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In the final 90 seconds against Miami on Jan. 5, Buddy Boeheim fouled out with just nine points, leaving the rest of Syracuse in a precarious position. The Orange were down five to a Hurricanes team that pretty much scored at will.

But in that moment, Cole Swider stepped up to complete his first 20-point game of the season against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. His 3-pointer with four seconds left gave Syracuse a lifeline in a game where it had blown a 14-point halftime lead. After Miami’s Isaiah Wong missed a free throw, Swider received the ball again, running up the court in just two seconds before heaving a 3 between two defenders.

Swider’s shot beat the buzzer, but the Orange still lost by one point. After scoring just six in the first half, his second-half effort provided a glimpse into the offensive weapon he could be for SU.

“I hope that the end of the game helps Cole. We wouldn’t want him to take those shots normally, but he’s got to be more aggressive offensively,” head coach Jim Boeheim said after the game. “He’s catching it too many times and standing. He’s got to get to the basket or shoot the ball.”

In January, Swider took strides into becoming the aggressive shooter Boeheim wanted him to be since his transfer from Villanova. It all came together on Saturday night against Wake Forest when Swider scored 18 points, shooting 72.7% from the field. After the game, Boeheim said he thought this game was the best Swider has played.

“I thought Cole got into his spot better than he has all year,” Boeheim said.

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One example of Swider moving to his spot came halfway through the second half. Buddy had dribbled inside toward the free-throw line but was soon stuck with nowhere to go. When Swider saw that Buddy was in trouble, he quickly darted to the corner and received the ball. But instead of rising straight up for a shot, Swider took one dribble to his left, sending Carter Whitt flying by him before draining a 3-pointer.

Moving around to his spot is something Swider has been working on, according to his shooting coach Tim Glover. In the six games between Miami and Wake Forest on Jan. 29, Swider shot a combined 30-for-72 from the field and went just 9-for-33 from 3-point range.

“In terms of my shooting slump, everyone goes through one,” Swider said. “Steph Curry is going through a shooting slump right now and it happens to the best shooters in the world, so I’m not immune to it.”

Glover said Swider has been working on cutting, screening and rolling to find easier shots because of the separation that the movement creates. The increased motion makes it tougher to track players because it forces defenses to communicate more, like it did against Wake Forest in the Carrier Dome.

Glover said that Swider’s spots on the court are where he’s best able to use his size to his advantage. On his 3-pointer over Whitt, the 6-foot-9 Swider shifted with ease around the defender, who is six inches shorter than Swider.

Likewise, later in the game, Swider backed down a much smaller opponent in the lane. Seeing his advantage, Swider hit a turnaround jumper over his defender and celebrated holding his hand by his hip, signaling the height difference.

“I really tried to get on him about (using) your size to your advantage in those spots where you can get easy shots,” Glover said. “Those spots for him are easy shots, and he’s not going to make them all but he’s going to make a much higher percentage than 22, 23 feet away from the rim.”

Boeheim has said multiple times this season that Swider’s reputation as a more than capable 3-point shooter will take away easy shots. Even as early as the Battle 4 Atlantis, Boeheim emphasized the importance of getting Swider going offensively. Boeheim echoed those sentiments after a loss to Villanova in December and a win over Clemson saying, “I’d like to find a way to get Cole going.”

Coming into SU, Swider was touted as a talented 3-pointer shooter to complement Joe Girard III and Buddy. But Swider’s 3-point shooting percentage topped 35% just once in his first 10 games. Glover said that Swider needed time to get used to his new teammates as well as adapt to an increased role. At Villanova, Swider would only get a handful of shots per game, but at SU he’s one of its five starters averaging double-digit points per game.

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Against the Demon Deacons, Swider only attempted two 3-pointers, making both, which was his fewest 3-pointers attempted in a game this season. But Swider is often taller than the opposing team’s small forward, giving him a unique advantage to back his man down and score. By moving his shots closer to the basket, Swider has become a threat in a new area of the court.

“Hopefully last night was … where the light bulb in his head went off and he’s going to be comfortable enough to do that on a consistent basis,” Glover said.

So after an up-and-down start to his Syracuse career, Swider may have figured out how to become an efficient secondary scorer for the Orange, as they are desperate for wins with postseason hopes dwindling.

“He had some stretches where he did what he did last night, spurts of that throughout the season,” Glover said. “But I think last night overall the whole game was pretty good from start to finish.”

Published on January 31, 2022 at 9:56 pm

Contact Gaurav: gshetty@syr.edu