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Buddy Boeheim pump-faked on his Virginia defender in transition, lifting Trey Murphy III off his feet, and took two steps toward the block. With 10 minutes left in the first half, UVA’s defender that had manned Robert Braswell on the fast-break crept toward Buddy, and Syracuse’s guard slipped a pass to Braswell underneath — allowing him to elevate for a dunk that put the Orange up 24-14.

It marked the seventh assist through Syracuse’s first eight baskets, and the Orange (16-9, 9-7) finished with 10 in the opening half en route to 16 total in their 72-69 loss to UVA in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinals. That followed up the 19 they tallied on Wednesday against NC State — their most since Jan. 19 against Miami — and reflected the latest example of effective ball-screens opening up opportunities on offense.

Virginia and NC State both played the Orange’s ball-screens differently, with the Cavaliers hedging and recovering while the Wolfpack primarily switched, but Syracuse used various offensive looks to beat the pair of defenses.

Here’s what those looked like on film:

Back-screen sets up a Girard 3

On the initial screen set by Marek Dolezaj for Buddy, NC State didn’t switch, and Dereon Seabron defended Buddy as he drove to the basket. But on the other side of the 3-point arc, Quincy Guerrier set an off-ball screen for Joe Girard III to free him up beyond the arc.

DJ Funderburk, Guerrier’s defender, helped when Buddy drove into the paint and no one followed Guerrier to the perimeter and helped after he screened another NC State defender — the one shadowing Girard. That allowed Buddy to dish a pass out to Syracuse’s sophomore point guard, and he connected to extend the lead to 15 early in the second half.

“Naked ball screens” like those, conducted to expose NC State’s lack of help defense, were something Syracuse returned to other times throughout the game, Funderburk said. And there was nothing the Wolfpack could do, primarily because no help existed on that “naked” side.

“They might have a decent shooter in that ball screen, but somebody else is creeping out and getting away from the guy that would help off of their man on the naked ball screen,” Funderburk said. “And they just left him open.”

Capitalizing off NC State switching

After Guerrier and Alan Griffin bunched together in the corner, Guerrier ended up setting a screen for Griffin to cut around and corral a pass from up top. Funderburk and Cam Hayes switched on the screen, and that gave Guerrier a split-second head start when cutting baseline toward the basket.

NC State guard Braxton Beverly postgame said that NC State normally switches one through four on screens, meaning everyone but the center. Entering the game on Wednesday, they planned to try switching just one through three. But after Syracuse started to find openings that the Wolfpack “weren’t too happy about,” the Wolfpack went back to switching one through four going forward, Beverly said.

“They were just the smart team today, and we weren’t together on the defensive side all 40 minutes,” Funderburk said.

Buddy’s offense opens up simple pick-and-roll

Now in the UVA game, Syracuse used a simple pick-and-roll on its third offensive possession to free up Dolezaj after he slipped behind the Virginia defense to reach the block. It all starts with Buddy and the increased attention he attracts on defense after averaging 22.5 points per game across his last six entering Thursday.

Jay Huff hedges and sticks on Buddy with Reece Beekman after he comes around Dolezaj, perhaps anticipating a pullup jumper from the elbow. Instead, Buddy draws both defenders tight and creates a large passing window to feed an open Dolezaj on the block.

Curls heat up shooters and other options

This sequence early in the first half is significant because it not only allows Syracuse’s shooters to get going, but also opens up more opportunities for the Orange’s offense (more on that below). Essentially, it’s just a simple curl for Buddy — set by Dolezaj, bumping the UVA defender just enough to allow for a jump shot.

Syracuse used similar curls, like this one here set by Dolezaj, against NC State on Wednesday, too.
“They utilized the ball screens a little — seemed like a little more, a little better than they did in the first two meetings that we had against them,” NC State’s Beverly said.

Tic-tac-toe to beat hedge and recovery

Because Virginia often hedged on screens and then recovered, Syracuse utilized a tic-tac-toe approach to hit two quick passes before the finish — ensuring that they’d beat the hedging defender plus the one helping underneath.

Girard calls Dolezaj up to set a screen on Tomas Woldetensae, who was guarding Braswell, which frees up the backup forward to cut toward the basket and receive the pass. Braswell then hit Dolezaj on the roll, and Syracuse’s center then hit Guerrier with a lob pass over Sam Hauser — who crept up one step away from Guerrier to help — that he tapped into the basket.

Those “other options” on the curl

This lob from Girard to Braswell is an example of what Syracuse’s ball screens, especially the curls for shooters like Buddy, opened up for the rest of the offense. When Guerrier screens Woldetensae around the 3-point arc, Hauser immediately starts to cheat the switch — anticipating the spot where Braswell will curl around and he’ll meet the new Syracuse player he’s charged with defending on the possession.

Instead, Braswell pivots after one step and cuts toward the basket. Girard’s pass hits him in stride, and Braswell puts Syracuse up eight midway through the first half.

Drawing the UVA hedge, using his spot

Here, Syracuse uses two quick passes to create a window for Guerrier underneath the basket. Dolezaj rolls off the screen from Buddy, who draws a hedge from Huff and forces him away from Dolezaj as he drops inside the 3-point arc.

That forces Woldetensae to sprint out toward Dolezaj as Huff recovers, opening up the right block for Guerrier to score from.

Screenshots via ESPN

Published on March 12, 2021 at 8:10 am

Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew