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Message: [QUOTE="statsgrad, post: 568114, member: 3183"] Long time lurker and I hadn't seen this talked about so I figured I'd chime in ... everyone can tell you the key to a good zone offense is getting the ball to the free throw line, but the real key seems to be what you do with it from there. CJ and JS don't seem to be looking for teammates once they get the ball in this position (they are averaging 0.9 and <0.5 assists per game in Big East play respectively). This has caused opposing teams to essentially morph their 2-3 into a 2-1-2 such that when we do get the ball into the free throw area to these guys, they are taking contested shots. It actually speaks to how good CJ is that he is still hitting a lot of these. One would think that if we got the ball in there to CJ and then he was able to kick it back out to an open Triche or Southerland on the perimiter shooting percentages would naturally go up, but CJ's forte seems to be as a jump shooter/garbage man, rather than an Otto Porter type playmaker. It may be a crazy suggestion, but it seems as though our zone offense would be a lot more effective with Triche or MCW in the free throw area because they have enough size to handle that spot, can hit the foul line jumper, and can pass the ball from there. The reason the Syracuse zone has been so effective over the years is that there are very few players in college basketball who have the 3 traits required to be successful againt a zone (1. enough size to see/shoot over the defense 2. consistent mid range jumpshot 3. passing ability from the free throw area) It just doesn't seem to me that CJ or JS are ever going to be that Otto Porter type of playmaker for us and that our shooting percentages will continue to be low until we put someone in the middle who can pass a little more effectively. [/QUOTE]

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