Wretchedly Bad Three Point Shooters

Sometimes you have to do it but these players have had absolutely no luck.

Two conflicting clichés come to mind when scanning a list of 19 ACC regulars (100 minutes or more played to date) who have yet to sink a 3-pointer this season.

First, there’s the time-worn, exhortative dictum, ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained’ to goose those who eschew the shot altogether. On the flip side of the ledger, there’s ‘Stick to what you know.’

(Or, in the world of coaches instructing non-shooters, ‘Don’t you dare!’ Several decades ago Virginia coaches semi-seriously told big man Ted Jeffries they’d break his arm if he attempted a jumper from the foul line area, much as Army’s Bob Knight admonished a young Mike Krzyzewski to avoid trying jumpers at all costs.)

The 7 long-range abstainers of 2024, all standing 6-8 or taller, forego threes due to admonition or discretion. They include Duke’s Sean Stewart, a wisely cautious 6-9 freshman; 6-10 senior Lynn Kidd of Virginia Tech, the Hokies’ leading rebounder and the league most accurate field goal shooter; and our personal favorite, at least in terms of the echoing nature of his name, Pitt’s Federiko Federiko, born in Egypt (think Duke’s Alaa Abdelnaby, 1987-90) and raised in Helsinki, Finland.

The physical statures of non-bombardier regulars doesn’t necessarily indicate a physical limitation. Seven-foot Kyle Filipowski, who launched threes in high school, already made 35 in 2022-23 (on 124 attempts, lousy .284 accuracy that still required defenses to respect his range). Through 17 games this year, Filipowski’s perimeter acumen was significantly better (24 of 57,.421), as was the long-range threat he posed.

Meanwhile five towering regulars took at least 6 threes without reaching a successful outcome. We note in passing 6-9 NC State junior Ernest Ross, who’s tried lobbing 7 unsuccessful bombs at the basket in a mere 25 minutes of action.

Only three ACC regular attempted and missed more 3-pointers than Ross – the appropriately named Mekhi Long, a Hokie with previous stops at Rhode Island and Old Dominion; Miami’s incorrigible AJ Casey, 1-10 from beyond the arc in ’23 and 1-11 so far in ’24; and Virginia Tech forward Mylyjael Poteat, a 6-9 senior from Reidsville, NC, who transferred from Rice.

By the way, Jovanovich (0-6) transferred from Miami to Louisville, a competitively backwards trajectory. He lists watching movies and sleeping as favored spare-time activities, though presumably not simultaneously.