Interesting note about halfcourt O from Jay Bilas

[BlackSquirrels]

This is an excerpt about SU from the most recent "Bilas Index" piece written by Jay Bilas:

Perhaps the notion that Syracuse is not a great half-court team is overblown, as the Cuse averages 0.93 points per possession in half-court situations, second in the Big East. But clearly the Orange are far more dangerous in transition.

I find this interesting because I think most of us would agree that one of SU's biggest weaknesses is halfcourt offense, but this stat says the Orange might not be as weak as we think.

Bilas does not clarify whether this number is from Big East games only or all games. The way it's written makes me believe it applies to conference games, in which case the ranking isn't as impressive as it looks because most of SU's Big East opponents have been weak defensive teams.

 

[moqui]

I saw that, and I question Jay's data . . . as you note, the defenses that SU has faced through 20 games (both in and out of conference) have not been stellar.

Nobody asked me, and nobody is going to listen to me, but I have a few ideas about the half court sets.


by "fever" I mean sclerotic half court offense, and by "cowbell" I mean Dirty.

I repeat my belief that JB is drastically mis-using a potent offensive weapon by having him lurk on the perimeter and only run pick-and-pops for him.

I'm not saying to build the offense around him, but if you are going to have him on the court, why not maximize his skills? Every opponent knows he is primarily a 3 point shooter and overplays him on the high screens . . . so why not run a couple of high screen and rolls for him? I bet he'd be wide open and he can't be a worse finisher than Melo or (shudder) Keita.

Also, initiate a couple of possessions with James at the high post, where he can drive, dish or shoot his money 15 footer.

I'm just talking about 5 or 6 possessions a game, and it would open things up for everyone if successful.

 

[reedny]

I saw that, and I question Jay's data . . . as you note, the defenses that SU has faced through 20 games (both in and out of conference) have not been stellar.

Nobody asked me, and nobody is going to listen to me, but I have a few ideas about the half court sets.


by "fever" I mean sclerotic half court offense, and by "cowbell" I mean Dirty.

I repeat my belief that JB is drastically a potent offensive weapon by having him lurk on the perimeter and only run pick-and-pops for him.

I'm not saying to build the offense around him, but if you are going to have him on the court, why not maximize his skills? Every opponent knows he is primarily a 3 point shooter and overplays him on the high screens . . . so why not run a couple of high screen and rolls for him? I bet he'd be wide open and he can't be a worse finisher than Melo or (shudder) Keita.

Also, initiate a couple of possessions with James at the high post, where he can drive, dish or shoot his money 15 footer.

I'm just talking about 5 or 6 possessions a game, and it would open things up for everyone if successful.

I agree with this observation, assuming you mean JB is under-utilizing JS? We run a single pick and pop for him up top, and not much else. He could definately roll to the basket and I like his chances going to the rim or stopping for a mid-range. As you point out, if we can roll Fab to the rim, we can roll JS to the rim.