How Chris Bell, JJ Starling and Donnie Freeman fit with Jaquan Carlos

Finding ways to optimize Syracuse's talented play-finishers

From the outside looking in, Syracuse made a concerted effort to find playmakers and passers in the transfer portal this past offseason. Recently, I broke down the playmaking upside of transfer point guard Jaquan Carlos and big men Eddie Lampkin Jr. and Jyare Davis: what those guys bring to the table and how they can be optimized in Syracuse’s half-court offense.

Now, I want to turn the attention to the players first in line to benefit from the creation efforts of this trio, especially Carlos: Chris Bell and JJ Starling, two of the top play-finishers in the ACC, along with a couple other newcomers.

Ring the Bell

Chris Bell is a lights-out, high-volume 3-point sniper. The release is a little funky; he doesn’t generate great lift or separation on his jumper. However, with his high release point, the 6-foot-7 Bell (58.3 percent true shooting) can get shots off over a contest.

For his career, Bell is a 39.3 percent 3-point shooter while attempting 12.1 3s per 100 possessions. During his sophomore season, Bell made a mini leap as a shooter: 41.7 3P% on 12.6 3-point attempts per 100 possessions. Bell — along with Marquette’s Kam Jones — are the only two high-major players to shoot above 40 percent on 12+ 3-point attempts per 100 possessions last year who return to college for the 2024-25 season.

As Adrian Autry installed his new offense, Bell benefitted from playing off the gravity of a creator like Judah Mintz and spotting up around Maliq Brown short-roll opportunities, something to note for Lampkin Jr. and Davis — two more screen-setters in the frontcourt room with passing chops.

Brown assisted 15 of Bell’s field goals last season, second most on the roster, per CBB Analytics. The avenues to generate catch-and-shoot looks are huge for Bell: 76 of his 80 3-pointers (95 percent) last season where assisted.

According to Synergy Sports, Bell shot 46 percent on his spot-up 3s, a Top 5 number nationally among players with 150+ possessions. This put him in the same class as some of the other premier long-range bombers in the nation: Walter Clayton Jr., Blake Hinson and Antonio Reeves, among others.

Carlos doesn’t command the same level of defensive attention as Judah Mintz, a ball-dominant, game-breaking scorer. However, his blend of pace, court mapping and passing — whether it’s skips to the weak side or kick-outs when he’s probing against a switch — should set things up nicely for Bell.

As efficient as Bell is when shooting on platform, he can also let it fly off movement: pindowns, flares and relocations. He’s a little stiff in his lower body and he doesn’t always shoot with great lift on his jumper, especially when coming off hard movement. He’s not as fluid as guys like Jared McCain, Hunter Cattoor or Braeden Shrewsberry, to name a few other big-time movement shooters in the ACC last season. Regardless, Autry has clever actions to get Bell in movement.

Here, Syracuse runs a little Chin action — Brown sets the back screen for Mintz — who cuts from the wing to the opposite corner. Starling passes to Brown and now Syracuse has a 5-out look. 

With all five players at or above the arc, Brown looks left as Justin Taylor lifts up and smacks Tre White (22) with a flare screen, which frees Bell up for a 3-ball.

On this after-timeout possession at NC State, Syracuse runs what looks like Blocker Mover action: Bell comes off a down screen from Taylor while Brown sets the back/slice screen for Starling. Bell flips the ball back to Mintz and runs off a flare screen from Brown. As Jayden Taylor chases Bell around the screens, Syracuse launches “Ricky” action — a re-screen for Bell, who runs back up and off a down screen from Brown.

That’s great footwork from Bell to create a little added separation and square his shoulders to the rim while coming off the screen. Bell’s high release also helps get this shot off over Taylor’s late contest.

Here’s another off-ball re-screen action for Bell. This time, he starts the play by running over the Iverson screens from Brown and Taylor. As soon as he gets to the left wing, Bell pivots and immediately comes back across screens from Taylor and Brown, while catching and using one dribble to create just enough space.

Next: this is something Syracuse ran a lot for Bell this season: Chin series into Veer action (ball screen into an off-ball screen) with a wide pindown for Bell. The play starts with a slot-to slot pass from Mintz to Starling. Mintz then cuts down off the Chin screen. After screening for Mintz, it’s back screen/ball screen action from Brown, who lifts set a pick for Starling. Before Brown fully engages on the screen for Starling, however, he veers out to the left side of the floor to set a pindown for Bell.

Syracuse will also run an “Elevator Doors” play set for Bell as a baseline out-of-bounds option.

The possession starts with Bell cutting down from the elbow to the bottom of the lane, just below the rim. Next, one of the guards will trail cut and pop out to the corner to receive a pass. With the 4 and 5 now at opposite elbows, Bell will sprint up through the middle of the lane and the two bigs will come together, shoulder to shoulder, to set a synchronized double screen for Bell.

Bell misses the shot, but it’s a great action to scheme up for a talented shooter.

Once again, here’s the same look against Boston College, although the result speaks to the funkiness of Bell’s release and the need for him to get better at attacking off the bounce vs. hard closeouts. The elevator doors work. Elijah Strong (31) gets caught on the screens, but Mason Madsen (45) does an excellent job to switch out. Madsen’s closeout erases Bell’s airspace. With a low/prolonged gather, before Bell can get the ball to his release point, the shorter Madsen blocks the 3-point attempt on the way up.

Going forward, Bell will need to either quicken this release or get better at pumping and driving. Bell is good at shot faking and getting into a 1-2 dribble pull-up jumper. However, his game is very jumper-reliant. Bell struggles with the bump and he doesn’t pressure the rim. He can get out on the break and punch it in transition (all 7 of his dunks came in transition), but according to Synergy, Bell shot just 7-of-16 (43.8 FG%) at the rim in the half-court last season. He attempted only 38 free throws all season.

It’s actually a good thing that Bell knows his strengths and plays a role that’s tailored to max out his efficiency, but a more potent catch-and-go game would do a lot to bolster his overall play-finishing abilities.

Lucas Taylor and Donnie Freeman

Lucas Taylor is a 6-foot-5 wing with good range and an easy shot. During the 2023-24 season with Georgia State, Taylor shot 35.6 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s in the half court.

Taylor brings some live-ball scoring pop to the table, too. According to Synergy, Taylor scored 0.93 points per pick-and-roll possession and 0.92 points per isolation possession last season.

With Mintz and Quadir Copeland gone, there are playmaking opportunities up for grabs and Taylor is in line to take on some of that load, along with freshmen Donnie Freeman and Elijah Moore.

Freeman provides a blend of length (6-foot-9) and scoring versatility to the roster. Going up against top-flight competition last season, Freeman scored in a variety of ways for IMG Academy. While he’s fond of isolating in the mid-post, Freeman can play off the ball, too, working as spot-up shooter and cutter.

This is outstanding off-ball movement, cutting behind Asa Newell and showing off his touch for the paint finish. If Freeman moves like this around Carlos pick-and-rolls and Lampkin/Davis high-post touches, he’s going to run his way into a bunch of easy points.

A Star(ling) turn for JJ?

Year 3 in college ball marks a big moment for JJ Starling. A former 5-star recruit, Starling can be an explosive bucket-getter: he’s scored 10+ points in 40 of his 60 career games, including seven with 20+ points. Despite some notable shooting improvements last season — Starling’s shooting percentage jumped in a variety of metrics (2P%, 3P%, FT%, effective shooting percentage and true shooting percentage) — he’s never been a super efficient player.

Drilling down, the efficiency concerns stem from a few self-creation inconsistencies. There’s low-hanging fruit to grab, but Starling will need to improve upon some of these on-ball situations.

Starling scored just 0.72 points per isolation possession last season — a noticeable drop from his rookie year at Notre Dame. Syracuse scored 0.86 points per possession when Starling was a pick-and-roll ball handler, which is mostly fine but not quite where you’d like it to be.

To that end, Starling isn’t much of a playmaker for others and he can, at times, struggle with his passing. Starling has the physicality to command extra attention in the paint; when that happens, he can find teammates around the hoop with drop-off passes. Starling turns the corner beautifully here against LSU, while also getting the 7-foot Will Baker (9) to leave his feet, thus opening the rim. Starling hits Naheem McLeod and he draws a foul.

Unfortunately, there are other moments when he has issues with making the simple play with his passing, which can lead to turnovers. For his career, Starling has more turnovers (96) than assists (92).

NC State blitzes this ball screen. With two defenders on the ball, Starling has done his job, this should be an easy pass to Brown on the short roll, which would trigger a 4-on-3 and probably create a corner 3 for Bell. Instead, the pass is behind Brown, resulting in a turnover and NC State is off in transition.

There’s pressure in his face on this pick-and-roll, but Starling is too talented to miss on this kind of stuff.

The hope would be that things start to slow down for Starling. With added reps and experience comes increased poise in ball-screen scenarios. If Starling can evolve into a more patient pick-and-roll creator, one with better court mapping and multi-level shot-making, he’s going to be one of the better offensive guards in the ACC.

If that portion of his development isn’t quite ready, though, Autry’s team still has enough guard creation to keep the ship afloat. Syracuse doesn’t need Starling to do anything too advanced as a passer. Leave that to Carlos. Instead, Starling should continue to pressure the rim, find guys on drop-offs and take care of business by hitting his marks with these simple passes.

With his explosiveness as a driver, Starling can leverage that downhill threat and create space for step-back attempts. However, even when he’s able to generate some separation, the gather on Starling’s shot is pronounced: low and slow. This allows defenders to get back into the play and put on a decent contest.

Here, Notre Dame runs Starling across the Iverson screens into wedge pick-and-roll. Damari Monsanto (30) switches the first screen and is still able to bother/contest Starling’s 3-point attempt despite the initial separation.

During his first season with Syracuse, Starling shot just 5-of-30 on off-dribble 3-point attempts (16.7 3P%). That’s actually a regression from his freshman year at Notre Dame: 10-of-35 on those type of attempts (28.6 3P%). Regardless, that’s got to improve, or he needs to pivot and look to do something differently with the ball.

Moreover, Starling lets defenders off the hook by settling for tough pull-up jumpers — whether it’s in the midrange or beyond the arc. Starling has played over 1,900 career minutes, yet he has only 114 free throw attempts. He has a career free-throw attempt rate of only 17.1 percent. That’s too low for a player with his powerful frame and usage rate (21.4%).

Time is running out on this possession and LSU shows early help at the elbow, but Starling gets a switch against LSU’s center in the middle of the floor. He doesn’t look to attack or pass it to Copeland, who is open on the wing. Once again, Starling settles for a long 2-point attempt.

Starling can make these shots and that’s cool. He scored 0.82 points per pick-and-roll possession last season. However, he’s leaving a lot of meat on the bone. He needs to get to the line more. That’s the low-hanging fruit that’ll help boost his efficiency. Drive the ball, generate contact; when help comes, make the next pass.

It’s not like he doesn’t have the body and talent to make this come to fruition. Look how Starling patiently waits out the hard hedge from Pittsburgh and then explodes downhill for an inside-hand layup.

When Starling gets into the paint, good things happen. He can start to geek out coverages. Syracuse flows from its Horns Out series into slot pick-and-roll for Starling. Ben Middlebrooks (34), NC State’s center, is up at the level of the screen. Starling rejects the screen, gets downhill and hits Copeland for the dunk from Michael O’Connell (12) slides over to help.

As a duo, Mintz and Starling worked as an offensively-minded backcourt, although it felt like they never quite perfected their synergy. Both guys were good, but their production was to the sum of its parts — not beyond.

That said, there were still some fun moments of the two playing off one another.

Syracuse again goes from Horns Out into slot pick-and-roll for Starling — this time on the right side of the floor. UNC’s pick-and-roll defense is predicated on downing or “weaking” ball screens to keep the ball handler out of the middle of the floor. Starling is too powerful for RJ Davis (4) here. He takes on the bump and steamrolls through Davis, which gets him to the middle. Seth Trimble (7) digs down and shows help at the nail, which leaves Mintz unattended on the wing. Mintz does an excellent job cutting without the ball and Starling finds him.

This is where Carlos can really help Starling, though: get Starling off the ball and let him cook as a catch-and-go slasher. Starling struggled with his pull-up jumper last season, but he was solid off the catch: 39.3 percent on spot-up 3-pointers. Starling scored 1.09 points per spot-up possession, with a tiny turnover rate (6.8%), according to Synergy, a Top 35 number nationally among players with 150+ possessions.

Hit enough shots and it forces the defense to closeout. When the hard closeouts come, Starling can slash downhill against a bent defense.