Men's Basketball

SU defensive adjustments eliminate Georgetown’s high-low offense in win

Courtesy of Gregory Fisher | USA Today

Marek Dolezaj has played center for the Orange since Bourama Sidibe's injury in the season-opener.

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Qudus Wahab waved his arms in the air, underneath Syracuse’s basket and safely behind Marek Dolezaj, the 2-3 zone’s last line of defense. Georgetown point guard Jahvon Blair saw the opening. Dolezaj did too, but by that point, Blair’s bounce pass had already skipped by him, into the hands of Wahab and through SU’s basket.

Through the Hoyas’ first three possessions, three scoring chances from the high post had already surfaced. Jamorko Pickett was open in the high post if Blair needed him, and the Orange’s loose defense on the perimeter and underneath allowed for Wahab to create enough space for a pass to reach him.

But after converting two early baskets on high-lows and consistently turning to the high-post entry early in the first half, Georgetown (3-8, 1-5 Big East) started to settle for 3s. There was the occasional turnaround jumper from the elbow, but Wahanb managed just five points and one made field goal the rest of the game. By playing Dolezaj at center, Syracuse forced the Hoyas to play small, effectively eliminating their ability to operate like they did early on at the high post and the low blocks. That adjustment helped the Orange (7-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) improve their spotty defensive play in a 74-69 win.

“We hurt them on offense with pulling their big out, so I think they went with a smaller lineup to guard us better,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said postgame. “That helped us on the defensive end, not having that big guy out there.”



This season, the Orange’s interior defense has ebbed and flowed since starting center Bourama Sidibe left the season-opening win against Bryant with a torn meniscus after five minutes. The injury forced him to miss the next seven games, even after returning to practice once the Orange finished their second COVID-19 pause.

Sidibe’s absence created deficits in the paint that shone through a lack of rebounding and an inability to guard the 2-3 zone’s center. In a loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday, the Panthers outrebounded SU by 16. So did Rutgers one month earlier. Sidibe is Syracuse’s best shot-blocker, Boeheim reiterated throughout the season, and the missing wingspan left openings both before the shot and afterward, openings like those Georgetown created on its second possession.

Pickett positioned himself near the top of the key, shimmering back down as Blair dribbled the ball around the perimeter. But instead of hitting Pickett, Georgetown’s senior guard flung a left-handed pass to Wahab, who had crept behind Dolezaj and Griffin, and the possession ended with a two-handed dunk.

Then, the Orange tightened their defense at the top of the zone. Buddy and Girard started cheating down toward Pickett in the high post, eventually relocating him out of that spot altogether on certain sequences. “We decided we have to stay in on the post,” Buddy said, and accept any turnaround jumpers that Pickett or others might hit from that spot. The important pass to eliminate was the one to the low blocks.

After taking just three 3-pointers in the opening seven minutes, Georgetown took 29 the rest of the game. Instead of making the extra pass inside, guards like Blair started settling from long range. Sometimes, those went in, such as when Blair fell backward, with the shot clock expiring and Girard’s hand in his face. But other times, they bounced harmlessly off the rim and turned into transition opportunities at the other end.

The reason for Georgetown’s offensive switch had to do with what Syracuse conducted offensively, Boeheim said. Since Sidibe’s injury, Dolezaj has facilitated the Orange’s offense from his perch at the top of the key, weaving in and out of the elbows to hit guards and cutters in the wings and corners. Georgetown deployed three-or four-guard sets in response, not wanting to have a traditional center — who may not be as quick and mobile out of the paint — guarding Dolezaj.

“That really helps us on the boards, but that’s the advantage of Marek,” Boeheim said. “Marek on offense pulls those centers out and it opens up lanes. We’re able to do some things on offense, get some things that we wouldn’t be able to get if we didn’t have the center away from the basket.”

That lack of size then translated to Georgetown’s offense, where the guards sprinkled out on the wings and corners as opposed to cycling the ball in and out of Pickett at the high post. Nearing the midway point of the first half, Pickett received the ball in front of Syracuse’s bench. Girard and another defender converged, forcing a rushed pass back to the wing that Girard stole and broke out into transition. Buddy missed an open layup at the other end, but a defensive disruption created that opportunity.

Pickett finished a slam dunk with 13:31 left in the second half to pull the Hoyas within 12 — one of their first successful high-low looks that frame and hit a jumper on the next possession to trim it even further.

But by that point, turnovers on the wings and in the corners had helped Syracuse continue to build its lead. One had come on a Dante Harris drive toward the block, a pass that sailed toward the wing and then near the scorer’s table. Harris, and the Hoyas, were now looking for those 3-point shots, those outside looks that reflected a shift away from the high-lows. But no one was there.

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