Game-time was imminent. The buzzer to signal the end of pregame warmups was about to sound. Most of the players on the Syracuse men’s basketball team took their final shots and headed to the bench for a team huddle. But three ran to the other end of the court to complete one last quick routine.

Andy Rautins parked himself with his back to the rim at the free-throw line. He then assumed the role of team manager. Rautins fired passes to Gerry McNamara on his right and Demetris Nichols on his left, allowing Syracuse’s two most deadly 3-point marksmen a final tune-up from outside the arc.

As it turned out, Syracuse didn’t need many 3’s later that night against Cincinnati. But in this year, that was an anomaly. Sparked by McNamara and Nichols, the identity of the Orange this season, more than any other in head coach Jim Boeheim’s 30-year career, is the 3-pointer.

Syracuse is easily on pace to break school records for 3-pointers made and attempted in a single season. After hitting at least 12 from downtown for the sixth time this season on Monday against Connecticut, SU is currently making 8.4 of 23.5 3’s per game. Those numbers are also the second highest of any team in the Big East this season.

Boeheim characterized all of his previous 29 teams as scoring predominantly in the paint or from a combination of inside and out. He said none of his teams has ever had more than two long-distance bombers. This season, in addition to McNamara and Nichols, the coach has Rautins and fellow freshman Eric Devendorf at his disposal.

‘We’re definitely using some of the same stuff, but we’re also doing different things,’ Boeheim said of Syracuse’s offense this season as compared to recent years. ‘Obviously without Hakim (Warrick), we’re not going inside as much. And Josh Pace was more of a driver. This year we are looking to shoot the ball more from the perimeter.’

Not surprisingly, leading the pack is McNamara. He’s been draining 3’s since stepping foot at Syracuse four years ago. Despite that, with his five 3-pointers against Cincinnati on Saturday, he moved into 13th place on the all-time list. He now has 356 total, by far the most in Syracuse history.

But this year McNamara has help. Nichols is the surprise. After struggling with his jump shot in his first two seasons, the junior exploded out of the gate this year and hasn’t let up. The lean 6-foot-8 forward easily elevates over defenders to create his own shot.

Devendorf has shot more and more from the outside as the season has gone along and actually leads the team in 3-point percentage at 41.7. And then there’s 3-point specialist Rautins, who Boeheim turns to when he needs a lot of points quickly.

‘We got three or four guys on the team that can knock down 3’s consistently, and that’s a great thing,’ McNamara said after hitting five 3-ponters in SU’s 77-58 win over Cincinnati on Saturday. ‘Once Demetris hit some shots in the second half, it opened up stuff for me. That’s what so great about playing with good shooters. It opens things up for everyone else.’

That said, there is no guarantee more 3-pointers means more success.

In Boeheim’s history as coach, the more his teams shoot from the arc the less successful they are. In the years his teams set school records for 3-pointers made (1996-97, 232) and attempted (2001-02, 651), Syracuse failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

But any team should play to its strengths. Guard Louie McCroskey said Boeheim urged the team to shoot even more from the outside after making only six 3-pointers in a narrow six-point win against lowly South Florida.

‘Coach made an emphasis after the last game to get open 3-pointers when we can,’ McCroskey said after SU doubled their take, shooting 12-of-31 from behind the arc to defeat Notre Dame on the road last Wednesday. ‘He said if the open shooters are open, get them the shot.’

The primary reason for the heavy reliance on the 3 is no big man has developed into a scoring threat anything close to Warrick. Terrence Roberts is third on the team in scoring behind McNamara and Nichols, but he said his main job during the Notre Dame game was to help set screens for the shooters.

So until anyone from the inside increases their offensive production, Syracuse will remain defined by the tray. And McNamara and Nichols figure to continue conducting many more last-second 3-point drills before the opening tip.

‘Last year we had one guy,’ Boeheim said of McNamara. ‘So we have more guys that can shoot them. We’re gonna look to shoot the 3 if we get the opportunity. I think Terrence and Mookie (Darryl Watkins) have got to contribute more offensively as we go along, and hopefully they will.’

Published on January 17, 2006 at 12:00 pm