Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman loves to apply full-court pressure. When the press is at its best, it feeds perfectly into the fast, up-tempo style of play Hillsman demands of his team.

The Orange finished 11-2 in nonconference play largely because of its press. Since then, however, Syracuse is just 5-4 against the Atlantic Coast Conference with the same scheme.

“The teams are either scouting well or we’re not playing tough defense,” guard Brittney Sykes said. “Either way, we’re still going to use our press the way we’ve been using it in every game.”

Virginia Tech — which has won just one of its last nine games — has committed 55 turnovers over its last three games, ranks dead last in the ACC in turnover margin and may just be the vulnerable opponent SU’s full-court press can exploit.

The Hokies (11-10, 1-7 ACC) will visit the Carrier Dome on Thursday at 7 p.m., and the Orange (16-6, 5-4) will stay in attack mode with its full-court pressure.

“We’re going to do what we do,” Hillsman said. “We get out, we pressure and we try to force turnovers. They have good quick guards that can put the ball on the floor so hopefully we can stay in front of them, and not have them split our press and attack us.”

During its nonconference slate, Syracuse dominated the turnover battle — with an average margin of plus-eight — thanks to its suffocating full-court press. The turnovers SU forced in the open court led to plenty of transition opportunities and easy points, as well.

Since the beginning of conference play, the numbers don’t differ by much from the Orange’s nonconference stats. SU averages just 1.7 fewer steals per game and its transition game has picked up with 1.2 more fast-break points per game.

But in the turnover department, there is a drop-off. SU induced 22 turnovers a game before league play, and has forced 17.3 per contest since. After averaging 25.5 points off turnovers per contest, that figure has dropped to 18.4 since the start of ACC play.

“I just think how other teams scheme it has to do with it,” point guard Rachel Coffey said. “They’re better teams, so obviously we just got to work with it.”

The opposing guards in the ACC are generally smarter and better ball handlers, Coffey said, and are less prone to commit the blunders that nonconference teams regularly did.

Hillsman said he doesn’t think his full-court press has been any less successful against the ACC than it was against nonconference teams. Where SU has struggled lately, he said, is with its spacing after forcing a turnover — which leads to giving the ball right back.

But the press has still had its moments against the ACC, he pointed out.

“I think we’re getting what we need,” he said. “We’re turning teams over at critical times of the game. The Clemson game, I mean, our press won the game. Same thing with North Carolina.

“Our press has been very effective and if anything else, it’s taken 12, 13 seconds off the shot clock before they even get into their offense.”

Against Clemson on Jan. 23, Syracuse forced 15 second-half turnovers from the Tigers, and the full-court press ignited an 18-0 run that led the Orange to come away with a comeback victory.

One week later, then-No. 6 North Carolina struggled against the Orange’s half-court traps and turned the ball over 29 times, leading SU to the five-point upset.

Syracuse even forced Maryland, another top-10 team, into turning the ball over 20 times, albeit in a losing effort.

As long as Syracuse commits to trapping the ball and deflecting and intercepting passes, Sykes said, the press will do what it’s supposed to, and the wins will follow.

“When we go on these 18-0 runs or 15-0 runs, we’re up,” Sykes said, “but we go on those runs because we press and we turn the ball over. We get it back, we score and keep scoring.”

Published on February 6, 2014 at 1:29 am

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