Commodores relying too much on long distance shooting prowess

<p>The Vanderbilt Commodores have learned a hard lesson about the perils of falling in love with the 3-point shot.</p><p>The Commodores have hit more 3-pointers (181) than any other Division I team in the country. Making a school record 18 3s in a rout of Tennessee on Jan. 8 didn't help.</p><p>But the 3s stopped falling, and now the Commodores are coming off two straight Southeastern Conference losses that coach Kevin Stallings hopes reminded them why they shoot so well from long distance.</p><p>"We have to exercise those reasons and put those reasons to use and not think that it's just because we can hurl it at the basket better than anyone else can," he said. "There are reasons we shoot the 3 effectively, and we have to make sure we understand that and we have to put (it) into use."</p><p>The Commodores (11-6, 2-2 SEC) visit Georgia (6-8, 0-4) on Saturday after having a week off to return to some of the basics, like looking for easy baskets inside first before launching a long-range shot.</p><p>Stallings was so upset after his team shot 12-of-34 from 3-point range in an 82-65 loss last week to Florida in Nashville that he said his Commodores didn't have an inside threat. That followed a 9-of-30 performance from beyond the arc in a 69-54 loss at Kentucky on Jan. 11.</p><p>The Commodores do have a 7-foot-2 center in senior Dawid Przybyszewski, but he prefers to shoot from outside rather than battle down under the basket. Of his 113 shots, 70 have come from beyond the 3-point line where he's a 45-percent shooter.</p><p>Sophomore center Ted Skuchas hasn't helped much off the bench averaging only 1.4 points and 14 1/2 minutes per game.</p><p>"We kind of got complacent with the 3 after the UT game, and it's something we're trying to work back into," junior forward David Terrell said. "We're doing a good job. This week off is really going to help us."</p><p>It's easy to shoot from long range when a team hits as many as Vanderbilt. Coming into this week, the Commodores ranked ninth nationally in 3-point shooting percentage at 42.3 percent and led Division I teams with 428 attempts.</p><p>That makes Vanderbilt the SEC's top 3-point shooting team, and their average of 10.65 3s per game also tops the league.</p><p>Freshman Shan Foster, who went 6-of-9 from 3-point range against Florida and is shooting a team-high 48.3 percent from the outside, said it's a problem of discipline.</p><p>"We've got to realize when the shots aren't falling, there's a better time to get the ball inside whether it's penetrating with our guards or getting the ball to the post. That's pretty much the key. The inside is going to open up the outside for us. We have to be patient," he said.</p><p>Florida exposed Vandy's reliance on the 3 by using a zone defense that pushed the Commodores away from the basket where they kept shooting away. Vanderbilt has used practices this week to work on its offense against the zone, which has been a strength.</p><p>Junior point guard Mario Moore said the loss to Florida was like a slap in the face, but he said now isn't the time to panic. He pointed out the Commodores started SEC play 2-4 last season before reaching the final 16 of the NCAA tournament.</p><p>"People think we're one-dimensional, but I know what we're capable of and what we can do," Moore. "If I know what we can do and the players on our team know what we can do, we'll be fine."</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>Vanderbilt: www.commodores.com</p>

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