Syracuse basketball coach Adrian Autry on Orange’s man-to-man defense: ‘We’ve got a lot of work to do’

Syracuse, N.Y. – The renovation of the Syracuse Orange’s defense from zone to man-to-man is very much a work in progress.

In Syracuse’s 89-77 win over Canisius on Wednesday night, there were holes in the Orange’s defense that were consistent with the demolition part of a rebuild.

The Golden Griffins exploited those holes, shooting 48.4% from the field and 45.5% from the 3-point line.

“We’re a young team,’’ Syracuse coach Adrian Autry, who is overseeing the switch from Jim Boeheim’s trademarked 2-3 zone to a man-to-man defense this year. “That’s not an excuse, but we just are a young team and we’re doing something new. So it’s going to take an adjustment.’’

But there were portions of Wednesday’s game when the Syracuse players all locked in and played the kind of defense that can shut down an opponent, create points for the Orange and win games.

The Orange took control of the game when sophomore guard Judah Mintz got on a hot-streak at the same time Syracuse’s defense clamped down on Canisius.

Syracuse’s lead had been trimmed to just six points midway through the second half, but Mintz, who would wind up with a career-high 26 points, scored the Orange’s next 12 points. Meanwhile, the Orange blanked Canisius on a series of seven consecutive possessions.

“We played in spurts,’’ Autry said. “We had a good defensive run the second half. We had seven stops in a row. I thought that opened up the game for us.’’

Basketball may be a game on runs, but Autry wants his team to be more consistent on defense.

“Just glimpses here and there and we’ve just got to put it together as a whole,’’ Autry said. “I think each game we’ll start to get better.’’

Quadir Copeland, a sophomore, downplayed the conversion from zone to man.

“It’s not a learning curve; it’s basketball,’’ Copeland said. “I feel like all the guys came here playing man-to-man. If there was a learning curve, it was learning to play the zone.’’