If he starts too early, maybe he runs out of gas or the other team has too much time to adjust and comes back themselves. I'm fine with the way he handles it now. When he's driving the train, we win. Let him decide when to turn it on. I like our chances!
Much of this has to do with the plays Coach B calls and when. Over the last several games, Boeheim has dialed up screen-and-roll plays toward the end of halves--roughly the last possession or two in the first half, and the last 5-6 minutes of the second half. This puts the ball in Tyler's hands in big spots, allowing him to make reads and decide how to facilitate from there. Tyler tends to be more aggressive in these situations than he is when we are running sets where he is not the first option.
We run more of our other offensive sets throughout the game (baseline screens, double fist, pin downs, high-low, etc.) as a way of keeping the defense "guessing," forcing defenders to chase players like Cooney around, and allowing our various offensive weapons to contribute. Oftentimes, Tyler only shoots in these sets if left wide open with his feet set on the perimeter, and he seems hesitant at times to drive the ball in favor of deferring to teammates. Don't forget that the sets that feature our other players tend to help us build leads or stay in position to win games late--it's not like they are ineffective.
However, when the team really needs a bucket, our Hall-of-Fame coach pulls out the screen-and-roll, which the team can run from different angles against different defenses. This makes Tyler a weapon--he is the first option to score on the play. Moreover, no matter how the the defense tries to stop this option, he can find the open man to make them pay. Incredibly, he has been excellent in these situations, executing like a seasoned pro.
So, why wait to call these screen-and-rolls? I can logically speculate that a reason Boeheim sparingly uses screen-and-roll sets is to discourage the defense from becoming comfortable defending what we want to run in crunch time.
