OMAHA, Neb. — The variations of the 2-3 zone defenses that will take centerstage at CenturyLink Center on Friday night are rooted in a small, upstate New York town of about 5,000 people.

Lyons, New York, is Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim’s hometown. He learned the zone defense there and has played it almost exclusively at SU for the last 22 years. On Friday night, it’s nearly certain his 11-seeded Orange (23-13, 8-10 Atlantic Coast) faces another 2-3 zone in the defense of No. 2 seed Duke (28-7, 13-5) in the Sweet 16. Krzyzewski’s zone is rooted in what he learned from Boeheim on Team USA, and Boeheim’s zone is rooted in the small New York state town. The zones will clash for the second time in the past month with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line.

After Syracuse’s loss at Duke on Feb. 24, Boeheim joked that his longtime friend, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, shouldn’t be allowed to play zone. But it was no joke, as Duke held SU to just 44 points in one of its best defensive performances over the past five years.

Krzyzewski and Boeheim sat next to each other coaching for Team USA. They traded ideas on basketball, including the 2-3. Boeheim is the master of the defense, running it without a playbook. On Thursday afternoon, Krzyzewski pointed to his head and said of Boeheim’s knowledge: “It’s all right here.”

“With the zone itself, I learned a lot from Jim (Boeheim) but also from (former SU coach) Mike Hopkins and (Duke associate head coach) Jeff Capel. Mike Hopkins did an amazing job behind the scenes. So we learned a lot. We used it one time and we won a game in Madrid, against Spain, a big-time game. But we practiced it a little bit.”

With Team USA, Boeheim and his Duke counterpart chatted about rotations, getting out to shooters and rebounding when out of position. The Blue Devils played zone in their 2015 national title game win. But Syracuse’s zone varies every year, every month, every game. That’s what makes it so hard to prepare for, players from both teams said.

Duke senior guard Grayson Allen was a freshman on the 2015 national championship team, which played zone at times. Allen is no master like Boeheim, but he offered a few glimpses into his approach against the SU 2-3. He said Syracuse junior center Paschal Chukwu steps up when the ball goes to the middle/high-post area. Duke, on the contrary, would protect the rim in such a case. A guard or forward would slide over to the free-throw line area to contest a shot in the middle of the zone.

That could create a second of free space in the Duke defense and create opportunities for Syracuse forwards. Freshman forward Marek Dolezaj said the Orange scored only 44 points last month at Cameron Indoor because SU didn’t shoot well, particularly from the high post area.

“With zones, the middle is open,” Dolezaj said. “The game when we played at Duke, the middle was so open. They didn’t guard it. We just didn’t make shots from the middle.”

The key factor for Syracuse might just be Dolezaj’s play in that area. When he scores 10 or more points, Syracuse is 6-0 this season. Syracuse assistant coach Gerry McNamara said Dolezaj is more confident with his 15- to 17-foot jumper.

“The ability to score from 15 to 17 feet, which he didn’t do in the first Duke game in the middle of the zone, is where I think he’s made his biggest strides,” McNamara said.

Of course, how each team shoots from deep may be the single greatest indicator for who dances on and who heads home. Duke shot 10-for-21 from 3-point range and 56.9 percent from the field against Rhode Island last weekend, one of its best shooting performances of the season. And for Duke, sneaking past SU bigs for lobs won’t be out of the question. The lasting image from Durham, North Carolina, last month was a Duke big — namely Marvin Bagley III or Wendell Carter Jr. — jumping up for a lob on the backside. After all, they both are familiar with the defense they were going up against.

“This team, he felt it was the right defense for this team,” Boeheim said of Duke’s zone. “And that’s what I used to go through when we played both. I think he’s done a great job of using a 2-3 zone differently than we play it, but it’s really effective. And I think it’s made a huge difference with his team with what the defense has done for his team.”

Given how well Syracuse and Duke have played through the first week of the NCAA Tournament, a low-scoring affair Friday night could very well be in store. Of the 52 games played in the first week of the Tournament, 48 featured at least one team scoring more than 60 points. Three of the other four were Syracuse victories. So, which team better executes in the half court against the 2-3 zone likely will move on to the Elite Eight on Sunday.

“I think you respect it even more because you know a little bit more of the intricacies of playing it,” Krzyzewski said of the 2-3. “And so when you see Syracuse play it, you have an appreciation for the way they do their zone.”

Published on March 23, 2018 at 3:26 pm

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21