Boeheim’s Army in TBT: Notes on Sideline Cancer, Jamel Artis, keys to surviving and advancing - syracuse.com

Boeheim’s Army in TBT: Notes on Sideline Cancer, Jamel Artis, keys to surviving and advancing - syracuse.com

Syracuse, N.Y. – Marcus Keene is the focus.

When Boeheim’s Army plays Sideline Cancer Saturday (4 p.m., ESPN) in The Basketball Tournament’s version of the elite eight, it wants to contain Keene, the former Central Michigan scoring phenom. The Sideline point guard has disrupted defenses in the two games his team has won. He’s averaging 22.5 points and 6 assists per game. And while those numbers jump from the stats page, Keene’s contributions stem mainly from his quickness and his skill with the ball.

He penetrates the lane and if defenders converge, he locates shooters in the corners.

“He’s their playmaker.  He makes shots. He sets up their offense.  He’s quick. He’s very physical,” said Boeheim’s Army coach Ryan Blackwell. “He likes to get the ball out and make plays. We’re going to have to key on him and stop the ball first, whether we’re in man or zone.”

Keene is listed at 5-foot-9.  Boeheim’s Army guard John Gillon (listed at 5-11) insisted Thursday that Keene was “actually much smaller than me.” The two Texans are friends, Gillon said. And while they share (relative) size and speed similarities, Gillon said they have different TBT job descriptions.

Boeheim’s Army, Gillon said, has “more balanced” scoring options, while Sideline Cancer needs Keene to excel to play well. With him at the helm, the team has averaged nearly 85 points in its two games.

“You can’t stop him completely,” Gillon said. “He’s a very good player. I want to start with that. The zone will be tough. We just played Justin Dentmon, who is taller and a little bigger and it was hard for him to get his shots off in the zone. But Marcus is quicker. It’ll be a new challenge for us.”

Blackwell and his players on Thursday praised the performance of the zone, which Boeheim’s Army used in tandem with its man defense. Down the stretch, during the crucial Elam Ending on Tuesday, Men of Mackey struggled to get shots, turned the ball over and eventually lost. The zone was distracting and effective.

Every summer, Boeheim’s Army players talk about the importance and uniqueness of Syracuse’s zone. But at times, TBT teams have shredded it, relying on a bevy of skilled and savvy 3-point shooters. On Saturday, the Army will face a Sideline Cancer team that shot a combined 40.7 percent from the 3-point line in its two previous TBT games this summer.

The Sideline Cancer team, too, has something of a secret weapon in Jamel Artis. You might recall Artis as the former Pittsburgh player who camped at the free throw line against SU’s 2-3 and made plays from that spot.

Gillon remembers him.

“We talked about him,” he said. “We’re going to … recognize that he did play against the zone and might have some familiarity with it. That is someone to keep an eye on during the game.”

Shooting woes

Boeheim’s Army was terrific at driving the ball and getting to the free throw line Tuesday. The Syracuse team shot 28-of-32 from the line. It made more free throws than Men of Mackey attempted.

What it did not do so well was shoot from the perimeter. Boeheim’s Army was 4-of-21 from the 3-point line. Shooting issues over the years have plagued the team in TBT play.

“In practice, we make shots.  In games, it’s a little bit different,” Blackwell said. “I was happy to see us get to the line and shoot 28-of-32 from the free throw line. I keep telling guys to mix it up. You can’t just settle for threes.”

That’s what happened in stretches of Tuesday’s game. The Boeheim’s Army offense stalled and instead of working through an offensive set, or probing for a better shot, somebody tossed up a contested 3.

Andrew White said the team needs to play with more pace and explore more aspects of its offense.

“The key,” said Demetris Nichols, “is to continue to have confidence in your craft, in your preparation and do all the small things to help yourself get the results that you want, whether it’s being on balance, your follow-through, taking your time.”

This and that

White grabbed six rebounds in Tuesday’s win. He said those boards were a result of “identifying what I could do to make sure we won.” Boeheim’s Army, typically one of TBT’s bigger teams, is this year one of its smaller squads. It will face another good rebounder in Eric Thompson, who is averaging 11.5 rebounds per game for Sideline Cancer. “In that zone, there are a lot of loose balls that are being tipped around,” White said. “I was just trying to get in there and clean up.” … Thompson is important for his team because of an injury sustained by the 7-footer Diamond Stone.  Stone dominated Sideline’s first game, but did not play in its second contest. Blackwell said he’d heard Stone had “a partially torn Achilles” and likely would not play on Saturday … The only non-Syracuse guy, Will Rayman, played 11 minutes in Tuesday’s win, but his teammates praised him for his toughness and his adaptation to the zone. Boeheim’s Army will have played one game in nine days in Columbus by the time Saturday rolls around. Multiple days of practice have helped guys get acclimated to each other. ... Sideline Cancer is the No. 22 seed, but don’t let that number fool you. Seeds are determined when the field is set; often rosters look different when games actually start. Also, the team is playing for a special cause: To eradicate pancreatic cancer. Sideline Cancer has participated in every TBT since the tournament’s inception in 2014.

MORE TBT COVERAGE:

Boeheim’s Army brings basketball joy back for passionate Syracuse fans (and coaches)

How does Syracuse basketball stop Pittsburgh zone buster Jamel Artis?

Demetris Nichols’ TBT diary Day 7: ‘A day of rest’

Eric Devendorf, Boeheim’s Army TBT hero, on that lefty finish, his vegan diet: ‘He’s a gamer’

Donte Greene outplays 7-2 center Isaac Haas in Boeheim’s Army win: “I think Boeheim would be proud of me'

Eric Devendorf leads Boeheim’s Army to win over Men of Mackey in TBT 2020

Donna Ditota is a reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard and syracuse.com. Got a comment or idea for a story? Reach her at dditota@syracuse.com.

2020-07-09 18:23:00Z
https://www.syracuse.com/orangebasketball/2020/07/boeheims-army-in-tbt-notes-on-sideline-cancer-jamel-artis-keys-to-surviving-and-advancing.html

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