In its season-opening win, Syracuse outrebounded Ohio by 25. But that statistic alone doesn’t define SU’s frontcourt. Against Ohio, the Orange had the three tallest players on the court at all times.

Versus smaller teams, Hillsman likes to use big lineups, forward Emily Engstler said. He has that option because SU’s roster is populated by skilled forwards like Engstler, whom he calls “hybrids.” He can play three players over six-feet tall without sacrificing offensive spacing and playmaking.

To fully execute Hillsman’s pace-and-space offense, Syracuse (1-0) relies on complementing an interchangeable combination of rim-running centers — Amaya Finklea-Guity, Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi — with inside-out forwards in Engstler, Digna Strautmane and graduate transfer Brooke Alexander. And if the Orange can take away any lessons from their first win, it’s that they have the flexible frontcourt personnel to create mismatches.

“I think we work well together,” Engstler said of the starting frontcourt of her, Strautmane and Finklea-Guity. “Me and Digna can shoot. We’re both bigs, but we’re not. So, I think it opens up a different variety on the court where other players can’t guard us.”

Engstler opens up options for SU in both transition and in the half court. Over the summer, she’s trained to bring back the perimeter skills that “fell short” for her last season. The 6-foot-1 sophomore averaged 1.3 assists per game last year.

After almost each of Engstler’s seven defensive rebounds against Ohio, she pushed the ball up the court herself instead of throwing an outlet pass to a guard. Hillsman said she has the “green light” to run the point because of her ball-handling and passing skills.

“I think it puts tons of pressure on the defense,” Finklea-Guity said, “Because I don’t think a lot of defenses really realize she can handle the ball as well as she can, so I think it throws people off.”

In the half-court, Engstler often facilitates the offense, acting as SU’s secondary playmaker behind point guard Kiara Lewis. Several times against Ohio, she found Finklea-Guity underneath the basket with lobs over the top of the defense. If Finklea-Guity, who went 4-for-10 on Tuesday, had converted more inside, Engstler would’ve recorded a handful more assists than her total of two.

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Engstler likes to pass more than shoot, which sometimes frustrates Hillsman, who said he wishes Engstler was more selfish. Hillsman also wants Brooke Alexander, a 6-foot graduate transfer, to provide spacing off the bench.

After a timeout in the second quarter, SU ran a play for Alexander, running Lewis off a high ball screen. Lewis read that Alexander’s defender sagged off into the paint, leaving her open in the corner. Alexander collected Lewis’ pass and sunk a 3-pointer, her first of eight points in 15 minutes.

Last year at The University of Texas at Arlington, Alexander shot 39.3% from deep, what would’ve been the highest mark on SU’s 2018-19 team. Alexander went 2-for-2 against Ohio, but Hillsman also pulled Alexander out of the game twice for her hesitancy to shoot.

“Brooke needs to take more shots,” Hillsman said. “She needs to face the basket, catch it and be a threat.”

Syracuse also needs Strautmane, a 6-foot-2 junior forward, to seek her shot from the outside. Strautmane, who shot 36.1% from behind the arc on 4.3 attempts per game last year, went 1-for-5 in the season-opener.

SU likes to use Strautmane as a screener in the pick-and-pop with Lewis, which can create mismatches. If a smaller guard switches on the screen, Strautmane can use her height to back her down. If the defense tries to fight through the screen, Strautmane often ends up with an open 3-pointer.

Several times, SU ran a play that placed Strautmane and another big at the elbow. Strautmane set an on-ball screen for Lewis, then came off another screen to spring her open above the break for a 3-pointer.

Regardless of whether the Orange have a size advantage, they will continue to use their floor-stretching forwards to create mismatches. Along with Lewis’ penetration from the point, SU’s forwards are the engines that make the offense run.

Said Hillsman: “Hopefully we get some opportunities to continue to exploit that size and matchup on the perimeter.”

Published on November 10, 2019 at 8:50 pm

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