One fist or two. Thumbs up or down. Red or green.

No matter what Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman signals, the appearance of the Orange’s full-court press, at first, is the same. Then it shifts. Then chaos sets in.

Then-No. 10 Florida State committed 28 turnovers. Then-No. 16 Miami had 26. Then-No. 12 Duke coughed the ball up 32 times. Syracuse’s full-court press is nearly impossible to game plan for.

The Orange leads the country with 25.5 forced turnovers per game. That’s given it had nearly five more possessions than it averaged a season ago. It’s also the most since SU averaged 28.5 forced turnovers per game in the 1979-80 season. It all stems from 40 minutes of deception.

“It’s kind of like a football game in a sense where you have this team that’s giving you different looks and different blitz packages,” SU assistant coach Vonn Read said. “You don’t know where the traps are going to come from and it can really frustrate our opponents.”

On Thursday, No. 17 Syracuse (23-6, 13-3 Atlantic Coast) earned a double bye in the ACC tournament by blowing out Boston College and forcing 33 turnovers. SU’s 23 regular-season wins tied a program record and its 13 conference wins set one. And a big portion of the Orange’s success comes from a full-court press that’s rarely been cracked this season.

Syracuse fully committed to the press a few years back because it wanted to reduce the time it spent in its 2-3 zone. Read said instead of having to sit back for nearly 30 seconds, SU only has to sit back for 15–18 by pressing. Hillsman had Syracuse press the full game and the zone defense improved. As the Orange stuck with the press, it improved.

By now, the press has several formations: 1-2-2, 2-1-2, 2-2-1 or man-to-man. And the Orange has several wrinkles within each one: attack before half court or behind it, apply the pressure or only create the illusion, trap from the front or trap from the rear.

“We used six players in practice to go against it,” Pittsburgh head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio said after the Panthers committed 26 turnovers in a 23-point loss to SU on Jan. 14. “Constantly trapping and they’re just relentless.”

 

Evan Jenkins | Staff Photographer

 

With an experienced guard-heavy lineup, Syracuse’s athleticism and length makes it a fit for the press. Each year, layers have been added and Hillsman has recruited players for the press as it becomes a bigger part of the Orange’s identity.

The key, players said, is paying attention to Hillsman on the sideline. If he calls “fist,” it’s a man-to-man press, Cornelia Fondren said. But whether his fists are pointed up or down determines whether to trap in the frontcourt or bait the opposition to get to half court before applying the pressure. If the call is “red,” SU’s defense traps as much as possible before half court. “Green” means to only feign the pressure. On any given possession, the entire package could change.

Players on opposing teams have asked SU guard Brittney Sykes how the Orange does it. All she could do was chuckle. It’s tiring just to break a press for a full game, Sykes said, and even more challenging for offenses when it’s hard to detect what the Orange is doing.

“It’s almost like boxing. You keep hitting them in the body and eventually they’re going to lower their hands and you finish them,” Hillsman said. “That’s how we are on defense. We just keep pressing them and then we go on these 10-0 runs that blow the game open.”

In its biggest win of the season on Feb. 18, Syracuse forced Florida State, a team that averages 17.4 turnovers per game, into 10 first-quarter turnovers. In that quarter alone, the Orange varied its defense by disguising pressure on some possessions and attacking ball-handlers right as they crossed half court on others.

FSU head coach Sue Semrau said her team was “shell shocked” by Syracuse’s press. Boston College head coach Erik Johnson had to switch who handled the ball. Clemson head coach Audra Smith said SU plays like sharks that smell blood.

Syracuse’s press has been a major part of one of its most successful years in program history and now it carries the Orange into the postseason.

“Most offenses they’re dictating to you,” Read said. “But if we got you on your heels and you’re uncomfortable, you’re unsure, we’re dictating to you.”

For a comprehensive visual breakdown of Syracuse’s defense, click here.

Published on February 29, 2016 at 8:34 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds