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By Donna Ditota
Syracuse, N.Y. — Jim Larranaga gave his staff a project last summer. With Syracuse joining the ACC, Larranaga wanted to be prepared for one of the nation's most stultifying, most mystifying defenses.
Initially, the Miami coach wanted to investigate ways to attack the zone from an offensive perspective. But tangentially, he wondered if zone might mitigate what would be construed as a rebuilding year for his own Hurricanes, a team that had lost the bulk of its scoring to graduation or early NBA entry.
His instructions, triggered too by the idea that the Hurricanes had not played more than 20 minutes against zones all of last season, eventually evolved into a new defensive philosophy.
"We decided to implement both a 2-3 zone and a 1-2-2 zone," Larranaga said. "And when our man-to-man defense was not as good as it has been in the past, we decided to try the zone a little bit more. We had a little more success with it. Our guys developed a little more confidence in it. And we've been playing it better and better."
Syracuse will see that defense, primarily a matchup 1-2-2 configuration, for the second time Saturday at 1 p.m. in Miami. The last time the teams met on Jan. 4, the Orange scraped out a 49-44 victory in the Carrier Dome.
Syracuse shot 36 percent in that game. Trevor Cooney was 2-of-12 from 3-point range. SU's top two scorers — Cooney and C.J. Fair — shot a combined 8-of-28.
"The matchup has made a huge difference," SU coach Jim Boeheim said. "It's a difficult defense because they have great size at every position and they've got a really good shot-blocker. I think Miami is as good defensively, or better, than any team in our league."
Larranaga used a resource familiar with zone defenses to augment what he and his staff had already learned. The Miami coach met former SU assistant Bernie Fine at a luncheon, discussed his plan to implement more zone this season and invited Fine to share what he knew about the defense. The two met for about two hours in Miami, where they watched video and compared notes, Larranaga said.
"Quite honestly, the things we talked about are things my staff and I had already researched and knew," Larranaga said. "It's just nice to have a discussion with someone with so much familiarity (with zones)."
Fair and SU point guard Tyler Ennis said the Hurricanes' matchup relies heavily on help and sometimes disguises its methods of coverage.
In typical matchup zones, a defender guards an opponent in his area, but once that opponent vacates a space, he is no longer that defender's responsibility. Sometimes, Miami adheres to that principle; sometimes it does not.
"They get more help," Ennis said. "Sometimes they might follow guys through, whereas a matchup I've seen before they would stay in one spot.
"I think it's harder. It's basically man-to-man, but they basically switch on everything," Fair said of the Miami zone. "They followed me until they bumped me off to somebody else. It's man-to-man but they play an area."
Larranaga is banking on the confusion to slow down opposing offenses and allow his low-scoring Hurricanes a chance. Nobody plays at a slower tempo this season than Miami, which Larranaga believes keeps the Hurricanes close to their competition.
Ennis and Fair said the Orange adapted better as the Miami game earlier this month wore on. They're hoping familiarity with the Hurricanes helps this time.
"We shot bad in that game, too," Ennis said, "so I'm hoping we shoot better and that will open up other possibilities."
Syracuse, N.Y. — Jim Larranaga gave his staff a project last summer. With Syracuse joining the ACC, Larranaga wanted to be prepared for one of the nation's most stultifying, most mystifying defenses.
Initially, the Miami coach wanted to investigate ways to attack the zone from an offensive perspective. But tangentially, he wondered if zone might mitigate what would be construed as a rebuilding year for his own Hurricanes, a team that had lost the bulk of its scoring to graduation or early NBA entry.
His instructions, triggered too by the idea that the Hurricanes had not played more than 20 minutes against zones all of last season, eventually evolved into a new defensive philosophy.
"We decided to implement both a 2-3 zone and a 1-2-2 zone," Larranaga said. "And when our man-to-man defense was not as good as it has been in the past, we decided to try the zone a little bit more. We had a little more success with it. Our guys developed a little more confidence in it. And we've been playing it better and better."
Syracuse will see that defense, primarily a matchup 1-2-2 configuration, for the second time Saturday at 1 p.m. in Miami. The last time the teams met on Jan. 4, the Orange scraped out a 49-44 victory in the Carrier Dome.
Syracuse shot 36 percent in that game. Trevor Cooney was 2-of-12 from 3-point range. SU's top two scorers — Cooney and C.J. Fair — shot a combined 8-of-28.
"The matchup has made a huge difference," SU coach Jim Boeheim said. "It's a difficult defense because they have great size at every position and they've got a really good shot-blocker. I think Miami is as good defensively, or better, than any team in our league."
Larranaga used a resource familiar with zone defenses to augment what he and his staff had already learned. The Miami coach met former SU assistant Bernie Fine at a luncheon, discussed his plan to implement more zone this season and invited Fine to share what he knew about the defense. The two met for about two hours in Miami, where they watched video and compared notes, Larranaga said.
"Quite honestly, the things we talked about are things my staff and I had already researched and knew," Larranaga said. "It's just nice to have a discussion with someone with so much familiarity (with zones)."
Fair and SU point guard Tyler Ennis said the Hurricanes' matchup relies heavily on help and sometimes disguises its methods of coverage.
In typical matchup zones, a defender guards an opponent in his area, but once that opponent vacates a space, he is no longer that defender's responsibility. Sometimes, Miami adheres to that principle; sometimes it does not.
"They get more help," Ennis said. "Sometimes they might follow guys through, whereas a matchup I've seen before they would stay in one spot.
"I think it's harder. It's basically man-to-man, but they basically switch on everything," Fair said of the Miami zone. "They followed me until they bumped me off to somebody else. It's man-to-man but they play an area."
Larranaga is banking on the confusion to slow down opposing offenses and allow his low-scoring Hurricanes a chance. Nobody plays at a slower tempo this season than Miami, which Larranaga believes keeps the Hurricanes close to their competition.
Ennis and Fair said the Orange adapted better as the Miami game earlier this month wore on. They're hoping familiarity with the Hurricanes helps this time.
"We shot bad in that game, too," Ennis said, "so I'm hoping we shoot better and that will open up other possibilities."
