Every dollar donated during December will go directly toward paying students to produce stories like this one. Give now and ensure a brighter future for The Daily Orange.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A few days before Syracuse’s game against Indiana, Buddy Boeheim saw his dad writing something on a scrap of paper in their house. For over four decades, Jim Boeheim has built Syracuse’s defensive identity around the iconic 2-3 zone, but Buddy sensed that this was something new. Something slightly different.

Buddy was leaving the house for the day so he didn’t catch a glimpse of the new formation scribbled on the piece of paper. But he, along with the rest of the team, heard about it at practice over the following days and realized what his dad had been writing.

Boeheim calls the change a 1-1-3 zone. The new scheme isn’t a revolutionary shift away from Syracuse’s staple 2-3 defense. Instead, the system allows the Orange (5-3, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) to transition easily between the 2-3 and the 1-1-3, as they did against Indiana during the new strategy’s debut and then once more against Florida State. SU only used the 1-1-3 in spurts, but it has worked, lifting Syracuse to back-to-back key wins.

“You have to make adjustments and (Boeheim’s) always looking for new tweaks and things that are gonna confuse offenses,” Buddy said after the 3-point win over Florida State.

The scheme is built to take away the high-post from the opposition, an area where multiple Syracuse starters emphasized they were repeatedly beaten through the first six games of the season. The high-post killed SU in the Bahamas when it was upset by VCU and crushed by Auburn, Buddy said. Colgate burned the Orange by putting pressure on the guards and forwards to cover the corners, therefore leaving open shots up top, Swider said. The Raiders won 100-85.

So Boeheim introduced the defensive adjustment, which has been successful so far. The Orange forced 26 turnovers in a double-overtime win over Indiana and held Florida State to 34.9% shooting and under 15% from beyond the arc in the 3-point win. Boeheim said the defense kept SU in the game against FSU while its offense struggled in the first half.

The adjustment is here to stay, Buddy said, though its usage will depend on opponents’ offensive schemes. Having the 1-1-3 in Syracuse’s repertoire is a useful change of pace, Jimmy Boeheim said. The change isn’t drastic, and Boeheim said SU’s players have a clear understanding of how to switch in and out of it.

“It’s great, just confusing teams,” Buddy said after the Florida State game. “It’s harder to read, we can decoy it sometimes, so it’s definitely going to cause problems.”

When Syracuse wants to switch to the 1-1-3, like it did in the second half against FSU, Boeheim will typically signal to Joe Girard III or another player near the sideline to communicate the shift to everyone on the floor, Jimmy said.

Girard said the adjustment was simple for him at the top of the zone because he essentially plays one-on-one with his opponent and works to keep them in front of him. “I enjoy it. It’s a good task for me,” Girard said.

For the forwards, it’s straightforward too, Jimmy said, since they just push higher along the perimeter. Jimmy said the only real tweak is the positioning of the guards. Buddy has more free reign to roam in the middle — something he said he’s comfortable with — and take away the easy pass to the high-post, which good shooters were previously capitalizing on. The 1-1-3 forced FSU to heave 3-pointers instead, Buddy said, which the Seminoles finished 4-of-30 on.

Florida State faced a double-team every time it moved the ball inside too, Buddy said, taking away opportunities to kick out for a wide-open 3-pointer. Instead, the Seminoles’ 3-point attempts were usually contested shots.

The formation is fluid enough that Buddy calls it a 1-3-1 at times — the wings can extend to press or drop back a bit deeper. But now, opponents can’t beat Syracuse by going “high-low” as easily, Buddy said.

“Obviously teams are going to address it, and there’s going to be some offense where we need to go back to our normal zone, but for now, it’s been really good,” Buddy said.

But Syracuse’s defensive progress against FSU wasn’t solely because of the 1-1-3 shift, Boeheim said. The forwards have been moving faster and center Jesse Edwards has been better at closing on shots from the corners. Boeheim said SU trapped FSU a couple times, and the performance was crucial for a Syracuse defensive unit that’s been struggling (it ranks 156th in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom).

Against Indiana, Boeheim said the 1-1-3 was helpful in the beginning because it kept the ball in the middle of the court. But after the Hoosiers game, he said the defense hasn’t been good enough for the entire year. “Our defense isn’t good enough, period. End of story. We’re going to try to keep getting better,” he said.

This 1-1-3 zone is just the latest example of Boeheim making adjustments to improve SU’s weaknesses, Buddy said. Two years ago, Buddy said Syracuse asked its forwards to stay more “extended” and stay further up the court when defending. Now, the 1-1-3 is here to take away the high-post or as a decoy to confuse opponents.

“He’s always trying to make changes and make adjustments,” Buddy said of his dad. “You have to (be) in college basketball today, too many good teams, good players out there.”

Published on December 5, 2021 at 9:46 pm

Contact Roshan: rferna04@syr.edu | @Roshan_f16