We’d like to welcome Scott Rich as a DBR contributor. In the past, Scott contributed to the Duke Chronicle and we think you’ll agree that he’s a smart and insightful writer.
Coaches at all levels of basketball will tell you there are two primary ways to beat a 2-3 zone: either make it move side-to-side enough to create seams, or make it collapse in order to open up the baseline and corners.
In prior incarnations of the fledgling Duke-Syracuse rivalry, the Blue Devils relied upon stellar three-point shooting to do the former. But given the result of the teams’ prior meeting this season, and the well-documented three-point shooting woes of this year’s Duke team, it was clear entering last night’s game that the Blue Devils would have to find a way to do the latter to break down Jim Boeheim’s vaunted zone defense.