18 n o v e m b e r 7 , 2 0 1 2
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WOM EN ’ S BA SK ET BA L L
Hillsman forced to adjust offense after losing forward Hemingway By David Wilson ASST. COPY EDITOR
Iasia Hemingway was a revelation for Syracuse. After transferring from Georgia Tech, the forward put together two standout seasons and led the Orange to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament semifinals as a senior. But Hemingway graduated, taking away a major part of Syracuse’s offense. “We’re going to have to play a little bit differently now,” head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “We’re not going to run a lot of our offense through that high post. … Iasia made me change the way I play and now Iasia’s leaving; now it’s again making me change the way I play. “It’s making me stay up a little bit later at night.” Hemingway was as good an option at the high post as anyone in the country. Instead, the offense will be keyed around center Kayla Alexander. She will be responsible for making this offense go, and it will be the guards’ responsibility to feed her the ball down low. “We’re still trying to get it into Kayla,” guard Elashier Hall said. “We have some shooters and our guards have been really good in our outside game, so a lot more inside out, not necessarily high post.” As an excellent post-up player, Alexander can work on her defenders and score in the paint. But she also has a plethora of shooters to kick the ball out to the perimeter. Though the team shot worse than 30 percent from beyond the arc during the 2011-12 season, a talented group of freshmen brings that added dimension to the team. “We’ve got a lot of good shooters,” center Shakeya Leary said. “I think it’s going to open up for Kayla to get more touches as well, because everyone’s going to be worried about our outside play. … So it will help our offense tremendously.” But just because Hemingway is no longer a member of the team doesn’t mean SU will completely abandon the high post. Several of the freshmen could fill the void, but Alexander cited Hall and guard Carmen TysonThomas as players who could move to the position. “We have players who can fill that role,” Alexander said. “Maybe they’re not going to be able to replace Iasia, but they’re going to have other qualities that they can bring to the table.” But ideally, Hillsman won’t even have to
worry about his half-court offense that much. SU returns seven players who started at least one game last season. Couple that with five freshmen who Hillsman says could contribute immediately and Syracuse’s depth could be unparalleled during his tenure. With a rotation that could go as deep as 12 players, Syracuse will be able to play a more up-tempo style. The members of the highly touted freshman class are ideal fits in a fast-paced system. McDonald’s All-Americans Brianna Butler and Brittney Sykes are perhaps the two most talented and athletic players the Orange has ever had. Last season, when teams were most successful against SU, they were putting two players down in the paint to negate Alexander and Syracuse’s high-low offense. With the new personnel group
“We can play faster, we can play more up-tempo, we can extend our defense a little more and do some different things on defense that I thought that wouldn’t have been our strengths in the past couple years.” Quentin Hillsman
SU HEAD COACH
Hillsman has in place, it’s going to be nearly impossible for opponents to employ that strategy. Part of that is because the team can get out and run. Part of that is because the team should be improved on the perimeter. But another part is because Hemingway is gone; the Orange can no longer solely rely on her and Alexander to power the offense. Hillsman’s going to have to adjust, but it may be a change for the better. “We can play faster, we can play more up-tempo, we can extend our defense a little more and do some different things on defense that I thought that wouldn’t have been our strengths in the past couple years,” Hillsman said. “They’re creating some versatility in the way we play.” dbwilson@syr.edu @DBWilson2w