Syracuse Basketball vs. UNC: 4 Keys to the Game
By David Stone
Shoot Better than 40% from 3
North Carolina is a big and physical team, but they aren’t great defensively, and they are very poor at defending the 3-point line. They are 330th in the nation at 3-point field goal defense, giving up 39.2% of opponents 3s. That is an absolutely abysmal number, and something that a decent shooting team like Syracuse can really exploit.
The biggest problem for Syracuse is their stale offensive sets that rarely allows shooters to shake free. Teams have figured out that 95% of the time, Syracuse is going to run a high screen for one of their guards. The other 5% are low post screens that the shooters run around. It’s not a complicated offense. In fact, it’s overly simple and has been a big reason why SU’s shooting has steadily declined as teams have figured out what we are planning to do.
There are two ways to mix this up. The first is to change our offensive approach. Instead of running the single high screens, run a motion offense. Have the wings constantly cutting back and forth under the basket. Keep North Carolina off balance by moving the ball quickly instead of dribbling too much and waiting for a pick.
When we do run screens, run more pick and rolls with two guards instead of a guard and a big man. When the second guard rolls, get him the ball and when the defense collapses, kick it back outside for open looks.
The other option is to attempt more 3’s in transition. This is going to be an up-tempo game all night, so use it to your advantage. Instead of blindly bowling into the lane into the heart of the defense and then trying to make a tough layup, get into the lane and then kick out to the wings for open looks. Any time we penetrate into the middle we should be looking for a kick out. The big advantage is that this will force the defense to chase, which means we’ll have more opportunities for offensive rebounds as well.
The bottom line is, they need to get open looks, and they need to make those open looks. UNC is the perfect opponent for us to have a solid shooting game, all they have to do is make them.