Sunday, January 18, 2009

Belated basketball thoughts

This team is not that far off...which only makes the continued struggles that much more frustrating. This is what Al said after Saturday's loss to Virginia Tech:
“This is not youth...This is about hustle and recognition, a couple of times we just stood and watched. It takes a certain attitude, and we didn’t get the rebounds we needed.”


The pieces are in place but we are also dealing with serious flaws, like...
1. Our two best shooters (Rice and Trapani) are poor defenders. Both got killed in one on one battles Saturday.
2. Sanders forces way too much. The trade off for a night like UNC when he was on fire seems to be three straight duds. Sanders also needs to work the boards more aggressively.
3. Our big men are still very raw. I think both have potential, but right now seem to be in over their heads.


Yet we all those flaws and the half-assed effort Saturday night, this was a two possession game with a minute and a half left. This is not a championship team but they should be a bubble team. I think for these guys to turn things around -- and I think they can -- Rice and Sanders just need to play smarter. Both need better shot selection and Rice needs to help his teammates find easy baskets. Rice also needs to turn up his defense.


I will see them in person Tuesday night. Since joining the ACC, Georgia Tech has been a house of horrors for BC. Hopefully I am their to witness the turning point for this team.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Shot selection is not the problem for this team. It is not a problem in any way, shape or form. They take good shots consistently and this offense is potent and very effective. Who takes bad shots on this team? Tyrese Rice, who uses 27.8/100 possessions and has a 60.0% true shooting percentage. Rakim Sanders, who uses 22.5/100 possessions and has a 52.9% true shooting percentage but has awful butter fingers. Because bad shots cannot be attributed to Corey Raji or Trapani. Again, this team consistently takes good shots within the flow of the offense and scores effectively.

The problems with this team are defense, which is at times embarassingly bad, and rebounding. When the Va. Tech was hanging in the balance in the last three minutes. BC could not even approach getting a stop. There was no toughness and noone could lock down Allen or Vasallo. Again, I just have to object to anyone criticizing this team's shot selection. If this team could find a way to pair just solid defense and boxing out with their good offense, the bubble could become a reality. But until that defense appears, this season is in big trouble.