No matter what happens against Duke in the Sweet 16, Jim Boeheim proved that Syracuse does belong in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
All the way from Selection Sunday up to the start of the Tournament, “you’re not even supposed to be here” was all Syracuse players were hearing. It wasn’t intended as a reference to Clerks. It was a slight against the team that is offensively challenged, went 8-10 in the ACC and was considered the last team in.
Many believed they stole a spot over more deserving teams, such as Oklahoma State or USC. But after winning their play-in game and zoning their way to the Sweet 16, Syracuse’s doubters are awfully quiet now.
Even though they narrowly avoided the NIT, their road to the Sweet 16 was a treacherous one. Their play-in game was against Arizona State who, after going undefeated in their non-conference portion of the schedule, looked like a sleeper Final Four team. Like Syracuse, they went 8-10 in conference play and suffered an early exit in the conference tournament, but they were still a dangerous team. It didn’t matter, Syracuse knocked them off and held them to a season-low 56 points.
Against TCU, it was more of the same. The Horned Frogs came into the Tournament averaging 83 points a game, and came away with a season-low 57 against Syracuse’s vaunted 2-3 zone.
Jim Boeheim’s win over Michigan State, though, may be his best coaching performance of the season. Playing a team stacked with future NBA talent like Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr. is daunting enough, that it was in Detroit meant it was a de facto road game for Syracuse. But Michigan State was held to 25 percent shooting and missed their final 13 shots of the game.
Boeheim managed his players extremely well, staple-gunning Paschal Chukwu to the bench once he got into foul trouble and handing over key minutes to a walk-on in Braedon Bayer after Frank Howard fouled out. And when it was a three-point game in the closing seconds, Boeheim instructed his players to foul the Spartans before they could get a shot off — such a simple concept that very few coaches seem to get.
So many people get hung up on the idea of never betting against Tom Izzo in March, but Boeheim coached circles around him and with this win, he improved his head-to-head record against Izzo to 5-1. And after Izzo was implicated in a program-wide cover up of sexual misconduct, you could argue that he and Michigan State got what was coming to them.
Boeheim has proven for years that his zone defense works. And while many thought the “defense wins championships” adage would apply to Virginia, their poor history in March — even before their loss to UMBC — has been well-documented.
By contrast, this isn’t the first time Syracuse has gone on a deep Tournament run as a double-digit seed. Just two years ago, they made it to the Final Four on the strength of their defense. But despite that recent run, and despite the fact that Boeheim has used the zone for years, teams still act surprised when Syracuse sneaks up on them. Their brand of basketball isn’t aesthetically pleasing to watch, but it gets the job done.
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Against Duke, Syracuse’s path to the Final Four won’t get any easier. While the Blue Devils have looked dysfunctional at times, their offense is clicking at just the right time. And while the Orange’s frontcourt is their biggest strength, they’re going to have an extremely bad time containing Marvin Bagley III. But they’ve spent this entire tournament locking up high-powered offenses, Syracuse will be the toughest opponent Duke has come across and after playing three games in five days, they’ll earn some much-needed rest.
Given that Boeheim has made a habit of it by now, don’t be surprised if Syracuse pulls off yet another upset.