Eddie Lampkin, Jyare Davis add frontcourt playmaking to Syracuse offense

More on the players Autry will turn to replace Maliq Brown

The evolution of Maliq Brown was a massive development for Syracuse last season. Brown was a constant source of impactful, winning plays on both ends of the floor. For obvious reasons, Brown earned his reputation as one of the best all-around frontcourt defenders in the country: quick hands, rim protection upside, and the versatility to switch out and defend opposing guards in space.

As amazing as he was defensively — something that Duke now will reap the benefits of — Brown was also a polished interior finisher and an industrious screener who unlocked Syracuse’s pick-and-roll offense, often working with Judah Mintz or Quadir Copeland.

According to Synergy Sports, Brown shot 81.1 percent at the rim in the half court and ended the season with 53 dunks, tied for most in the ACC with former Duke forward Mark Mitchell. When Brown rolled or slipped to the rim out of the screen-roll, he shot 73.2 percent and scored 1.25 points per possession.

Here’s an angled step-up ball screen from Brown for Copeland vs. Boston College. The Eagles hard hedge the screen, which leaves Brown open in the middle of the floor. Copeland finds him and Brown does an excellent job catching this ball in traffic, keeping it high (away from the hands of smaller guard defenders) and finishing.

That, however, was only a part of what made Brown such a compelling pick-and-roll partner. Brown also worked as a hub at the elbow and excelled as a short-roll passer — catching passes in pockets of space and redistributing the ball to players in obvious catch-and-finish areas: spot-up 3s and cutters down in the dunker spot.

Look at Brown work on this possession: three screens and two passes in the span of about 10 seconds, leading to the Mintz give-and-go layup.

Louisville puts two on the ball against this Mintz-Brown pick-and-roll. Mintz hits Brown on the short roll, and Brown skips it to Copeland in the weak-side corner. Copeland drives, passes back to Brown, who records another kick-out pass — his second in about three seconds of action — and finds JJ Starling for an open 3.

Brown assisted 10+ times to four different teammates last season, per CBB Analytics; however, no player benefitted more than Chris Bell, the team’s long-range bomber who recorded 15 field goals off Brown assists. (Overall, only Mintz, a primary initiator with a massive playmaking load assisted Bell more: 41)

These possessions often worked with Bell spotting up in the weak-side corner and receiving a kick-out pass from Brown off the short roll.

NC State Ices this side screen with Michael O’Connell positioning himself to push Mintz to the right, away from the middle of the floor. Mintz rejects the screen and Brown counters the coverage: a short roll into space in the middle of the floor, which peels in weak-side defenders and leaves Bell open for a corner 3.

Short roll on short notice

It’s not easy to find bigs who can work as fulcrums and pass the ball with purpose, especially in the college ranks. In general, the skill level of bigs continues to widen as more are asked to shoot 3s or initiate 5-out offense. Last season alone, the ACC had guys like Kyle Filipowski, DJ Burns, Norchad Omier, PJ Hall, Ian Schieffelin, Quinten Post, Andrew Carr, Efton Reid and Brown — all of whom can play with the ball in space and/or shoot. That said, every single one of those guys was a multi-year college veteran.

This is where the portal can become a resource: finding veteran players who have years of skill development and are ready to contribute as play finishers and ball movers. If you want to land a 4-5 who can pass and knows where to be on defense, the portal is crucial.

Syracuse made great use of this tool and landed two experienced frontcourt playmakers this offseason: Eddie Lampkin Jr. (Colorado) and Jyare Davis (Delaware).

At 6-foot-11, 265 pounds, Lampkin may not look like a prototypical playmaker. During the 2023-24 season, though, Colorado put the ball in his hands and allowed Lampkin to work as an offensive hub at times — from various 5-out sets or down in the post. Surrounded by NBA-level talent — Cody Williams, Tristan da Silva and KJ Simpson  — Lampkin’s assist rate jumped to a career best 14.5 percent.

On this possession, Colorado runs a little angled step-up ball screen for da Silva with Lampkin. As da Silva drives, Cal is in drop coverage; Lampkin short rolls to the left elbow and catches a pass from da Silva. Lampkin scans and sees da Silva cut backdoor, hitting him in stride for an impromptu give-and-go layup.

Davis is the closest facsimile to Brown on this year’s roster. The 6-foot-7, 220-pound senior split time at the 4 and 5 for Delaware, and there’s some skill overlap with Brown. Now at Syracuse, he projects as an important option at the 4, playing next to Lampkin or Naheem McLeod. However, Syracuse could look to run small-ball at times, too: Jaquan Carlos, Starling, Bell, Donnie Freeman and Davis, for example.

Whether its on the pick-and-pop or a short roll, Davis is very comfortable facing the basket, especially in long midrange areas of the floor (41.2 2P% on long 2PA last year, per Bart Torvik), though he can stretch his shot to beyond the arc (3.4 3PA per 100 possessions during his sophomore and junior seasons) as well.

Davis looks like Brown on this possession. He sets three different screens before ultimately getting to the short roll with an empty corner. It’s going to be fun to see Carlos develop pick-and-roll chemistry with Davis, two crafty players who competed against one another several times at their previous stops in the CAA.

There’s good force and athleticism to his game, but Davis also likes to show off his skills. He’ll face up and get into this handle, looking to attack the space when he receives a pass out of the screen-roll/pop.

Similar to Brown last season, Davis should be a positive tertiary playmaker on the short roll for the Orange. Davis averaged 4.4 assists per 100 possessions over the last two seasons, along with an assist rate of 16.5 percent. If you cut and move without the ball, Davis will find you.

Xavier blitzes this ball screen and then sends early/immediate help: Desmond Claude rushes at Davis, but Dailyn Swain, an excellent young defender, makes a mistake. Swain abandons the rim to help on Claude’s old assignment in the right short corner, but now there’s Delaware player open at the left dunker spot. Davis doesn’t miss.

A variety of players should stand to benefit from the short-roll creation efforts of Davis, most notably Bell, but also including Carlos (an underrated off-ball player), Starling (a talented catch-and-go driver), Lucas Taylor (34.5 3P% on catch-and-shoot 3PA last season) and Freeman, who should look to slash and cut around these actions.

5-out Fit

Despite coming off the bench at the beginning of the season, Brown quickly made himself indispensable for Syracuse. An injury to McLeod launched Brown into a starting spot and he took on a larger role in the offense, too, as Adrian Autry opened things up and let Brown initiate some 5-out sets.

What Brown lacked in size compared to the 7-foot-4 McLeod, he made up for with motor, defensive instincts and playmaking from the frontcourt. Syracuse was -14 in 183 minutes with McLeod on the floor and Brown off the court last season, per CBB Analytics, scoring only 0.97 points per possession. In the 932 minutes with Brown on and McLeod off, the Orange were +29 and scored 1.11 points per possession on offense.

Matched up with UNC, Brown starts things by setting the scissor/shuffle screens for Mintz and Copeland, before he receives a pass from Bell. It looks as though Mintz will come off a down screen from Bell, but UNC switches the action and has Cormac Ryan defend the top side of Mintz, denying an easy handoff after the switch. Brown goes to his next progression — spraying the ball to Bell in the corner. The result another corner 3 as Bell shoots over the shorter Elliot Cadeau.

Here’s an after-timeout (ATO) set at NC State — starting with 5-out Zoom action: Starling coming off the pindown from Bell and into the handoff with Brown. Instead of looking to drive, Staling kicks left to Copeland and chases his own pass with a little ghost screen for Copeland — blurring out to the left wing. Copeland drives and scores in the paint.

Given Syracuse’s personnel — which includes several talented perimeter players, some shooting, and multiple bigs that can initiate offense, but no longer a ball-dominant, heliocentric point guard (Mintz) — the Orange could lean into 5-out even more this season. Lampkin and Davis are ready for these opportunities.

Now, here’s a designed 5-out look (Delay/Open) from Colorado coming out of a timeout against Florida, from one of the most entertaining games of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Simpson passes to Lampkin with all five players at or above the arc. As Lampkin receives the ball, J'Vonne Hadley (now at Louisville) lifts and sets a Rip (back) screen for Simpson.

Simpson cuts hard to the rim off Hadley’s screen. Lampkin does a terrific job as he passes the ball around Tyrese Samuel and hits Simpson in stride for a reverse layup.

Lampkin dished out 3.2 assists per 40 minutes, nearly double the amount of assists he averaged per 40 minutes (1.7) during the three previous seasons with TCU.

From another after-timeout (ATO) 5-out Delay/Open set against Florida: it’s a similar set, albeit with a slight screen adjustment. On this possession, Luke O’Brien (now at Clemson) lifts from the right corner and smacks a Florida defender with a flare screen, freeing da Silva up for an open 3. Once again, Lampkin makes the read as da Silva fades out.

When Lampkin operates in 5-out or at the elbow, he’s comfortable handling the ball, too, using his size to set wide screens and open up screen-roll action.

Colorado feeds Lampkin at the elbow and then runs Zoom action for da Silva: a down screen from Williams going into the handoff at the elbow. Lampkin hands the ball to da Silva and simultaneously hits Jaylon Tyson with a screen, which frees up one of the best shooters in the country for an open look.

Similar concept here against Cal in the mountains of Boulder: it’s more 5-out Zoom action. This time, da Silva turns the corner after receiving the handoff from Lampkin. As da Silva drives, the big fella rolls slowly and then seals deep in the paint, opening himself up for a drop-off pass from da Silva.

Davis can operate as that middle handoff hub, too. Here, Davis works as a pressure release valve vs. Hofstra’s ball pressure (Carlos is tough at the point of attack) and its efforts to down the screen. Hofstra is unable to keep the ball on one side of the floor, though, because the point guard passes to Davis and then flows into a handoff, thus getting around the Ice coverage. Davis flips the handoff and sets a veer screen for a shooter in the middle of the floor.

Delaware generates a good look from deep. Despite the miss, the Blue Hens still find points as Davis outmuscles Darlinstone Dubar (now at Tennessee) for position in the paint — and gets some second-chance points off a nice long rebound and a quick pass.

Post, Mate

Brown was rarely used as a low-box target last season, though he was rather efficient on his limited number of opportunities: 1.5 points per post-up possession. In fact, Mintz recorded more post-up possessions than any other player on the roster, which speaks to the fact that Syracuse really didn’t play through the post all the much. According to Synergy, Syracuse recorded only 60 used post-up possessions last season: the fewest in the ACC, trailing Virginia, the next closest team, by 23 post-up possessions.

That’s about to change with Lampkin and Davis, both of whom recorded over 100 post-up possessions last season, along with Freeman.

As a low-block bruiser, Lampkin shot 54.1 percent on post-up field goal attempts in the 2023-24 campaign, per Synergy. Lampkin scored 138 points on post-ups, fifth most in the Pac-12 and 80 more than Syracuse did as a team (58). Lampkin can bang down low in a variety of ways, too: quick seals, duck-ins and more prolonged, isolated backdowns.

Lampkin goes fast on this possession. Colorado runs “Gut” hi-lo action here against Marquette. Lampkin sets the pindown for da Silva in the middle of the floor and then immediately seals on Oso Ighodaro, which creates the hi-lo opportunity. Lampkin has good footwork and touch around the rim, too.

Success for a half-court offense is all predicated on the ability to create advantages: bending the defense and exploiting those holes to create open shots. One of the most straightforward ways to create advantages is to have a player than can command a double team. Get two defenders on the ball and play out of it. A post-up is a great way to get into these situations, assuming the personnel is in place.

This was how NC State orchestrated a lot of half-court offense the last two seasons with DJ Burns: cross screen, dump it into the post and look to score 1-on-1; if help comes, kick it to open cutter or spot-up shooter. Lampkin can provide some of these same looks.

This time, Colorado runs Floppy action against Florida — with Lampkin again screening and sealing. The ball gets punched into him on the right block. Lampkin seals with deep post position, spinning under the rim and away from Samuel. Walter Clayton Jr. comes to help against Lampkin. When Clayton leaves for Lampkin, his man, Hadley, cuts down to the front of the rim — Lampkin finds him for a layup and the foul.

Next: Colorado runs “77” ball screen action for Simpson: double ball screens with da Silva popping and Lampkin rolling and sealing in the paint. Lampkin again catches in deep post position (a trend of his) vs. Ighodaro and, instantly, the double team comes from the opposite big, David Joplin. Lampkin skips it out to da Silva and now Marquette is in rotation. The ball pings around the perimeter and finds its way back to a cutting da Silva.

Lampkin never touches the ball again on the possession, but it’s his roll and seal that starts the advantage chain.

Here’s Syracuse running a similar action with Justin Taylor in the place of da Silva, the 4-man slipping out beyond the arc, and McLeod rolling and posting up.

When Davis posts up, he likes to face the rim in the mid-post, similar to how he operates on short rolls and the pick-and-pop. This allows him to take advantage of his speed. He has the power and body control to finish through contact.

According to Synergy, Davis scored 0.9 points per post-up possession last season (47.6 FG%). That’s enough offensive punch — on volume — to occasionally draw extra help. Moreover, Davis is a willing pass vs. double teams, too, like Lampkin. Delaware runs some “Thru” action into a cross screen for Davis, which brings him to the left block for an entry pass. When the double arrives, Davis makes a nice interior pass to an open teammate for a layup.

This could lead to some fun big-to-big passing — in either direction — between Lampkin and Davis.

Freeman likes to operate in the mid-post area, too. It remains to be seen how exactly Syracuse will use the 5-star freshman forward, but it’s not going out on too far of a limb to assume he’ll get some midrange post/iso touches, at times. This is a tough shot, but you can see Freeman’s skill and touch as he scores over Duke’s Darren Harris.

Davis drives

With his frame and ball skills, Davis can do a little more than play out of the post or screen-and-roll. During his time at Delaware, Davis showcased his ability to slash — driving to the rim off the catch or handoffs. 

Xavier’s defense is in scramble mode here, but Davis shows his speed beating a short closeout and then powering up for a strong finish over Swain (3.8% block rate).

This perimeter activity should help Davis play with Lampkin. Neither guy needs to be in the paint at all times. Syracuse could try to work some two-man actions between Lampkin and Davis, including in 5-out looks.

For instance, Delaware uses this ATO set to run 5-out Delay Zoom action — with Davis starting off ball in the left corner. Davis comes off a pindown and into the handoff from Delaware’s center. Davis looks to turn the corner and attack, but Dubar, a strong defender, is in his way. That’s when Davis gets back into his bag — a crossover combo move into a spin, which gets him to the front of the rim.

Here’s another ATO set with Davis beginning in the left corner. The point guard dribbles left off a ball screen and flows into what some analysts/coaches refer to as “Miami” action, which is a dribble-handoff into a ball screen. Davis turns the corner and gets a piece of the paint with his defender going under both screen. This allows Davis to build some momentum before trying to finish.

Davis misses the initial contested look, but shows good bounce with a nice second jump, plus the finish.

I don’t envision Davis getting many opportunities to initiate pick-and-roll as a ball handler. He had only a handful of those possessions last season; however, with his handle and passing skills, it’s something he can navigate when the action presents itself. Perhaps Syracuse will try some 4-5 pick-and-roll next season, too.

Drag and Seal

Syracuse ran a lot of drag pick-and-roll last season with Mintz and Brown: ball screens set in early offense before the defense has the ability to fully set up. Brown is fast for a center, and he used that speed to help flow into these drag ball screens.

Davis has the quicks and athleticism to work as the screener in these actions with Carlos, Starling, Taylor (0.93 points per pick-and-roll posssession), or Elijah Wright. Lampkin has great size but he runs the floor hard. He’ll use his combination of motor, footwork and power to clear out space on these drag screen looks.

Lampkin starts this opportunity with a hit-ahead pass to Hadley, which he follows by sprinting to set an empty-side drag ball screen. Arizona State switches the screen, putting a lighter defender on Lampkin. Hadley drives, shoots and misses; however, Lampkin burrows his way to the rim and scores on a put-back finish.

Unsurprisingly, Lampkin is a real problem for opponents on the offensive glass. He ranked just outside the Top 100 nationally last season in offensive rebound rate (11.8%), per KenPom. Plus, he’s only two years removed ranking Top 10 nationally with an offensive rebound rate of 17.1 percent during his sophomore season at TCU.

Davis can use these drag ball screens to get into his pick-and-pop game and reverse the ball to open teammates. Hofstra is in drop coverage here against this drag action from Delaware. Davis pops and receives the pass a step inside the arc. Hofstra sends a weak-side stunt — from Tyler Thomas — in his direction, but Davis drives middle and kicks out to an open shooter, located behind the stunting defender.

Again, one of the benefits of these two are that they aren’t pure play finishers. They set screens, facilitate second-side actions with ball reversals and can both pass.

Borrowing a page from current/former NBA centers Daniel Theis and Marcin Gortat, that wide body of Lampkin can also be used to seal in the paint for drivers. Drew Timme was good at this during his time at Gonzaga. Efton Reid and Wake Forest made use of this last season, too.

Instead of having Lampkin set the drag ball screen, Colorado would use one of its forwards to set the early screen for Simpson — with Lampkin already sealing down in the low block.

Hadley sets the drag screen for Simpson high up the floor, so when the point guard dribbles off he’s doing so with room to gather some steam and get downhill. As Simpson cracks the defense, Cal’s center, Fardaws Aimaq, is unable to help at the rim as Lampkin seals and essentially boxes him out from contesting at the rim.

Again, Starling (60 FG% at the rim) and Carlos should look to take advantage of these opportunities when presented.

It’s the same thing from earlier in the game vs. Cal: O’Brien slips the drag screen, Simpson drives left against the grain and Lampkin seals deep in the paint, thus creating another layup for Simpson.

Syracuse hasn’t won 20+ games and made it to the NCAA Tournament in the same season since 2019. Autry and his staff, however, are positioned to change that, sooner rather than later. As this foundation is constructed, Syracuse invested heavily in the portal and landed a major class, including finding veterans at a position of need, while also bringing in two Top 60 recruits. There’s a really good mix here. Two big pieces of that puzzle are Lampkin and Davis, who can help replace Brown’s offensive production.