Spring Break
The Daily OrangeMBB | Size inside helps SU outplays smaller Dolphin man defense
By Michael Bonner
Posted: 11/17/08, 3:12 AM EST Section: Sports
SU finished the half scoring 26 of its 34 points in the paint. After Devendorf's 3-pointer to begin the game, the Orange reeled off 22 consecutive points in the paint.
"It was kind of surprising, an undersized team, I definitely thought they would be in a zone," said SU point guard Jonny Flynn, who finished with a game-high 17 points.
"But you know when a team is used to playing man-to-man all the time, they're not going to switch up their principles for everybody."
The domination inside forced the Dolphins to switch to zone, but the Orange still found ways to score.
The size of the Orange allowed it to excel with its man-to-man defense. Yes, man-to-man defense. Surprising, considering Boeheim's propensity to use the zone.
Onuaku and Rick Jackson swatted three shots apiece. In the backcourt, Flynn and Rautins both picked the offense's pocket four times. Many times the deflections, whether shots or passes, led to quick easy points.
"Getting up into defenders, creating havoc, you know, getting in the passing lanes, denying the ball, everything with us starts with defense," Flynn said, "A lot of our first points were off of transition things, steals, deflections, quick rebounding and outlets and things like that. If we could play like that, that's fun basketball right there."
What isn't fun is when the home team has a 30-point cushion. But still, the Orange can take lessons from the game. Although undersized, Le Moyne's defense gave SU a good tune-up for future defenses.
"You look at a team like Villanova, they play man-to-man versus everybody no matter how small their lineup is out there," Flynn said. "It's good to play against undersized teams like that, because it will get us ready for teams like Villanova, Marquette and teams in our league that are really good."
mibonner@syr.edu
"It was kind of surprising, an undersized team, I definitely thought they would be in a zone," said SU point guard Jonny Flynn, who finished with a game-high 17 points.
"But you know when a team is used to playing man-to-man all the time, they're not going to switch up their principles for everybody."
The domination inside forced the Dolphins to switch to zone, but the Orange still found ways to score.
The size of the Orange allowed it to excel with its man-to-man defense. Yes, man-to-man defense. Surprising, considering Boeheim's propensity to use the zone.
Onuaku and Rick Jackson swatted three shots apiece. In the backcourt, Flynn and Rautins both picked the offense's pocket four times. Many times the deflections, whether shots or passes, led to quick easy points.
"Getting up into defenders, creating havoc, you know, getting in the passing lanes, denying the ball, everything with us starts with defense," Flynn said, "A lot of our first points were off of transition things, steals, deflections, quick rebounding and outlets and things like that. If we could play like that, that's fun basketball right there."
What isn't fun is when the home team has a 30-point cushion. But still, the Orange can take lessons from the game. Although undersized, Le Moyne's defense gave SU a good tune-up for future defenses.
"You look at a team like Villanova, they play man-to-man versus everybody no matter how small their lineup is out there," Flynn said. "It's good to play against undersized teams like that, because it will get us ready for teams like Villanova, Marquette and teams in our league that are really good."
mibonner@syr.edu
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