You can usually find three of Syracuse’s players on the offensive end of the court. Guards Frank Howard and Tyus Battle roam the perimeter, either with ball in hand or waiting for it to get there. The center — Paschal Chukwu or Bourama Sidibe — will be somewhere along the baseline.

SU’s forwards, Oshae Brissett and Marek Dolezaj, will be all over. Brissett typically plays on the wings or waits in the corners, alongside the guards. Dolezaj frequently stands on the opposite side.

But both will take turns occupying the same area: the high post. The two forwards go about it differently, though, as defenses change their methods based on each player’s skill set.

Dolezaj was almost always left wide open from the high post on Saturday against Pittsburgh. The Panthers knew he’d look to pass, so the zone spread out to try and clog passing lanes.

When Brissett had it in the high post, Pitt became hyper-aggressive. Guards pushed forward to double team SU’s ball handlers on the perimeter as the center stepped up to mark Brissett. The Canadian freshman is a more capable shooter and slasher, so the Panthers tried to deny him the ball.

“You’ve got to have somebody in (the middle of the zone) making plays,” Boeheim said after the Jan. 16 Pittsburgh game. “… Marek seems to be the only guy in the middle of the zone that has an idea of what he’s doing in there. Our other two freshmen (Moyer and Brissett) don’t, and that hurts us against a zone.”

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said it’s unlikely forward Matthew Moyer will play against the Yellow Jackets and that “he’s out for a while.” In his absence, the Orange (15-6, 4-4 Atlantic Coast) is left with only Dolezaj and Brissett who consistently play forward. SU needs those two players to operate effectively out of the high post, with the role only increasing in importance when Syracuse faces Georgia Tech (10-11, 3-5), a team that plays mostly zone regardless of opponent, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Atlanta.

The Orange’s zone spreads out to meet 3-point shooters. But that’s not the zone Syracuse faces when it’s on offense. With SU struggling to hit from deep (its 32 percent mark from behind the arc is the second-worst mark in the ACC), opponents just clog passing lanes.

“Our zone you can drive against because we’re more spread out and we cover more on the perimeter,” Boeheim said after that Jan. 16 Pitt game. “When they’re as tight as they are in there, it’s difficult.”

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Boeheim has praised Dolezaj’s intelligence throughout the season, but attributed his struggles and overall minutes decrease from nonconference play to the ACC because of his 180-pound frame as a forward against the league’s physicality. Yet, when he’s on, Dolezaj has found a way to contribute by playing in the space of the high post. Teams have sagged off him, daring him to shoot the mid-range jumper that refused to fall for much of the early going this season.

At times, Dolezaj’s issue is that he hasn’t been able to make opponents pay for leaving him open. In the first half against Pittsburgh, Dolezaj was in the mid-post and scanned the floor. He noticed his teammates all guarded and went to shoot. He didn’t look comfortable and neither did a single part of his form, as he ended up shooting the ball almost one-handed, hitting the side of the rim and missing badly.

But he’s also shown signs of improvement, like when he scored a career-high 12 points against Boston College. He made an in-game adjustment against Pitt on Jan.16, too. On the first play of the second half against Pitt, Dolezaj looked for Brissett on the wing. Noticing him blocked off, Dolezaj turned right toward the basket, rose up and knocked a jumper down.

The coaching staff changed Dolezaj’s shooting form when he arrived in Syracuse this summer, and Boeheim credited his now “perfect form” for revolutionizing his game.

“He couldn’t do that earlier in the year,” Boeheim said.

Boston College wasn’t as physical with Dolezaj as some teams were, but if he continues hitting that shot, the freshman will put defenses in a bind on whether or not to play up on him because if they overplay, he can drive.

“Marek changed the game,” said point guard Frank Howard. “With him flashing and cutting, making the hockey assists. I don’t think he gets enough recognition, the little dump-offs, hitting the open guy. He’s a smart player.”

Dolezaj’s fellow freshman, Brissett, seems to represent an opposite case, with his physicality overcoming positional unfamiliarity. He’s added strength and proven a knack for bullying opponents with his body, as seen through his team-leading 9.2 rebounds per game, masking any schematic struggles teammates see.

That added strength, along with his ability to shoot, is why he’ll often be marked right away from 15-feet out. If he can get the ball in that scenario, though, Brissett sees it as an advantage.

“Usually that’s a big guy in there, slow-footed,” he said. “I feel like I can beat a lot of guys around there. Once I get around, I’ve got to find different ways to get it up.”

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Still, Brissett never played the role at Athlete Institute (Canada) Prep, simply because opponents didn’t run zone, he said. And although Brissett is confident he can create out of the high post, it seems like getting the ball there is the bigger issue.

When SU’s three-guard lineup was out and Pitt ramped up its aggressiveness, Brissett tried to rotate along the high post to wherever the ball was and free himself up. A lot of times he ended up in spots where the guards still felt like they couldn’t get him the ball. Struggling to find that right spot comes with the inexperience.

“It’s kind of hard,” point guard Howard Washington said after the Pitt game. “Because sometimes coaches tell guys to flash to a certain spot, and sometimes that’s not the spot that’s open. So guys like Oshae and Marek, it might not be that spot, it might be a couple of steps a lower, and then they catch it and they score from there.”

Still, just like Dolezaj, Brissett showed the ability to make in-game adjustments. In the second half he caught the ball at the post and drove right past the center tagged to guard him. Brissett whipped a pass over to Bourama Sidibe just as the Pitt player responsible for that part of the zone rotated over to help, and Sidibe easily slammed it home.

When asked about Brissett in the high post, Boeheim didn’t address his play there and instead insisted the freshman normally played the “4” position. Brissett also can play the “3,” Boeheim said, but he usually prefers Dolezaj or Moyer at the spot.

For now, it’s clear that Brissett won’t be used in the high post in three-guard sets since Howard Washington was ruled out for the Georgia Tech game on Tuesday afternoon. Still, he was given looks there even with Dolezaj on the floor.

With Howard Washington now ruled out for GT, SU is down its three-guard lineup option and a capable 3-point shooter. With that, Brissett and Dolezaj will take on an even bigger responsibility to try and create offense out of the soft spot in the zone.

Published on January 30, 2018 at 11:11 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer