when you do get a closer shot you are not close enough or you aren't making those either.  And, you don't get fouled that much, though when you do you are doing nicely making the shots.