Last month, the IOC added 3-on-3 basketball to its schedule of events for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. In the FIBA-sanctioned version of this event, teams are made up of four players (one substitute). The first team to score 21 points wins.
We thought it’d be fun to see what it’d look like if every ACC team had to assemble a four-man three-on-three roster using its current players.
Quick programming note
This is the ACC Analytics tab; with that in mind, it’s important to mention that we put together these rosters with an eye on the numbers game. In 3-on-3 hoops, the teams play by scoring 1s and 2s.
Why is this important, you may ask? Well, two-point field goals — attempts from beyond the arc — are worth 100 percent more than their one-point brethren. The NBA is in the midst of a three-point revolution; teams can’t shoot enough triples, and that’s with a 50 percent difference between twos and threes on the professional circuit.
Imagine if that margin were even higher; I don’t think the Houston Rockets would ever shoot inside the arc.
I kid, but only slightly. The point here, though: when compiling these rosters, I wanted to find as much perimeter shooting as possible. Yes, it’s important to clean the glass, but if a roster spot was a toss-up between two players, I leaned toward the guy with a shooting advantage.
Atlantic Division
Boston College
- Ky Bowman
- Jerome Robinson
- Jordan Chatman
- Nik Popovic
Roster Analysis
Bowman is a stud, and one of the ACC’s best at shooting out of the pick-and-roll (50.8 percent). It’d be fun to see he and Robinson run some funky guard-guard pick-and-pops. Robinson can of course handle, too, which is good because Bowman was one of the best Power Five players off the catch this season (77.1 effective field goal percentage).
Clemson
- Shelton Mitchell
- Marcquise Reed
- Elijah Thomas
- Donte Grantham
Roster Analysis
This is a dark-horse contender. Mitchell scored 1.15 points per possession on spot-ups, per Synergy Sports, and assisted on 25 percent of his teammates made field goals when on the floor. That’s a nice combination to pair with Reed — one of the ACC’s top bench scorers this season. Thomas shot better than 52 percent on post-ups this season, which ranked No. 3 in the ACC.
Grantham is one of the league’s most gifted athletes; but can he put it all together?
Florida State
- C.J. Walker
- Terance Mann
- M.J. Walker
- P.J. Savoy
Roster Analysis
It wasn’t easy excluding the imposing Christ Koumadje — a 7-foot-4 dunk machine. However, P.J Savoy is a pure long range artist; he’s one of the best catch-and-shoot bombers in America. With that in mind, he works as the perfect spacing agent around C.J. Walker, Terance Mann and top-30 recruit M.J. Walker. Savoy connected on 42.4 percent of his catch-and-shoot opportunities, per Synergy Sports.
This is a fun team, but imagine what FSU’s roster could’ve looked like a year ago: Jonathan Isaac, Dwayne Bacon and Xavier Rathan-Mayes would’ve been a potent trio.
Also, Leonard Hamilton lobbied to have eight dudes on this roster, but we just couldn’t make an exception.
Louisville
- Quentin Snider
- Deng Adel
- Anas Mahmoud
- V.J. King
Roster Analysis
This squad could maybe win the whole tournament. Snider, who used 111 pick-and-roll possessions this season, is a jet-quick ball-handler, who can get north-south and score in a blur. Adel can do a little bit over everything on offense, and guard any opposing player.
Mahmoud is the ACC’s preeminent rim protector; the rising senior ranked No. 4 nationally with a 12.6 percent block rate, according to KenPom. King is a potential star in the making.
NC State
- Markell Johnson
- Torin Dorn
- Al Freeman
- Abdul-Malik Abu
Roster Analysis
This is a rather fun lineup, too. Johnson is speed merchant with the basketball in his hands; Freeman has terrific range on his jump shot. Dorn is a dangerous one-on-one scorer, who hits with ease off the bounce. Abu — one of the league’s best at playing above the rim — concludes the roster with a much needed interior presence.
[Note: I mostly tried to compile this rosters with players that are eligible to play in the 2017-18 season, which is why Devon Daniels and C.J. Bryce didn’t make the cut. Malik Ellison is a part of Pitt’s roster, but that was because I simply needed bodies to fill out the lineup.]
Syracuse
- Franklin Howard
- Tyus Battle
- Taurean Thompson
- Paschal Chukwu
Roster Analysis
Battle — a gifted spot-up player — and Thompson are promising players that showed a lot during their debut seasons this year. However, the rest of this roster is a bit shaky. Howard posted an assist rate of 40.2 percent in 2016-17, but he hardly played the final month of the season. Chukwu faced rotten injury luck last season; however, he’s a monster at the hoop. He can give this team rim protection and offensive rebounding.
Wake Forest
- Bryant Crawford
- Keyshawn Woods
- Dinos Mitoglu
- Chaundee Brown
Roster Analysis
Crawford is a gifted offensive player — one of the most dynamic talents in the ACC. Woods is a deadly three-pointer shooter with a nifty dribble-drive game, too. That combination would give Wake Forest a heads up over most other teams. Mitoglu can’t replace John Collins, but he’s an interior scorer that’s shown the ability to drill three-balls, too.
Coastal Division
Duke
- Trevon Duval
- Grayson Allen
- Wendell Carter
- Gary Trent Jr.
Roster Analysis
If Duval is a good as advertised, good luck staying in front of this team. Allen excels running two-man game on the perimeter; he can spot-up, and he’s a potent one-on-one scorer, too. According to Synergy, for his career, Allen has scored 463 points on 383 spot-up possessions — 1.21 points per possession.
The 5-star Carter will be a lottery pick in less than 12 months. Again, here’s where the math comes into play.
Marques Bolden may one day play in the NBA; however, Trent is billed as one of the best prep shooter entering college ball this season. I’ll bet on Carter to hold down the interior, and surround him with shooters.
Georgia Tech
- Josh Okogie
- Tadric Jackson
- Ben Lammers
- Justin Moore
Roster Analysis
The thought of Okogie cutting to the hoop for a backdoor layup off an elbow feed from Lammers is exciting. Those two work magic even when the lane is congested; imagine would they could work up with a cleared out floor. Lammers was one of just six centers in Division I basketball this season to play at least 25 minutes per game, average better than two assists per game and with an assist rate of at least 12 percent.
Jackson is a streaky shooter, but when he’s hot, he’s hot. The lefty had 12 games of 15-plus points in 2016-17.
Miami
- Bruce Brown
- Ja’Quan Newton
- Dewan Huell
- Lonnie Walker
Roster Analysis
I don’t like leaving off Anthony Lawrence — an improving two-way player that can make three-pointers, but the talent of Walker is simply too much. The ubiquitous Brown has a chance to be the best player in the ACC next season; Newton is a jet on dribble-drives, and Huell is a gifted big fella. This team could win the ACC’s 3×3 tournament.
North Carolina
- Joel Berry
- Cameron Johnson
- Theo Pinson
- Luke Maye
Roster Analysis
In this hypothetical tournament, you won’t find a team with more experience, which will be a calling card of UNC next season. I like to multi-positional shooters on this roster; Johnson and Berry could be a terror to defend. Pinson is a sensational player that just makes things happen; his defense would be a serious boon for North Carolina, too. He may be the best defensive player in the ACC.
Notre Dame
- Matt Farrell
- Bonzie Colson
- Rex Pflueger
- Temple Gibbs
Roster Analysis
Let’s be serious, Colson’s game is built for pickup basketball. The senior forward can score from anywhere and has an array of moves that simply get buckets. Farrell is as gifted of a playmaker that we have in the ACC; the two-man game he and Colson run could dominate an event like this. Pflueger adds shooting and defense to the lineup, too.
Pittsburgh
- Ryan Luther
- Malik Ellison
- Jonathan Milligan
- Jared Wilson-Frame
Roster Analysis
This is the opposite of UNC’s roster. Luter and Milligan are the only two players to suit up for Pitt, and they played a combined 48 games last season. Ellison, a transfer from St. John’s, isn’t eligible to play next season, but he’s a good isolation scorer. Wilson-Frame is a highly-regarded JUCO wing.
Virginia
- Ty Jerome
- Kyle Guy
- Isaiah Wilkins
- DeAndre Hunter
Roster Analysis
Jerome and Guy can get buckets on anyone, and that would give UVA a serious advantage. Wilkins can work as a dangerous screener for Guy, and do all of the dirty work for the Cavs. Jerome has the ability to score of the bounce with ease.
Potentially bad news for these guys, though: the shot clock in 3×3 basketball, per FIBA rules, is only 12 seconds long. Hunter slightly edges out Jay Huff and Mamadi Diakite for the final spot.
Virginia Tech
- Justin Robinson
- Chris Clarke
- Ty Outlaw
- Ahmed Hill
Roster Analysis
Like the Hokies last season, who ranked No. 156 nationally in defensive efficiency, we’re going all offense here. Robinson is a fantastic point guard; Clarke is a daring and talented slasher. To complete the roster, we’ll put two of the ACC’s best shooters around them: Outlaw and Hill. Justin Bibbs is a difficult omission, here.