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Chris Bell treats basketball as a game of life; there will be ups and downs. For Bell, it’s hard to get any lower than how he finished 2024. The junior was shooting just 21.6% from 3-point range and went nearly a month without knocking down a triple.
Slumps aren’t abnormal for shooters, especially Bell. This one was different. He called it the “worst of his career.” Against Florida State on Jan. 4, Bell came off the bench for the first time in three seasons.
Bell didn’t have a visceral response to the radical change. He says he can’t be confident all the time. It’s why he tries to have a human reaction to basketball’s ebbs and flows. Bell doesn’t read too much into the numbers. He looks at them as just that. Numbers.
“That’s all people look at,” Bell said of shooting percentages. “When you know you’re a good shooter, you’re going to keep shooting and then eventually the numbers will show.”
Despite being primed for a breakout year as Syracuse’s prime marksman after averaging 12 points per game and knocking down 42% of triples as a sophomore, Bell’s junior season hasn’t gone to plan. He’s averaging 9.9 points in 22.3 minutes per game, almost five fewer than in 2023-24. His volume and efficiency from 3 have drastically decreased, going from 6.3 attempted 3s to 4.1, connecting on a 37.1% clip.
The stats, despite an improved 45% 3-point percentage in Atlantic Coast Conference play, suggest Bell is having an off-year. Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry disputes that, saying he hasn’t regressed. Autry argues Syracuse’s roster construction has just changed.
“When you have guys like Chris, who shoot the ball at a high level, a lot of his success depends on the people around him and I just think the dynamics of our team changed,” Autry said.
The second-year head coach is alluding to Syracuse being without ball-dominant guards Judah Mintz and Quadir Copeland. That duo and J.J. Starling attracted attention with their dribble penetration last season, forcing defenses to collapse. So, Bell often planted himself on the perimeter, making teams pay with his catch-and-shoot ability.
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Mintz and Copeland moved on, so Bell climbed the scouting report. Now, teams are running him off the 3-point line, forcing him to drive more. Bell has attempted more free throws this season (86) than his first two seasons combined (58). Bell is best when firing away from deep. He’s not doing that as much this season.
In 2023-24, Bell was the second-best 3-point shooter in the ACC. Bell led SU in attempts (200) and makes (84), shooting 64 more and hitting 40 more triples than Starling, who was second on the team in both categories. Bell was also the only player with at least 40 3-point attempts to shoot better than 34%.
“The expectation is just for me to be myself and to take shots when I get them,” Bell said.
That mentality was absent in December, going six straight games without a 3-pointer. His previous longest drought was two games. Admittedly, Bell got in his own head. With each missed shot, he said he grew more cautious. Instead of shooting five-to-seven 3s per game, he limited himself to a couple of shots.
While in his slump, Bell stayed in the gym, putting up 200-to-300 shots daily with assistant coaches Allen Griffin and Brenden Straughn to try and get his rhythm back. He also confided in his parents, Charlie and Natasha, and his trainer, William Lee, to help him push through.
“You always go back to the people who always believed in you in the beginning, not the people who just showed up when you were doing well,” Bell said.
Bell tried to stay the course but didn’t improve. That came to a head in Syracuse’s 81-71 loss to Wake Forest on Dec. 31 after putting up one shot in nine minutes. It was the first time since his freshman season he recorded fewer than 10 minutes. In an attempt to get Bell going, Autry took the forward out of the starting lineup against FSU four days later.
The decision paid dividends instantly. Bell scored 18 points on a perfect 4-for-4 from 3.
“He responded to that well,” Autry said of Bell after his performance. “He had no issues. ‘Whatever I need to do for the team, what’s best for the team.’ And he’s been great.”
Autry’s kept Bell on the bench since then, alleviating pressure off him. He now also sees the game from a different perspective. By not starting, Bell can tell where Syracuse is lacking, either defensively or with its shooting. Once he enters the game, typically six to eight minutes in, Bell tries to provide a spark.
Coming off the bench has made Bell worry less about missing shots, he said. It’s resulted in Bell showing flashes of his previous self, making 31-of-69 (45%) 3-pointers over his last 16 games.
“He’s just been confident,” Syracuse point guard Jaquan Carlos said. “We need Chris to be aggressive and we’re going to live with the shots that he takes because he’s a great shooter.”
Against Pittsburgh on Feb. 18, he drilled seven 3s, scoring a season-high 23 points. It was reminiscent of Bell’s 26-point explosion against NC State last February, where he hit eight 3s in the first half.
Still, his consistency hasn’t stuck. Bell’s only reached double figures in back-to-back games three times since coming off the bench, though he hasn’t had much time to prove himself. Since Jan. 4, he’s only played about 20 minutes per game — the same amount of minutes he logged as a freshman — and hasn’t notched more than 30.
At times, he receives a short leash. It’s not uncommon to see Bell get pulled immediately after a bad shot, a poor rebounding effort or a blow-by. Autry is often hard on Bell, berating him after a mistake.
As Syracuse’s longest-tenured player, Bell’s relationship with Autry dates back to when he was an assistant under Jim Boeheim. Bell knows Autry is aware of some of his tendencies, which is why he’s tried to be more open to Autry’s criticisms recently.
“I try to be coachable as much as I can,” Bell said. “I feel like I’ve done a better job with that lately, just going to him and just being receptive, trying to hear whatever he’s saying, and going out there and doing that to the best of my ability.”
Bell’s remained flexible this season. He began as a key cog in Syracuse’s system, but his role has shrunk. The junior sometimes flashes an elite shooting touch, but his numbers, compared to last season, remain mediocre. Bell doesn’t remain overly concerned, though.
His job isn’t to look at numbers; he leaves that to the critics. Bell’s role is to shoot the ball efficiently, a skill he’s had mixed success with. Ultimately, it’s about Bell playing within himself and blocking out the noise.
“It just comes down to getting out of my own head and just being confident with the things I do,” Bell said.
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