Recent Final Four history shows more than 3-point bombers taste success
photo by: Nick Krug
Villanova forward Omari Spellman (14) fakes out Kansas center Udoka Azubuike (35) during the second half, Saturday, March 31, 2018 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. (Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo)
This new-age philosophy that if you don’t shoot a ton of 3-pointers you’re doomed to fail rubs me so wrong that I decided to look at the past 16 Final Four teams in four different categories listed on Kenpom.com, the first two dealing with the volume of 3-pointers taken, another with 3-point accuracy and a fourth with the size of teams.
Size turned out to be the most common thread for Final Four squads, only slightly ahead of 3-point accuracy, and the two least important factors are 3-point frequency.
So the idea that teams that don’t chuck 3-pointers don’t cut it anymore is hogwash. A look at Final Four teams from the past four NCAA tournaments:
| Final Four Team | Pct. of points on 3-pointers (National rank) |
3-pt. FG/FGA (National rank) |
3-pt FG pct. (National rank) |
Avg. inches per player (National rank) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Duke* | 27.5 (205) | 33.4 (198) | 38.7 (26) | 77.5 (57) |
| 2015 Wisconsin | 29.8 (139) | 37.4 (89) | 36.5 (79) | 79.2 (2) |
| 2015 Michigan State | 31.8 (88) | 35 (153) | 38.5 (29) | 76.2 (240) |
| 2015 Kentucky | 21.0 (326) | 27.1 (325) | 34.9 (143) | 79.3 (1) |
| 2016 Villanova* | 33.4 (71) | 42.7 (31) | 36.2 (105) | 77.3 (93) |
| 2016 North Carolina | 20.3 (342) | 26.7 (338) | 32.7 (259) | 77.8 (59) |
| 2016 Oklahoma | 38.9 (14) | 40.7 (59) | 42.2 (2) | 77 (122) |
| 2016 Syracuse | 36.5 (27) | 42.1 (41) | 36 (114) | 78.6 (11) |
| 2017 North Carolina* | 25.3 (294) | 30.3 (306) | 35.5 (148) | 77.9 (35) |
| 2017 Gonzaga | 26.6 (270) | 32.8 (258) | 38.2 (42) | 78.5 (8) |
| 2017 Oregon | 32.8 (111) | 38.9 (112) | 38 (47) | 77.4 (91) |
| 2017 South Carolina | 27.3 (254) | 33.5 (247) | 33.4 (245) | 77.1 (127) |
| 2018 Villanova* | 40.2 (15) | 47.5 (12) | 40.1 (11) | 77.3 (96) |
| 2018 Michigan | 35.6 (81) | 43.2 (59) | 35.2 (156) | 77.8 (50) |
| 2018 Kansas | 37 (50) | 41.2 (84) | 40.1 (10) | 77.7 (55) |
| 2018 Loyola-Chicago | 30.4 (189) | 35.4 (229) | 39.8 (17) | 76.5 (229) |
| Source: Kenpom.com *National champion |
Color key: | Top third | Middle third | Bottom third |
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