Contrasting styles on display in Syracuse-Michigan

ATLANTA – Syracuse is brimming with confidence, largely because of its suffocating style when the other team has the ball.

Next up, a guy who knows a thing or two about breaking down opposing defenses.

Trey Burke, meet the Orange Crush.

The Final Four semifinal between Syracuse and Burke’s Michigan team will present a clear contrast in styles tonight – the Orange, a veteran group that is perfectly content to settle into their octopus-like zone, versus the brash young Wolverines, who love to run, run, run and have been compared to those Fab Five squads of the early 1990s.

Clearly taking to heart the adage that offense wins fans but defense wins championships, Syracuse sounded like a team that fully expects to be playing in the title game at the Georgia Dome.

“It’s going to take them a while to adjust to the zone,” junior guard Brandon Triche said Friday, a day when all four teams got a chance to practice in the cavernous, 70,000-seat stadium that is normally home of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.

The Michigan players quickly got wind of the comments coming from Syracuse’s media session.

“It sounds like cockiness,” said guard Tim Hardaway Jr., son of the former NBA star. “But it’s not going to come down to just talent or who has the biggest players. It’s going to come down to heart and passion.”

Having a player such as Burke doesn’t hurt, either.

The Associated Press player of the year already came up huge in the regionals, leading the Wolverine back from a 14-point deficit against Kansas with less than 7 minutes remaining.

He knocked down a long 3-pointer at the end of regulation to tie the game, then finished off the upset of the top-seeded Jayhawks in overtime.