Syracuse Basketball: 4 Keys to Beating UNC

Control the Middle

The reason Syracuse basketball has made it as far as they have is simple: they haven’t gotten torched on the interior on defense. Sure, they gave up some points to Gonzaga and Virginia, but they were never getting dominated. They played some outstanding help defense against both teams and really limited two teams who quite good at scoring in the paint.

Neither of those teams are as good at it as North Carolina however. UNC is all about getting the ball inside. That doesn’t even necessarily mean getting it to the rim. Brice Johnson and Justin Jackson have proven that they have excellent mid-range games and will feast on the 15-18 footers if not covered tightly. That is definitely a tough spot in the zone, as that distance is kind of “no man’s land”.

What SU is going to need to do is harass these guys even before they get the ball. Play physical, get them off their spots and make them uncomfortable. That all starts with bumps and rubs as they are trying to get to the open spots. Although they are athletic, they aren’t invulnerable to physicality, and SU needs to play physical. They need to play this game like it’s old school, Big East basketball. At least until the refs start to call it.

They need to test the waters. With how inconsistent officiating has been all season, they need to see how far they can go before getting calls against them. Virginia did this to us for 30 minutes before Syracuse had finally had enough and started pushing back. They need to do it much sooner than that against UNC or the game could get out of hand quickly.

Next: Third Time's a Charm vs. UNC

I’m not saying they should play dirty, just play with intensity. Smother the bigs whenever they try and get through the paint or cut up to the free throw line. Harass the guards as they try and get the ball in. Basically, play like a swarm of angry mosquitoes and don’t allow these guys who live on the interior to get good shots. Punish them for trying to go inside and make them shoot from the perimeter or turn the ball over.

It’s certainly not going to be easy to beat a team like North Carolina, but it’s definitely doable. If they can control the interior, hit some shots, and slow down the pace of the game they have a real good chance of surviving and advancing. Even if it doesn’t look pretty, a win is a win at this point.

Maybe beating back-to-back #1 seeds will finally shut up all the haters. Probably not, but it will at least make all the Syracuse basketball fans that much happier.