This and That: Syracuse
December 19, 2017 - Observations and quotes from Georgetown’s 86-79 overtime loss to Syracuse follow:
Zone times two
Syracuse is well known for it’s 2-3 match up zone, with the scheme being a program calling card. Head coach Jim Boeheim rarely comes out of it and typically recruits for it, generally opting for long armed, tall players that easily cover space. With no player receiving regular minutes under 6’5”, this year’s roster follows suit.
Against Georgetown, the Orange saw a significant change in the Hoyas also opted for a 2-3 zone. While man to man was at times deployed, HC Pat Ewing’s team played more zone battling Syracuse than it had the entire year, likely during the previous eight games combined.
Having started off in man to man, was Ewing’s choice to zone up an in-game adjustment?
“Something that we worked on, a little bit more this week, along with our press. It worked early” recalled the Hoyas new head coach. Per him, using a zone defense was “something I thought, we needed to do” beforehand, as it was stressed “a bit more this week” in preparation. Ewing believed Syracuse’s size advantage – they are listed as American’s biggest squad – demanded it.
Early on that and pressing the Orange seemed to stymie the visitors, helping the Hoyas lead by 13 in the second half. During that stanza, little man to man defense was opted for by Ewing.
His counterpart, Jim Boeheim didn’t expect the move, necessarily.
“They had it, but yeah I was surprised” so much zone was opted for against his team, said Boeheim. He identified “foul trouble” as a possible motivation, while also acknowledging it’s efficacy, saying “We didn’t attack the zone at first”, despite the fact “we should know how, we play against every day”.
Syracuse started to gain traction against G'Town's zone as the game closed, when “we finally started to attack it”, stated Boeheim. In sum he noted “And the bottom line is, you play against a zone, you gotta make some shots. Frank (Howard) got in for some layups, but Tyus (Battle) and Oshae (Brissettl) made some shots. And that was the difference in the second half”.
Mosely made a difference and a mistake
In matching his career high in scoring, sophomore guard Jagan Mosely finished with 20 points, also adding five rebounds, three assists, one block and two steals. This work was done in 30 minutes of play, including 17 during the second half/overtime periods.
His four turnovers were a sore spot, but must be put into context; a generalist guard, Mosely took over second half primary ball handling duties, despite not being a point guard. Mosely accepted the challenge of attacking Syracuse’s full court press, one in which he received the inbounds ball and was immediately trapped hard.
Ewing lauded him for something else; attacking Syracuse’s zone.
"He was aggressive. He was aggressive getting into the paint. And I thought that was something that we needed…With their zone you can’t be passive” said the coach. “You have to be able to get into the paint and make plays…You just can’t pass and pass the ball around the perimeter...when you see cracks in the zone you have to be able to get in there, and make plays for himself and also make plays for others”.
Afterward, he also displayed leadership, acknowledging a mistake: In overtime, Mosely gave up a pair of three pointers in overtime to Syracuse’s Tyus Battle, despite the Orange forward being a force at that moment.
“No, that’s on me. It was two bad closeouts. It felt like four threes honestly. That’s how bad it hurt me” said Mosely, owning his faux pas. “I was trying to play middle and him at the same time, but I should have cheated towards him, knowing he was hot”.
Visitors
Mac McClung – Class of 2018 and Hoya committed guard
Grayson Carter – Class of 2018 and Hoya committed forward
Casey Morselle – Class of 2019 guard
Yavuz Gultekin – Class of 2019 forward
Che Evans – Class of 2020 forward
Ryan Conway – Class of 2012 guard
Discuss the game and aftermath on Premium Court.