PITTSBURGH, Pa. — After Pittsburgh’s Michael Young got inside position on 6-foot-6 forward Malachi Richardson and converted a second-chance layup, Mike Hopkins put Syracuse’s “big” lineup on the floor.

The Orange walked into the under-12 media timeout of the first half looking like its normal self: Four shooters on the floor with 6-foot-8 forward Tyler Roberson, a team favoring speed and shooting over size and strength. But it walked out of the timeout as the kind of team it’s had so much trouble handling: 6-foot-9, 6-foot-8, 6-foot-8 across the front line, with playmaking guards standing 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-4.

On Syracuse’s first possession out of the timeout, its bigs tipped out one of the team’s eight offensive rebounds in the entire game. On the other end of the floor, Dajuan Coleman pressured Young in the high post before stripping him and grabbing the loose ball. On the bench Hopkins jumped up and clapped his hands, and the Panthers didn’t score again until the lineup was broken up two minutes later.

The Orange (10-4, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) eventually fell to Pittsburgh (11-1, 1-0) 72-61 on Wednesday night, but its big lineup of Coleman, forwards Roberson and Tyler Lydon, and guards Michael Gbinije and Trevor Cooney was a bright spot in the loss. Next up for Syracuse is a trip to Miami (11-1) for a 2:30 p.m. game on Saturday, and the No. 13 Hurricanes have been an offensive juggernaut this season. And if SU is going to avoid a second straight conference loss, its big lineup will come in handy against the seventh best offensive team in the country based on adjusted points per 100 possessions, per kenpom.com.

“It’s something we’ve been working on and it’s something we’re getting better at,” Coleman said after the game Wednesday. “Obviously we weren’t at all great defending the paint tonight as a team. But I think that lineup was good defensively, maybe the best we were all night.”

Miami is the 16th-best 3-point-shooting percentage in the country at 41.2 percent, and Roberson and Lydon’s length helps them close out shooters on the wings of the 2-3 zone. Having them in with Coleman also gives the Orange a capable shot-blocker and weak-side rebounder on both sides of the center, which gives him a longer leash to defend the high post like he did against Young. In a more-common SU lineup — which would feature Gbinije, Cooney and the undersized Richardson on the wing of the zone — Coleman would have to hang back in the paint and protect the rim.

But he can rely more on the wings of the zone when the big lineup is on the floor, which then helps the Syracuse guards focus on perimeter shooters instead of having to drop into the high post.

“I think it helps Dajuan move a lot more and that helps our entire defense, I didn’t think about that at first but it definitely does,” Lydon said after the loss to Pittsburgh. “He can be a more assertive shot blocker because he knows we can handle the short corner and the bigger players on the weak side.”

That will be especially important on Saturday because of the Hurricanes’ offensive versatility. Miami shoots the 3 extremely well but also has one of the strongest centers in the conference and spaces its offense with a handful of slashing playmakers.

Seven-footer Tonye Jekiri is averaging 9.2 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, and his 13.4 offensive rebounding percentage is the seventh best in the ACC according to Kenpom. After Jekiri, the Hurricanes’ inside presence is established by a backcourt committed to scoring off the dribble.

Below is a list of Miami’s best penetrators sorted by each player’s assisted makes at the rim according to Hoop-Math.com:

Angel Rodriguez (guard, 5-foot-11) — 22 made field goals at the rim, zero assisted on
Ja’Quan Newton (guard, 6-foot-2) — 20 made field goals at the rim, seven assisted on
Davon Reed (guard, 6-foot-6) — 20 made field goals at the rim, seven assisted on
Sheldon McClellan (guard, 6-foot-5) — 25 made field goals at the rim, 13 assisted on

It’s clear that the Hurricanes are stacked with talented guards that can both shoot the ball and create their own scoring opportunities at the rim. It’s also clear that Syracuse, without Richardson’s shooting touch on the floor, doesn’t have as good of an offense when playing three big men. But an offense like Miami’s may force the Orange to counter with its best defensive lineup instead of trying to go punch-for-punch.

And after the Pittsburgh game, it’s clear which lineup that is.

Published on December 31, 2015 at 5:27 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse