Andrew White understands the baggage that comes in tow with the “shooter” label. It’s a zero-sum game. He’s a winner if his shot falls in, a loser if it doesn’t. Many people don’t care to parse anything else about White’s offensive game other than makes and misses. Many people, that is, except White.

For years White’s father, Andy White, has instilled in his son the difference between a “good miss” and a bad one. A good miss bounces four to five inches above the rim, and a foot or two outside of it. That gives big men ample opportunity for second-chance points.

Bad misses typically stem from low-angle shots, so when the ball hits the rim or backboard, it jets out and can jumpstart transition offense the other way. The key, both Whites said, is to blend a perfect amount of arc and rotation on every shot. If nothing else, it ensures a good miss, not to mention another line of calculus in White’s shooting process.

“Good misses are important,” White said. “One of the worst shots in basketball is when you shoot a 3 and it bounces long for the other team to get a lay-up.

“That’s what we call a pick six.”

Syracuse (5-3) will certainly take good misses from the fifth-year senior, but there’s no doubt how badly the team needs his makes. Eight games into his SU career, White’s unquestionably the focal point of his team’s offense. As the Orange’s leader in minutes played, he’s pacing his teammates by averaging 16.6 points, 3.5 3-pointers and nearly 13 field-goal attempts per game. If it wasn’t clear before, it is now: White’s shot is the most important of any player on Syracuse.

His release is the most reliable of anyone else, and that’s no surprise given the meticulous attention he’s long devoted toward his shot. Most every part about it is measured: The distance between White’s feet, the position of his elbow and even his finger placement on the ball. Nothing goes unattended.

“He’s lethal,” sophomore Frank Howard said of White. “If he misses a few, it’s probably because he’s rushing it … (When his shot) goes up, I’m running back.”

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Jump shooting has always been White’s calling card. But contrary to his present game, he didn’t used to hoist 3s all the time. As recently as his sophomore year of high school, he didn’t shoot any. He didn’t have the strength to be reliable from long range. So even as his recruitment began to open up, White laughs now as recalls his unreliable stroke from 3 that he refused to break out.

Instead he leaned on a mid-range game, and by the account of Andy White, “It was beautiful.” He primarily operated a step or two in from the 3-point line, gradually inching his way out as he got stronger. His smooth form only helped facilitate that transformation into a 3-point shooter.

The mechanisms to his shot are relatively simple. White forms his base by separating both feet a couple of inches wider than shoulder-width apart. He turns his right foot slightly inward as he bends his knees and prepares to elevate. With his right elbow placed just outside his right eye, allowing him full vision of the court, he cocks back his forearm. In a flash, it catapults forward. White launches the ball entirely with the snap of his wrist just above his head.

“You never get it. It’s always an evolution,” Andy White said of his son’s form. “But if he has his feet set and he has an open shot, I almost count on that ball going in.”

With the ball in the air, White locks his vision on the flight of it as the ball sails toward the basket. Most players are taught to lock in on the rim, but White wants to see the ball’s rotation. If he shoots with his fingertips locked on the seams of the ball like he was taught to, it should backspin through the hoop and bounce back toward him when it hits the ground. That’s the ideal shot, and he can usually decipher the result of each one well before it gets close to the rim.

Like most right-handed shooters, White’s breakdowns commonly happen when he receives the ball on his left. When he grabs a pass from the right, he can go directly into his shooting motion. But on the left, he has to transfer the ball across his body. It’s a distance no further than a foot or two, but it’s more like a mile or two given the parade of precise movements required to heave the ball through a circle 18 inches in diameter.

“The best shooters are unconscious,” White said. “They have no idea (what’s happening around them), especially when they’re getting good looks.”

Against Connecticut on Monday, White got as many looks as he had all season, but his reliable stroke had departed. He clanked a pair of 3s in the final minute, with Syracuse needing a 3-pointer to tie. He was the dud, never mind his team-leading point total in the second half. Therein lies the curse of being a shooter.

The blessing is that another opportunity is never far. White had his with 12 seconds left. Frank Howard flicked the ball to White near the top of the key and sealed off UConn’s Kentan Facey. White took two steps and had an open window to shoot. He uncorked a ball that swished through the net, still spinning back toward him as an indication that every motion of his shot happened in sync.

Before SU lost seconds later on free throws, White was the savior for a flicker of time. Next time he misses, he won’t be.

Published on December 9, 2016 at 8:02 pm

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