Fast Breaks

[SWC75]

One poster, while praising Michael Carter Williams and Brandon Triche mentioned that they were not very good at fast breaking. The CBS post-game show apparently had a long discussion about how the zone holding us back from fast breaking, which is ridiculous. We forced more than 15 turnovers a game. The real explanation is that Michael and Brandon were an important part of our rebounding and couldn't release to run the break, at least not against the good teams. The lack of rebounding from the center position necessitated our guards going to the boards. Besides, teams, especially conference teams, know they have to get back on defense against us.

Here are the fast break points for Syracuse and the opposition from the beginning of the Big East season, (from the SU athletics website):

Rutgers 16-6
South Florida 8-4
Providence 6-10
Villanova 6-8
Louisville 2-6
Cincinnati 10-2
Villanova 2-6
Pittsburgh 5-10
Notre Dame 10-6
St. John's 8-10
Connecticut 4-4
Seton Hall 6-2
Providence 20-14
Georgetown 10-6
Marquette 16-8
Louisville 8-6
DePaul 12-10
Georgetown 6-6
Seton Hall 4-4
Pittsburgh 2-8
Georgetown 4-2
Louisville 2-6
Montana 6-2
California 0-0
Indiana 4-6
Marquette 8-0
Michigan 2-4
Total: 187-156
Average: 6.9-5.8. We averaged 1 more fast break points per game.

Hopefully next year we can get more rebounding from the center and forward positions and release the guards to get showtime going again for college basketball's version of the Lakers.

 

[jec1521]

Yes. I was saying this all season. The lack of transition points hurt us. As you stated, MCW and Brandon are more than adequate in the fast break, but JB obviously made them stay at home for rebounds.