Film Review: No. 17 Syracuse’s spacing paves way for offensive explosion against UVA
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Syracuse’s opponents often exert their defensive energy toward Dyaisha Fair, and her teammates have failed at times to add heavy scoring production. Against Virginia, though, SU built up a massive lead early with clean half court sets and fast break opportunities. The Orange generated a litany of 3-point chances through effective floor spacing, allowing open shooters to materialize at an unabating rate.
Guards Georgia Woolley and Alaina Rice took advantage, quickly rotating around the 3-point line to receive open feeds. The two nailed a combined six 3s and Woolley posted a career-high 26 points. Forwards Alyssa Latham and Izabel Varejão provided structure in the half court, roaming along the perimeter to carve out more room for SU’s traditional shooters.
As a result, the Orange drained a season-best 12 3-pointers in an 85-79 win over Virginia. And SU’s spacing drew attention away from Fair in the process, dropping 20 of her game-high 33 points in the second half.
Here is a breakdown of how No. 17 Syracuse (22-4, 12-3 ACC) spaced the floor to take down Virginia (12-13, 4-10 ACC):
1st quarter, 8:07 — Woolley’s transition 3 caps off 8-0 game-opening run
Woolley couldn’t have been more open. All the attention had turned to Fair in the corner.
As soon as Rice snared the steal off a Johnson inbounds pass, SU covered all areas of the court on the fast break. Rice led the pack while Kyra Wood and Saniaa Wilson dashed to the blocks. Fair got comfortable in the left corner and Woolley trailed them all.
The Cavaliers’ defense stayed level with Rice to prevent a coast-to-coast layup. Yet, they panicked once she fed Fair beyond the arc. SU’s spacing spread UVA’s defense out, and it had to adjust on the fly to stop the 3-point threat as Fair drew a double-team. Fair faked both defenders out and had a wide-open Woolley waiting at the top of the key.
Fair sent a no-look pass, and Woolley buried the 3 to cap off an 8-0 Syracuse run and elicited a timeout from Virginia head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton. The Cavaliers’ stop Fair at all costs mentality came back to bite them, failing to account for a dangerous Woolley from deep.
1st quarter, 2:19 — 5-out set results in Varejão giving SU an early 14-point cushion
Varejão provides Syracuse a unique archetype it can exploit in the half court. The athletic 6-foot-4 center can defend the perimeter and shoot from 3, giving the Orange options to implement a 5-out motion offense — where all five players are positioned around the 3-point line.
In this set, Rice was at point, Fair and Woolley manned the wings, Latham occupied the right corner and Varejão was tucked away in the left corner. UVA couldn’t afford to double Fair off the ball and had to display a traditional man-to-man look.
After Rice swung it left for Woolley, Fair cut to the free-throw line, drawing her defender Alexia Smith to follow. Fair’s motion caused Smith to collide with Jillian Brown near the top of the key, which gave way for Latham to run up top and receive a feed from Woolley. The Cavaliers rotated well on this possession, but they let Latham have a one-on-one with forward Edessa Noyan at the top of the key.
In a triple-threat stance, Latham opted to drive. It was pick-your-poison for Virginia, which had to choose between letting Latham back down Noyan or leaving Varejão open for 3. UVA didn’t want to risk the former, and Varejão’s defender, London Clarkson, converged on Latham. Another crass double-team gave Latham a wide-open passing lane for Varejão, who knocked down the 3, her fifth of the season, to give the Orange a 24-10 first-quarter advantage.
3rd quarter, 4:49 — Woolley’s 4th 3-point make stops the bleeding
By this point in the matchup, Virginia had clawed back to within eight points. The Orange struggled out of the gate offensively and after a Varejão offensive foul, UVA had a chance to cut the deficit to five. Yet SU answered its weak stretch by doing what it did best — creating space for open shooters.
Johnson fired a 3, hitting the back rim to cause a long rebound. Fair adjusted to grab the board and drove straight into the heart of UVA’s defense. Her penetration drew Virginia’s help defense into action, which allowed Rice (left) and Woolley (right) to sit in the corners completely uncovered.
Fair was forced to go right on Johnson, who became the primary defender, and slipped through Clark and Noyan near the right block to find Woolley beyond the arc. The swarming defense on Fair granted Woolley unlimited space for her fourth and final 3.
3rd quarter, 1:49 — Fair gets open through chaos for an emphatic step-back 3
An aggressive game plan to fend off Fair at the start turned into her second-highest-scoring performance of the season. The cherry on top? A long-distance step-back 3 to close out the third, a play that couldn’t have occurred without Varejão’s spacing.
Sporting a four-guard lineup plus Varejão on this play, the Orange broke into another 5-out set with Fair at the top of the key. She dribbled softly to her right and performed a give-and-go with Varejão. Then, Varejão rotated to the left wing while Fair swung it to Woolley at the top of the key.
Matched up against Olivia McGhee, Woolley drove the lane and drew Clarkson to double her. Varejão was left open for 3 again, but Clarkson drew contact from Woolley and forced a weak kick-out.
Amid the chaos, Clark left her assignment on Fair and lurked toward Varejão to contest a potential jumper. Though it left Fair calling for the ball deep beyond the right-wing arc, and Varejão sent her a high chest pass. Clark had to quickly readjust to defend the ensuing 3, which Fair canned through contact to force an and-one.
