Hoosiers: Beating Syracuse’s 2-3 zone is key
By COLLIN O’CONNOR
ISL Correspondent
Ever since Jim Boeheim took over the Syracuse basketball program, his famous 2-3 zone has become synonymous with the program’s success. Through recruiting long, athletic players that perfectly fit into this defensive system, Boeheim has built up a program that features a team this season that he says is good as any on the defensive end.
The Orange ran through the first weekend of this year’s NCAA Tournament with wins over Montana and California to reach the Sweet 16. Now, they face an Indiana team that is known for its potent offense. That offense, however, will face a completely different test this weekend against a defense that is tough to find something to compare it to.
“There’s always certain characteristics of certain players that you try to reference to this time of year,” said Indiana coach Tom Crean in Wednesday’s press conference. “There’s really nobody we’ve played that you can look at and say ‘Yeah, we went through 40 minutes of this.’ ”
That type of unfamiliarity is something that may lead to a loss of rhythm in this offense from tip-off if the Hoosiers cannot find a way to adjust. That is certainly something that affected California in the third round as the Bears shot just 4-21 from beyond the arc and turned the ball over 17 times.
And those numbers are what Syracuse is used to forcing this season. Boeheim has gone on the record this season in saying that this is one of his best defensive teams he’s ever coached and the fact that it is forcing a shooting percentage of 36.3%, second in the country, backs that up.
Thus, Indiana has to find a way to break down that zone if the Hoosiers plan to advance to the Elite Eight.
“I don’t think you can look at the zone and think you’re going to beat it in any one way,” said Crean. “You can’t look at the zone and think that you’re going to stand around the perimeter, either. That is a recipe for defeat. ”
On the season, Indiana has actually fared pretty well against opposing zone defense. Scoring 1.12 points per possesion against a 2-3 zone this season, according to Synergy Sports, this Indiana team does have experience playing against zones as teams loved to switch-up defenses to try to confuse the Hoosiers. However, no one played this type of zone for 95% of its possessions like Syracuse does, and that will be a challenge within itself.
“We have to be really solid with what we do,” Crean said. “We have to be assertive and aggressive and we have to have a lot of ability to adjust and change.”
Overall, this type of game is one that will bring forth two teams with contrasting styles and different talents. Going up against a starting back court of 6-4 and 6-6, Indiana’s small guards may have trouble at the top of that zone. It’s tough to tell what Indiana will do to attack this defense.
However, as Indiana coach Tom Crean notes, that type of unfamiliarity between two teams is “the beauty of the tournament.”
