Even with SU’s defense struggling down the stretch, Jim Boeheim won’t ditch the 2-3 zone

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After Syracuse’s 17-point loss to Pitt on Saturday — when the Orange gave up a season-high 99 points, the second-straight game an opponent posted over 90 points — head coach Jim Boeheim praised Judah Mintz, Joe Girard III and Jesse Edwards. All three had over 15 points while SU shot 50% from the field as a team.

The problem, though, was Syracuse’s defense. The Panthers scored 62 points in the second half (the most the Orange had allowed in a half this year), knocking down a season-high 16 3-pointers.

“Right now, our defense just isn’t quite good enough,” Boeheim said.

Saturday’s loss was Syracuse’s third straight by at least 17 points, something the Orange hadn’t done since the 1961-62 season. Even if SU beats Georgia Tech and Wake Forest this week, a run in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament will be required to even make the National Invitation Tournament. Syracuse’s defensive efficiency of 106.6 is its worst in the KenPom era (dating back to 2001-02), necessitating improvement over the remainder of the season.

If the last three games have been any indication, SU’s full-court press has only made matters worse. A 1-1-3 defense didn’t work against Clemson, and Boeheim made clear Saturday that man-to-man — something Syracuse used heavily in its first few games — isn’t an option. That leaves improvements to the 2-3 zone as the only solution.

“Look. You have a house painter, and you say ‘now I want you to paint like Picasso.’ That’d be good, if he could do that. But he can’t,” Boeheim said. “We play our defense. (The 2-3 zone) is our defense. That’s it. We don’t have another defense. We’ve tried, we tried all summer, we tried in the fall. Our man is just not good.”

The Orange played a majority of their two exhibition games in man-to-man, and Boeheim said his personnel worked for it. Players were excited about playing it. But then came game No. 2 against Colgate. The Raiders hit 19 3s, and away went the effort to play more man defense.

A week after that Colgate loss, though, a different defensive look reemerged. SU began practicing the 1-1-3 defense — something it broke out last December — after the St. John’s loss, Mintz said.

Early last season, Boeheim had turned the defense from something he tentatively drew out to one that helped lift the Orange to key wins over Indiana and Florida State.

Syracuse tried the defense out while trailing by double-digits in the second half against Clemson. Mintz was at the top and Girard sat behind. The 1-1-3 isn’t significantly different from the 2-3 zone. Designed to take away space down low near the free throw line, opponents could no longer go inside-out. Mintz guarded the ball-handler at the top of the arc while Girard moved from elbow to elbow. The forwards, meanwhile, pushed higher toward the perimeter.

The new look didn’t change SU’s defensive struggles, though. With Benny Williams forced up high on one possession, Chase Hunter lobbed to PJ Hall for an easy layup. Two minutes later, good spacing by Clemson forced Williams to guard two players, leaving Hunter open to rattle in an open 3-pointer. The Orange returned to the 2-3 zone after that, and the 1-1-3 didn’t appear against Pitt.

Mintz said fatigue played a role in the 1-1-3 not working against Clemson, adding that it’s tiring for him to run from side-to-side up top.

“It’s not new to coach, obviously. It’s not new to us,” Mintz said after the Clemson game. “We’ve practiced it before, it’s just not the basic way we usually play our zone.”

For stretches during that game — and ones against Duke and Pitt — Syracuse tried to press its way back from second-half deficits. It’s been effective at times, but on Saturday, the Panthers took advantage of fast-break opportunities repeatedly. Boeheim admitted postgame that he didn’t have a lot of confidence in the press going in, but knew the Orange had to try it if they wanted to win.

Syracuse allows its opponents to shoot over 34% from deep this season, including three games where its competition shot 45% or more. barttorvik.com

Teams have beat Syracuse this season from outside the arc. For the eighth straight season, SU ranks lower than 300th nationally (seventh-lowest this year) in 3-point attempts allowed divided by field goal attempts, per KenPom — meaning opponents are relying heavily on shots from deep against the zone.

College basketball teams across the board have been shooting more and more 3s over recent years, too. That’s particularly hurt the Orange this season, with six opponents — including Duke, Clemson and Pitt — hitting at least 13 3-pointers. The Panthers jacked up a season-high 41 shots from beyond the arc, and the Tigers hoisted 36. Syracuse’s 3-point defensive percentage is now at its worst mark since December.

“People are going to make more 3s because they take more 3s. That’s what they’re gonna do,” Boeheim said Saturday. “But again, our defense is not good enough, and that’s the bottom line in these games.”

Boeheim pointed specifically to SU’s rotation issues against Clemson. Some of that was good ball movement by the Tigers, Boeheim said, but other times SU just moved too slow. Hunter, meanwhile, said the Orange lack the long wings they’ve had in recent years, which made it easier for Clemson to move the ball and get open shots.

The last time Syracuse gave up over 90 points in consecutive games was in 2006. The Orange, that year, won their conference tournament.

And their coach, for what it’s worth, remains upbeat about this group.

“This is obviously a bad stretch, but I think that we’ve played pretty good basketball overall,” Boeheim said Saturday. “We’re just too young to be consistent, and to be good on the defensive end — it’s just a struggle there for us. But I’m pretty happy with what this team’s done, and I think we’ll finish strong.”