Syracuse Basketball: 4 Keys to Beating UNC

Shoot the Ball Well

Let’s face it. Regardless of how good our defense is, North Carolina are going to score points. They just have too many weapons and too many ways to attack the zone. We aren’t going to hold them to 50-60 points unless UNC has their worst performance of the season. By far.

So Syracuse basketball is going to need to score some points themselves, and it all starts with shooting. Syracuse, surprisingly, has not shot the ball all that great in the NCAA tournament. They are hitting just 41.3% of their field goals and 36% of their 3-point shots. Those are certainly not numbers you’d expect from a Final Four team.

They are going to have to improve on both of those numbers if they want to beat North Carolina. While their defense has been tremendous in this tournament, the offense has been their achilles heel. Aside from the MTSU game and a few hot stretches against Gonzaga and Virginia, the team has been ice cold. Some of that is due to missing open looks, but a lot of it has been poor shot selection.

Thankfully, that’s something that can be easily fixed. Also thankfully, North Carolina is the perfect opponent to get out of a shooting slump against. UNC is not a defensive juggernaut. They are an offense-first team, and I don’t see that magically changing overnight.

I think Syracuse basketball can attack UNC’s defense with dribble penetration. Look for Richardson, Cooney, and Gbinije to get the ball into the paint. When that happens and the defense collapses, they need to make smart decisions. If they’ve got an open lane to the rim, take it. But if there are two defenders in the way, do the smart thing and pass it back out to the perimeter or hit a cutter on the other side of the lane. Think about it, if there are two defenders on you, someone else is open.

That’s the key right there, thinking things through. I know basketball is all about quick decisions, but it’s also about making the right decision by playing the percentages. Going up for a shot against two defenders just isn’t a high percentage look. Nor is an off-balance 18-footer when you aren’t squared up. If the team can take smart shots, and pass up decent looks to get better ones, they will be just fine.

A side effect of this is that if they play smart, they will also use more of the shotclock and slow the game down. UNC lives off of fast-paced games. Slow them down and take some of the air out of the ball and SU will have a distinct advantage. It may not be pretty, but it will be effective.

So Syracuse, be patient on offense. Let the game come to you.

Next: Control the Fast Break