SALT LAKE CITY — Syracuse (20-13, 10-8 Atlantic Coast) held press conferences, an open locker room and practice on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s NCAA Tournament meeting with Baylor (19-13, 10-8 Big 12). Aside from the news that Frank Howard will miss Thursday’s game, SU head coach Jim Boeheim, along with players Tyus Battle and Elijah Hughes spoke about Baylor, the NBA and the zone, among other things.

Here are a few things that were said Wednesday.

NBA wants offense

Boeheim was asked about whether the 2-3 zone factors into how he recruits. He spoke about the fact that Syracuse wants good offensive players, the best players, and then they fit them into the zone. He brought up small guards like Eric Devendorf and Gerry McNamara versus the big backcourt SU has this year, and both arrangements that worked.

But when Boeheim was asked about whether he’s ever had to sell a recruit on playing the 2-3 zone at Syracuse, he had a very specific answer.

“What I do when I start out, I say the NBA drafts for one reason: Offense,” Boeheim said. “The NBA has never drafted a player for defense. At any position, even at center. Like when they drafted Tim Duncan or David Robinson, or (Hakeem) Olajuwon or Shaq, they didn’t get one of those guys because of their defense. They didn’t draft Steph Curry, James Harden, LeBron James, go down the list. They didn’t draft one guy because of defense; they draft because of offense.

“We had more first-round picks in the old Big East than any school because they draft guys based on their offense. That’s what we tell recruits and that’s the truth.”

Zone vs. Zone

Syracuse is obviously known for running its 2-3 zone. But Baylor also runs the same defense. The Bears traditionally ran a 1-3-1, but in recent weeks the focus has been on the 2-3, along with an interspersing of man-to-man.

“We practice against the zone every single day so we will be prepared to attack that and get good open looks in the zone,” Battle said.

Boeheim emphasized that in the postseason, teams have to be ready to play against both man-to-man and zone defenses. He recalled the last meeting Syracuse had with Baylor, in Hawaii in 2013, and said the Bears played mostly man-to-man then. He also made sure to point out multiple times that Baylor has a good defense, no matter what its playing.

Battle and Hughes were also asked if they’ve ever had an opposing player come up to them after the game and speak about how impressed they were with the Orange’s zone. They both thought Syracuse’s zone overcomes some of the misconceptions of that defense.

“They have never realized how effective a zone really was until they have played in the game or against us,” Hughes said. “It is not sweet. People think it’s sweet. It is really not sweet.”

Bears on the glass

Baylor has the second-highest offensive rebounding percentage in the country, per KenPom.com, despite ranking No. 143 in height. Syracuse gives up offensive rebounds at a bottom-20 rate, despite being the nation’s tallest team.

That could be one of the key numbers to watch in Thursday’s game, Boeheim said. If Baylor wins the battle of the boards, Syracuse may have a tough time advancing. But the Bears really haven’t played a full zone team this year, so it’s hard to predict what the Bears’ rebounding approach will be against Syracuse.

Baylor has only been outrebounded by its opponents four times in 32 games this season.

“Obviously, we need to do as good a job as we can on the boards,” Boeheim said. “But they’re aggressive, they’re strong, they’re physical, they go after the ball. That is what good rebounding teams do. We have to do the very best job we can on the boards in those situations.”

Published on March 20, 2019 at 6:46 pm

Contact Billy: wmheyen@syr.edu | @Wheyen3