Clemson is readying to face Syracuse in the Carrier Dome on Tuesday night, and Tigers head coach Brad Brownell spoke about the matchup on the ACC coaches teleconference Monday.

The Tigers (8-6, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) are coming off a convincing 84-75 home win against Florida State on Saturday, and are still trying to shake early-season losses to Massachusetts and Minnesota. The Orange (10-5, 0-2) is trying to avoid three straight losses to start conference play, and will be looking to get interim head coach Mike Hopkins an ACC win before Jim Boeheim returns from his nine-game suspension against North Carolina on Saturday.

Here are some things Brownell said about facing SU.

Playing Syracuse’s zone

“I think it’s very good, obviously they have great size and length. You know (Michael) Gbinije is 6-6 or 6-7 and Malachi Richardson is long, and (Trevor) Cooney’s been in it for four years and is a good-sized guard. So I think it’s very effective. I think the size is what helps to make it unique and Jim does an unbelievable job of recruiting to it. I think the other thing is they adjust to what you’re doing better than anybody else that plays zone because very few people play it all the time. They’ve seen everything, sometimes you get them on one or two things but it’s hard to come back to those and still score again. They just have very good experience, good length, physical front line, not quite as big as they’ve been in the past but it’s very effective as evidence by the game at Miami, their last time out.”

Syracuse’s offense

“They have very good balance. Gbinije’s improved 3-point shooting has added another dimension. Cooney’s obviously outstanding, can reel off shots as well as anybody in our league. Malachi Richardson seems to be rounding into form hitting five 3s in his last game, certainly some big strong weight that can go by people and make plays. Tyler Lydon comes off the bench and makes 3s. There are good pieces there, and like all of us when we shoot the ball well from the perimeter it really makes our offense much better. You’re going to have nights when you don’t do that, I think we all fall into that trap.”

Does playing an SU team with a tight six-man rotation make you want to push the tempo to try and tire them out?

“Maybe a little, but I think that’s hard. What’s remarkable about what they do in their zone and everything is how well those guys get back to it. It’s hard. You almost have to start pressing defensively to try and change the tempo against them, you’d have to press them full-court, with trapping and all that kind of stuff to create the kind of frenzy you’re talking about for it to make a difference. One thing I’ve noticed, even with our team just in the last game we played primarily zone in the last game, you know we had some guys play a lot of minutes, more minutes than they normally would playing man-to-man. I do think playing the zone, I do think you can be a little fresher not having to chase guys off screens and fight over 95 ball screens I think sometimes can make it a little easier on you. So it’s an interesting thought, obviously something that Jim’s done his whole career there playing a shorter bench, six- or seven-man rotation, eight-man rotation when they really get deep. I think playing the zone and the style that he plays I think allows him to keep his best players on the court, I think that’s why he does what he does.”

Do you think playing the zone a little bit recently has helped your players see ways to beat SU’s?

“I wouldn’t even begin to compare our zone to Syracuse’s zone. There’s really not a comparison. So no, the answer to that is no. (Laughs).”

Published on January 4, 2016 at 12:59 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse