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Posted on Mon, Nov 22, 2010 : 8:35 p.m.

Why teams have trouble with the Syracuse 2-3 zone and Stu Douglass' improvement

By Michael Rothstein

Boeheim_AP.jpg

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim (above) is 8-0 against Michigan coach John Beilein.

AP Photo

John Beilein is all too familiar with what his Michigan basketball team will see Friday night.

While at West Virginia, Beilein took his team of shooters into Big East games against Syracuse five times and he’d see the same thing each time: A long, stifling, deceptive 2-3 zone.

The 2-3 is a staple of what Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim likes to do defensively. While it may seem advantageous to outside shooters, it has never been for Beilein's teams. In his career, he’s 0-8 against Syracuse and Boeheim.

A lot of it has to do with the athletes Syracuse recruits.

“All it takes sometimes is a guy like Hakim Warrick to block your jump shot up into the stands and all of a sudden your guys aren’t as anxious to shoot the ball,” Beilein said of the 6-foot-9 former Syracuse player now with the Phoenix Suns.

“It’s not just the 2-3 zone, it’s a long 2-3 zone and they’ll just stick with it and stick with it. They haven’t seen long arms like that come out at them at the wing.”

This year’s version of the long-armed zone includes 6-9 forward Rick Jackson and 7-0 center Fab Melo.

Solid play from Stu Junior guard Stu Douglass, for the second straight year, has started the season coming off the bench.

Unlike last year, when it was a foreign role for him in the midst of learning to play both point guard and off-guard, Douglass is understanding what he is supposed to do.

And he’s embracing the responsibility.

“I’ve been solid the last three games and that’s what I’ve been going for, really. Coming off the bench the last three games, being the reliable player that coach knows when I go in, nothing is going to drop off between me, Zack (Novak) and Darius (Morris), “Douglass said. “I think I’ve accomplished a goal in that sense.”

He’s averaging 7.7 points a game and has shot 5 of 11 from the 3-point line.

This and that According to a statistic on Club Trillion, the Web site of former Ohio State walk-on forward Mark Titus, walk-on guard Josh Bartelstein leads the nation in “trillions,” which are late-game appearances by walk-ons where the only stat accumulated is minutes played. So far, Bartelstein has two “trillion” appearances. … Michigan isn’t the only team an inexperienced roster. Boeheim said six members of his 10-player rotation haven’t played before this season.

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.