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Trevor Cooney made four 3-point shots in Syracuse's NCAA tournament win over Western Michigan.
(Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com)
The Syracuse University basketball team's 2013-14 season ended with Saturday's 55-53 loss to Dayton in the NCAA tournament's third round at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo.
The season began with the hope and excitement of 25 consecutive wins, but it ended with the disappointment of six losses in the Orange's last nine games.
How did each player fare this season? Did they meet or exceed expectations? What goals should they have for the offseason? What will their roles be next year? And, in some cases, will they even be back next year?
TREVOR COONEY
Sophomore, 6-4, 195 lbs.
Final stats: 12.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg
Trevor Cooney's sophomore season can be split into two distinct parts — the first 22 games and the last 12 games.
On Feb. 3, Cooney tied a Syracuse record with nine 3-pointers in the Orange's 61-55 win over Notre Dame.
That was the 22nd game of the season for Syracuse. Cooney's record-tying performance had brought his 3-point field goal numbers to 68 out of 154 — a remarkable 44.1 percent. At that point, Cooney's 3-point shooting percentage would have been the fourth-highest in SU history and his attempts would have met the minimum of 50.
Cooney had become Syracuse's main outside shooting threat. He had gone 7-for-8 in the Orange's season-opener against Cornell. He was 4-for-4 from outside the arc against California. He made five out of nine treys against Indiana. He went 5-for-8 against Villanova. Even when Duke limited him to just two shots from 3-point range, Cooney made them both.
Two nights after the Duke game, Cooney exploded for 33 points against Notre Dame.
And then the bottom dropped out. Cooney's shooting stroke disappeared.
Over the next 10 games, Cooney made just 18 out of 72 shots from beyond the arc — a meager 25 percent.
He re-emerged with four triples in Syracuse's NCAA tournament win over Western Michigan, but he missed all four of his 3-point attempts in the Orange's loss to Dayton.
Grading out Cooney's year depends on how you look at it. In his first year as a starter, Cooney averaged 12.1 points per game on 37.5 percent shooting from 3-point range. Prior to the season, any Syracuse fan would have been more than happy with those numbers.
But it's the way Cooney finished the season that most people will remember.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim says Cooney takes more practice than any player he's coached, putting Cooney alongside Brandon Triche in that respect. Boeheim flat-out stated that Cooney puts up more practice shots than former player/assistant coach Gerry McNamara.
So count on Cooney spending a lot of time in the gym this offseason working on his shot and regaining the confidence he seemed to lose down the stretch of the season.
Cooney also needs to round out his offensive game. He has the ability and especially the strength to drive to the basket. He needs to do that more. He also needs to develop a pull-up jumper, something in the mid-range area where he can look to drive and then stop and pop.
Both moves will help Cooney draw more fouls. He made 84 percent of his free throws this past season, but he only attempted 63 shots from the line.
Cooney's prolonged slump at the end of the season made him the focal point of Syracuse's overall offensive woes.
But if Cooney can smooth out the highs and lows, a repeat of his shooting numbers from this past season would give Syracuse the 3-point shooting threat it needs.
Consider these facts:
- Cooney made 90 3-point shots this past season. Only three players in SU history have made more threes in a single season — Gerry McNamara, Andy Rautins and Demetris Nichols. McNamara is the only Syracuse player to ever make more 3-point shots as a sophomore than Cooney did this past season.
- Cooney's 3-point field goal percentage of 37.5 is higher than that of Rautins as a junior, James Southerland as a junior or Eric Devendorf as a sophomore.
- McNamara shot a higher 3-point percentage in just one of his four years at Syracuse.
- McNamara as a sophomore, Rautins as a senior and Nichols as a senior are the only Syracuse players who attempted as many or more threes than Cooney did this past season while making a higher percentage.
- Sometimes, just like big men, shooters need time to develop. Cooney could be headed toward some record-setting numbers in his junior and senior years.