How the Hoos Made Us Boo-Hoo

[SWC75]

Since joining the ACC we have played Virginia, which seemed like just another team before that, three times and have been beaten all three times. Now that we are to play them a fourth time with a trip to the Final Four on the line, I thought I’d take a look at the three previous contests from various angles to look for any patterns in why we lost to them and what we will have to do to beat them this time.

Scoring
3/1/14 Syracuse 56 Virginia 75
3/2/15 Syracuse 47 Virginia 59
1/24/16 Syracuse 65 Virginia 73
Total: Syracuse 168 Virginia 207
We’re getting closer! We also scored more this year than in the last two.

Quarterly Breaks
3/1/14 13-16, 15-11, 14-19, 14-29
3/2/15 8-2, 12-21, 15-22, 12-14
1/24/16 14-14, 15-23, 13-10, 23-26
Total: 35-32, 42-54, 42-51, 49-69
Virginia tends to take control of the game as it progresses but their big moves in the last two games were before halftime. The first game got away from us in the fourth ‘quarter’. We absolutely can’t afford to fall behind early against this team as we did vs. Gonzaga. Two years ago we had a wonderful defensive start but couldn’t score enough to take advantage of it.

Possessions
3/1/14 113
3/2/15 120
1/24/16 126
Total: 359
The pace has increased and we did better the faster the pace.

Two Point Field Goals
3/1/14 Syracuse 15/34 (.441) Virginia 19/38 (.500)
3/2/15 Syracuse 14/28 (.500) Virginia 18/35 (.514)
1/24/16 Syracuse 8/24 (.333) Virginia 17/26 (.654)
Total: Syracuse 37/86 (.430) Virginia 54/99 (.545)
This is obviously a problem area. Our output inside the arc has varied but theirs has been strong throughout, overwhelming this year.

Three Point Field Goals
3/1/14 Syracuse 5/22 (.227) Virginia 8/16 (.500)
3/2/15 Syracuse 4/19 (.211) Virginia 6/17 (.353)
1/24/16 Syracuse 13/30 (.433) Virginia 8/18 (.444)
Total: Syracuse 22/71 (.310) Virginia 22/51 (.431)
Overall, they’ve shot well from the three and we have shot poorly but that’s because we were putrid the first two years. We shot it well form the arc this year, which is why the game was closer than the first two. In our tournament ruin, we’ve attempted 57 treys in three games, so we aren’t as dependent on hitting three s as we were in January. But we may need to re-establish our perimeter game for this one.

Free Throws
3/1/14 Syracuse 11/14 (.786) Virginia 13/19 (.684)
3/2/15 Syracuse 7/13 (.538) Virginia 5/8 (.625)
1/24/16 Syracuse 10/15 (.667) Virginia 15/21 (.714)
Total: Syracuse 28/42 (.667) Virginia 33/48 (.688)
Not much to see here. The referees have stayed out of it for the most part and the shooting has been pretty average.

Rebounding (Offensive rebounds/ Off Rebs + the other team’s Def Rebs)
3/1/14 Syracuse 10 of 36 (.278) Virginia 13 of 32 (.406)
3/2/15 Syracuse 6 of 32 (.188) Virginia 16 of 30 (.533)
1/24/16 Syracuse 9 of 36 (.250) Virginia 4 of 23 (.174)
Total: Syracuse 25 of 104 (.240) Virginia 33 of 85 (.388)
When Virginia got only 4 offensive rebounds in this year’s game Jim Boeheim said that they don’t go for the offensive boards- they like to get back on defense. But what happened the previous two years? We’ve got to keep them off the offensive boards again and the Boss Squirrel has to defend his nuts.

Effective Offensive Rebounding (Second Chance Points/ Offensive Rebounds)
3/1/14 Syracuse10 from 10 = 1.00 Virginia 21 from 13 = 1.62
3/2/15 Syracuse 6 from 6 = 1.00 Virginia 15 from 16 = 0.94
1/24/16 Syracuse 5 from 9 = 0.56 Virginia 6 from 4 = 1.50
Total: Syracuse 21 from 25 = 0.84 Virginia 42 from 33 = 1.27
Another reason to keep them off the offensive boards: they’ve taken better advantage of offensive rebounds than we have.

Turnovers (Total – the other team’s steals = ‘unforced’ turnovers)
3/1/14 Syracuse 5 - 3 = 2 Virginia 6 - 4 = 2
3/2/15 Syracuse 13 - 9 = 4 Virginia 20 - 10 = 10
1/24/16 Syracuse 11 - 7 = 4 Virginia 13 – 7 = 6
Total: Syracuse 29 – 19 = 10 Virginia 39 – 21 = 18
We do force more turnovers than they do and they make more unforced turnovers than we do. The game with the fewest turnovers is the one they won by the biggest margin.

Points from Turnovers (Points off of turnovers / the other team’s turnovers)
3/1/14 Syracuse 7 from 6 = 1.17 Virginia 9 from 5 = 1.80
3/2/15 Syracuse 17 from 20 = 0.85 Virginia 10 from 13 = 0.77
1/24/16 Syracuse 16 from 13 = 1.23 Virginia 13 from 11 = 1.18
Total: Syracuse 40 from 39 = 1.03 Virginia 32 from 29 = 1.10
Not a lot to see here. Obviously we need not only to force turnovers but to take full advantage of them. It would help if we could beat their defense down court before they can set it up.

Manufactured Possessions (One team’s rebounds + the other team’s turnovers)
3/1/14 Syracuse 29 + 6 = 35 Virginia 39 + 5 = 44
3/2/15 Syracuse 20 + 20 = 40 Virginia 42 + 13 = 55
1/24/16 Syracuse 28 + 13 = 41 Virginia 31 + 11 = 42
Total: Syracuse 77 + 39 = 116 Virginia 112 + 29 = 141
Our edge in turnovers has not made up for the rebounding problems although we hung with them in this year’s game, which is why it was closer.

Points Breakdown (PIP= points in the paint, POP = points outside the paint, which is total points – PIP –free throws made, TREY: points from three point shots, TZ= Twilight Zone, which is POP – TREY, two point jumpers from outside the paint, FBP = fast break points)
3/1/14 Syracuse 24 PIP 21 POP 15 TREY 6 TZ 0 FBP Virginia 34 PIP 28 POP 24 TREY 6 TZ 4 FBP
3/2/15 Syracuse 26 PIP 14 POP 12 TREY 2 TZ 6 FBP Virginia 32 PIP 22 POP 18 TREY 6 TZ 6 FBP
1/24/16 Syracuse 12 PIP 43 POP 39 TREY 4 TZ 2 FBP Virginia 30 PIP 28 POP 24 TREY 4 TZ 0 FBP
Total: Syracuse 62 PIP 78 POP 66 TREY 12 TZ 8 FBP Virginia 96 PIP 78 POP 66 TREY 16 TZ 10 FBP
We get killed in the paint 62-96. The perimeter games are exactly the same. There’s not much fast-breaking.

First Chance/Second Chance Points (First chance is total points – second chance points, fast break points and free throws made)
3/1/14 Syracuse 35 FCP 10 SCP Virginia 37 FCP 21 SCP
3/2/15 Syracuse 28 FCP 6 SCP Virginia 33 FCP 15 SCP
1/24/16 Syracuse 48 FCP 5 SCP Virginia 52 FCP 6 SCP
Total: Syracuse111 FCP 21 SCP Virginia 122 FCP 42 SCP
They’ve beaten us by 11 in the initial sets but crushed us by 21 in second chance points.

Starters/Bench (Points scored by the starting line- up and by the bench.)
3/1/14 Syracuse 46/10 Virginia 55/20
3/2/15 Syracuse 45/2 Virginia 49/10
1/24/16 Syracuse 63/2 Virginia 62/11
Total: Syracuse 154/14 Virginia 166/41
Their starting line-up has out-performed ours by 12 points but their bench has swamped ours by 27 points. Hopefully Lydon and Howard will have big games.

Assists (as a percentage of field goals made)
3/1/14 Syracuse 8 of 20 = 40.0% Virginia 6 of 27 = 22.2%
3/2/15 Syracuse 12 of 18 = 66.7% Virginia 13 of 24 = 54.1%
1/24/16 Syracuse 8 of 21 = 38.1% Virginia 18 of 25 = 72.0%
Total: Syracuse 28 of 69 = 40.6% Virginia 37 of 76 = 48.7%
As usual, the winning team has a lower assist percentage, although this year’s game was a huge exception.

Fouls (Two point shots, points in paint and free throws attempted per times fouled.)
3/1/14 Syracuse 2.62, 1.85, 1.17 Virginia 2.11, 1.89, 1.06
3/2/15 Syracuse 2.33, 2.17, 1.08 Virginia 2.69, 2.46, 0.62
1/24/16 Syracuse 2.00, 1.00, 1.25 Virginia 1.44, 1.67, 1.17
Total: Syracuse 2.32, 1.68, 1.14 Virginia 2.02, 1.96, 0.98
The lower the first two figures, the more likely the opposition is more likely to be called for a foul when you attempt a two point shot or score in the paint. There’s no pattern there: They drew fouls more often on their two point shots. We drew fouls more often when we scored in the paint. We had an advantage in the Dome. They had an advantage in their place: this game will be played on a neutral court. The third number is the likelihood of going to the line when fouled. We won that battle in all three games. Overall, we didn’t get hosed by the refs.


Summary: We need to try to increase the pace of the game, force turnovers and beat them down court before they can set up their defense. We need to shoot much better, both inside the arc and outside. We need to rebound better, particularly off the offensive boards. We need to defend better in the paint, (as we have in this tournament). That’s very easy to say but very hard to do against a team that stresses defense, makes sure to get back to prevent you from beating them down court and has an excellent point guard. It would help if we use some sort of defensive pressure throughout the game. If not the “trunk monkey” press, at least a very aggressive zone with many traps. I just don’t think we can hang back and pack it inside and defeat this team.

 

[SWC75]

Individual players who will be in this game:

SYRACUSE

DaJuan Coleman
1/24/16 22M 0/2 2FG 0/0 TREY 2/4 FT 2 PTS 0 O-REBS 6 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 1 TO 4 PF
Coleman was injured for the first two game and was not a factor in the third. He’s got to stay out of foul trouble to help us in the fourth.

Tyler Roberson
3/1/14 3M 2/3 2FG 0/0 TREY 1/2 FT 5 PTS 1 O-REBS 0 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 0 TO 1 PF
3/2/15 40M 5/8 2FG 0/0 TREY 0/0 FT 10 PTS 1 O-REBS 5 D-REBS 3 AST 1 BLK 2 STL 3 TO 4 PF
1/24/16 32M 3/8 2FG 0/1 TREY 0/1 FT 6 PTS 4 O-REBS 3 D-REBS 1 AST 0 BLK 2 STL 2 TO 4 PF
Total 75M 10/19 2FG 0/1 TREY 1/3 FT 21 PTS 6 O-REBS 8 D-REBS 4 AST 1 BLK 4 STL 5 TO 9 PF
Roberson has bene and will be a major player, although he needs to hit the offensive boards better and shoot better than he did in the game earlier this year.

Malachi Richardson
1/24/16 40M 2/5 2FG 6/10 TREY 0/0 FT 23 PTS 0 O-REBS 2 D-REBS 1 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 2 TO 2 PF
Richardson shot the lights out in the first game, a major reason why it was reasonably close. It was in the stretch where he seemed like an All-American. He’s seemed much less than that in recent games and we need him to play more like he did on January 24th.

Trevor Cooney
3/1/14 34M 1/2 2FG 3/10 TREY 1/1 FT 12 PTS 0 O-REBS 1 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 2 STL 0 TO 1 PF
3/2/15 40M 3/4 2FG 2/8 TREY 2/5 FT 14 PTS 0 O-REBS 1 D-REBS 2 AST 0 BLK 2 STL 0 TO 1 PF
1/24/16 37M 1/5 2FG 2/8 TREY 0/1 FT 8 PTS 1 O-REBS 0 D-REBS 2 AST 0 BLK 1 STL 2 TO 2 PF
Total 111M 5/11 2FG 7/26 TREY 3/7 FT 34 PTS 1 O-REBS 2 D-REBS 4 AST 0 BLK 5 STL 2 TO 4 PF
70% of Trevor’s shots in the prior games came from outside the arc and he made 27% of them So far in the tournament 48% of his shots have bene from the arc and he’s made 50% of them. Trevor also needs to get to the line the way he has in this tournament, (3/4 vs. Dayton and 4/4 vs. Gonzaga).

Michael Gbinije
3/1/14 30M 1/2 2FG 1/3 TREY 0/0 FT 5 PTS 0 O-REBS 1 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 0 TO 3 PF
3/2/15 40M 1/5 2FG 1/6 TREY 3/4 FT 8 PTS 3 O-REBS 3 D-REBS 3 AST 0 BLK 3 STL 5 TO 3 PF
1/24/16 38M 2/4 2FG 5/9 TREY 5/5 FT 24 PTS 1 O-REBS 0 D-REBS 3 AST 0 BLK 4 STL 4 TO 2 PF
Total 108M 4/11 2FG 7/18 TREY 8/9 FT 37 PTS 4 O-REBS 4 D-REBS 6 AST 0 BLK 7 STL 9 TO 8 PF
Mike also had a big day shooting the ball in the game earlier this year and he’ll need another one. He’s also been trey-happy against the Cav (62%) and will need a more balanced game in this one. He also needs the good floor game he displayed in January.

Tyler Lydon
1/24/16 26M 0/0 2FG 0/1 TREY 2/3 FT 4 PTS 0 O-REBS 4 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 0 TO 3 PF
Tyler’s going to have to get a lot more than one shot off.

Franklin Howard
1/24/16 5M 0/0 2FG 0/1 TREY 0/0 FT 0 PTS 1 O-REBS 0 D-REBS 1 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 0 TO 1 PF
Howard was an afterthought in the first game. He won’t be in this one.

Chinoso Obokoh
3/2/15 1M 0/0 2FG 0/0 TREY 0/0 FT 0 PTS 0 O-REBS 0 D-REBS 1 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 0 TO 0 PF
Alas, Chino will be an afterthought in this game.

Kaleb Joseph
3/2/15 3M 0/0 2FG 0/0 TREY 0/0 FT 0 PTS 0 O-REBS 0 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 1 TO 0 PF
Kaleb might not even be an afterthought.

VIRGINIA

Anthony Gill
3/1/14 16M 2/5 2FG 0/0 TREY 0/1 FT 4 PTS 1 O-REBS 1 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 1 STL 1TO 2 PF
3/2/15 34M 8/11 2FG 0/0 TREY 1/1 FT 17 PTS 7 O-REBS 2 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 1 STL 5 TO 3 PF
1/24/16 33M 7/11 2FG 0/0 TREY 2/2 FT 16 PTS 1 O-REBS 7 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 3 TO 2 PF
Total 83M 17/27 2FG 0/0 TREY 3/4 FT 37 PTS 9 O-REBS 10 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 2 STL 9 TO 7 PF
Gill has absolutely killed on the boards and in the paint. Last year it was the offensive boards. This year it was the defensive boards. He does have one weakness: he turns the ball over. Maybe JB should tell Roberson, with his quickness, to go for the ball even before Gill shoots it.

Isaiah Wilkins
3/2/15 4M 0/0 2FG 0/0 TREY 0/0 FT 0 PTS 0 O-REBS 0 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 0 TO 0 PF
1/24/16 19M 2/2 2FG 0/0 TREY 1/3 FT 5 PTS 1 O-REBS 4 D-REBS 3 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 1 TO 2 PF
Total 23M 2/2 2FG 0/0 TREY 1.3 FT 5 PTS 1 O-REBS 4 D-REBS 3 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 1 TO 2 PF
Wilkins isn’t a big contributor in terms of numbers but he averaged 21.4M per game, so he must be a good defensive player.

Malcolm Brogdon
3/1/14 33M 4/9 2FG 1/3 TREY 8/8 FT 19 PTS 0 O-REBS 5 D-REBS 5 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 1 TO 2 PF
3/2/15 38M 2/5 2FG 2/6 TREY 0/0 FT 10 PTS 0 O-REBS 1 D-REBS 1 AST 0 BLK 1 STL 7 TO 3 PF
1/24/16 38M 3/6 2FG 3/7 TREY 6/7 FT 21 PTS 1 O-REBS 4 D-REBS 3 AST 0 BLK 1 STL 2 TO 1 PF
Total 109M 9/20 2FG 6/16 TREY 14/15 FT 50 PTS 1 O-REBS 10 D-REBS 9 AST 0 BLK 2 STL 10 TO 6 PF
Brogdon is their Michael Gbinije: their best all-around player. Because they contended for the ACC tile, Borgdon was the conference player of the year. I don’t know that he’s necessarily better than Mike but he’ll certainly be a major force in the game. Like Gill, he’s had turnover troubles against us.

Devon Hall
3/2/15 6M 0/2 2FG 0/1 TREY 0/2 FT 0 PTS 0 O-REBS 1 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 2 TO 0 PF
1/24/16 33M 1/1 2FG 1/2 TREY 2/2 FT 3 PTS 0 O-REBS 3 D-REBS 2 AST 0 BLK 2 STL 1 TO 1 PF
Total 39M 1/3 2FG 1/3 TREY 2/4 FT 3 PTS 0 O-REBS 4 D-REBS 2 AST 0 BLK 2 STL 3 TO 1 PF
Hall, like Wilkins, hasn’t done much against us that shows up in the box score. He’s averaging 21.6 per game with about the same numbers as Wilkins so again, he must be very good on defense, which is Tony Bennett’s priority.

London Perrantes
3/1/14 31M 0/1 2FG 2/2 TREY 0/0 FT 6 PTS 0 O-REBS 4 D-REBS 7 AST 1 BLK 0 STL 2 TO 2 PF
3/2/15 37M 1/3 2FG 2/6 TREY 2/3 FT 10 PTS 0 O-REBS 5 D-REBS 10 AST 0 BLK 3 STL 1 TO 0 PF
1/24/16 37M 1/1 2FG 4/8 TREY 2/2 FT 16 PTS 0 O-REBS 1 D-REBS 7 AST 0 BLK 4 STL 4 TO 2 PF
Total 105M 2/5 2FG 8/16 TREY 4/5 FT 32 PTS 0 O-REBS 10 D-REBS 24 AST 1 BLK 7 STL 7 TO 4 PF
We tend to focus on Brogdon and Gill but Perrantes has hurt us from outside and is an excellent floor general of the type we don’t really have. Maybe Frank Howard can be this type of player someday.

Mike Tobey
3/1/14 23M 5/9 2FG 0/0 TREY 1/3 FT 11 PTS 5 O-REBS 3 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 1 STL 0 TO 2 PF
3/2/15 16M 4/7 2FG 0/0 TREY 2/2 FT 10 PTS 4 O-REBS 4 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 1 TO 1 PF
1/24/16 14M 2/3 2FG 0/0 TREY 2/4 FT 6 PTS 1 O-REBS 2 D-REBS 1 AST 1 BLK 0 STL 1 TO 2 PF
Total 53M 11/19 2FG 0/0 TREY 5/9 FT 27 PTS 10 O-REBS 9 D-REBS 1 AST 1 BLK 1 STL 2 TO 5 PF
Tobey is their 7 footer than they bring off the bench. He averages on 15.6 minutes. But he kills us with 27 points and 19 rebounds in 53 minutes. Per 40 that’s 20 points and 14 rebound, the sort of thing you’d expect from Sabonis.

Evan Nolte
3/2/15 31M 0/1 2FG 2/3 TREY 0/0 FT 6 PTS 0 O-REBS 3 D-REBS 2 AST 0 BLK 2 STL 0 TO 2 PF
1/24/16 10M 0/0 2FG 0/0 TREY 0/0 FT 0 PTS 0 O-REBS 0 D-REBS 1 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 0 TO 0 PF
Total 41M 0/1 2FG 2/3 TREY 0/0 FT 6 PTS 0 O-REBS 3 D-REBS 3 AST 0 BLK 2 STL 0 TO 2 PF
Nolte hurt us with a couple of treys last year but he’s faded sicne. This year he’s averaged 8.7 minutes but only 1.9ppg.

Darius Thompson
1/24/16 7M 0/1 2FG 0/1 TREY 0/0 FT 0 PTS 0 O-REBS 0 D-REBS 1 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 0 TO 2 PF
Thompson averages 17.6 minutes and 4.4 points per game but has done nothing against us.

Marial Shayok
3/2/15 6M 0/0 2FG 0/1 TREY 0/0 FT 0 PTS 0 O-REBS 1 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 0 TO 0 PF
1/24/16 5M 0/0 2FG 0/0 TREY 0/0 FT 0 PTS 0 O-REBS 0 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 0 TO 0 PF
Total 11M 0/0 2FG 0/1 TREY 0/0 FT 0 PTS 0 O-REBS 1 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 0 TO 0 PF
Shayok is averaging 15.3 minutes per game and 4.4 points but hasn’t hurt us.

Jack Salt
1/24/16 4M 1/1 2FG 0/0 TREY 0/1 FT 2 PTS 0 O-REBS 2 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 1 TO 0 PF
Salt averages 6.6 minutes per game but his production doesn’t even come up to that: 1.7 points and 1.1 rebounds per game. He shoots 33.3% from the line.

Jeff Jones
3/1/14 1M 0/0 2FG 0/0 TREY 0/0 FT 0 PTS 0 O-REBS 0 D-REBS 0 AST 0 BLK 0 STL 0 TO 0 PF
The definition of a deep bench reserve. The most he’s played is 4 minutes in the opener against Morgan State.


Summary: Gbinije and Cooney have to have a more balanced offensive approach and not just settle for threes. Richardson absolutely has to find the range after a couple of bad games. Lydon has be willing to take more of a role on offense. Roberson needs to be the Boss Squirrel and Coleman needs to stay out of foul trouble. We need to get in Gill’s and Brodgen’s faces and see if we can force some turnovers. But watch out for Perrantes and Tobey off the bench. The other guys can’t hurt us.

 

[CaptainJ]

Summary: Gbinije and Cooney have to have a more balanced offensive approach and not just settle for threes. Richardson absolutely has to find the range after a couple of bad games. Lydon has be willing to take more of a role on offense. Roberson needs to be the Boss Squirrel and Coleman needs to stay out of foul trouble. We need to get in Gill’s and Brodgen’s faces and see if we can force some turnovers. But watch out for Perrantes and Tobey off the bench. The other guys can’t hurt us.

Nice write ups! At least nobody busts your b*lls like they do to me. With this second summary, it looks like much of what we've been blessed to have lately, minus Malware (props for that!).

Is it just me or did anyone else wonder why Lydon didn't do more of what he did taking Sabonis out high and drawing a foul on him? I was in a bar for the 2nd half and drunk, so maybe I couldnt follow as well as otherwise, but I commented then that I wish Boeheim would have employed more of that. Was I just drunk, or was that idea not utilized to it's potential? Before the game I had mentioned that might be a good strategy and illustrate to the world one of the potential deficits of man to man compared to the zone.

In your first summary, you mentioned getting down the court quickly. Again, when inebriated, i was yelling for them to push the ball down before the Zags could get set up, but this team doesn't seem as inclined to do so naturally like other SU teams have, even though it was advertised before the season that we'd see more of that, along with the 3 point shooting. Again, I realize my memory can be selective, but I am drawing on my most recent frustrations. I hope the team will at least try for this type of exploit. I'm not sure if the short bench makes the players less inclined or not.

 

[SWC75]

OMG, I'm going to have to this all over again for North Carolina!