Thoughts on the game
Strange game that left me wonder how did we win? I thought BC outplayed Georgia Tech in the first half...only to trail. BC started to pull away in the second half...only to collapse. BC went into OT without three starters...and pulled out the win. At the end of the day, BC got lucky. To play so poorly during the final five minutes and still win was a nice break. Maybe this will be the turning point.
Likes
-- Dunn's contributions. Dunn is not a star and probably will never be a starter, but he acquitted himself well as our other big men started fouling out. He played conservatively and got a few nice rebounds. We needed him tonight and he didn't do anything to hurt the team.
-- Reggie Jackson overcoming mistakes. The nice thing about sitting close is picking up on things you don't see on TV. Jackson was beating himself up when his turnover led to Georgia Tech taking the lead late in the game. Al sent him to the bench. Yet he didn't sulk and was itching to get back on the floor. When Sanders fouled out, he had his chance and played well in OT.
-- Sanders' shooting. He still makes me cringe with some of his shot selections, but he deserves credit for when they fall. I'd still like him to hit the boards a bit harder.
Dislikes
-- Handling the press. Earlier in the year, the team broke the press with ease. Losing Trapani hurt tonight since he's a tall guy for who can catch the midcourt pass and he makes good passes.
-- Dumb fouls. I don't think the refs helped but these guys have to be more careful. Sanders' final foul was dumb and so was Southern's.
-- Offensive rebounds. With Raji fighting through his injury and Southern in foul trouble we didn't get many second chance opportunities. Other guys need to step up on the glass.
Winning a game you should have lost is always a good thing. I hope it serves as a sign that things are turning around. NC State is up next. That game is winnable. Now let's hope the guys can play a complete game.
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15 comments:
Two more dislikes I'd like to add.
1) The in-game coaching. The press was obviously bothering us. Why couldn't they come up with anything to help break it? Whether they try something completely different (home run pass???) or have the big man flash in the middle, adjustments needed to be made and there was none.
2) That stupid in-bounds play. Game after game we struggle in-bounding the ball on the baseline. PLEASE, for the love of God, draw up another play. I cringe every time we have to inbound the ball there.
One additional like the helped with one of the dislikes: Biko Paris. When he was brought into the game, BC broke the press much better and were getting baskets from beating it. For not playing almost the entire game, his poise late helped us. I thought I would see more of us going with a 3-guard look. It has worked (see our slight Wake comeback).
If teams are going to press us (Clemson, Duke, Maryland, anyone who watched tonight), we need to take Sanders out and put in Biko.
What, no comment on the effective "LET'S GO...EAG-LES" chant during the GT free throws? Worked twice!
Also, no mention of the new whale pants, and no pics of the BC cheering section to your left. WTF?
BC Mike, I was at the game sitting behind the basket opposite of the BC bench. I did see and HEAR the BC cheering section. GaTech fans were leaving with 7 minutes to go and even before overtime. Coach Al...please coach and design a play for the inbounds.
Glad we won BUT......
Al- your too nonchalant!
1. Twice you had guys on the floor with 4 fouls and you didn't pull them!
2. Many times, on in-bounds passes, on offense (lack of rotation away from the ball) etc... there was NO hustle to get open!!! No excuse for a lack of hustle...Al you've got to rip'em a new one!!! They should be running steps for the rest of the week.
3. Give the props to the guy sitting two rows behind you with the (new) maroon BC whale pants!!! (Bill- you are one of a kind! With the pants alone, you've got my vote for Superfan of 2009!)
The screaming BC fan in section H.
Looks like GT has the same attendance issues as BC.
“But I’ve never been one to get on my teammates,” he said. “I try to let them know that OK, if you drop a pass or make a bad play, you still have to keep playing.
“I don’t get discouraged. I’m a pretty positive person.”
This could be our biggest problem. Rice does not understand his own failures, both athletically and mentally. Don't get me wrong, he's a very good player when he plays within himself. But how many times does he drive wildly into the lane with three or four defenders caving in on him and either throw up a prayer shot or tirn the ball over. Also, I've seen over and over again, when he turns the ball over on the press or in transition, he stops abruptly and ABSOLUTELY DOES give up on the play. If he thinks this is a ggod example for younger guys, he's dreaming. I personally see much more non-stop hustle from guys like Trapani, Jackson, and Raji.
Im happy for the win. Take what we can get. We have the same dislikes with the team that we had last year and frankly for the last 4 years . Cant break a press, don't hustle for 40 mins, and dont have an easy out of bounds play.
I've given up on criticizing this team, its pointless. Just have to pray every game that we dont get blown out or lose a lead late. Also big ups to Biko. Raji and Reggie Jackson.
On to bigger things, when is GENE going to start selling player authentics in the bookstore. All the big schools do it.
Dislikes:
-Us inbounding the ball from anywhere on the court
-Not setting one screen on an inbounding play
-Posting up in the corner on an inbounding play
Morrina: "But how many times does he drive wildly into the lane with three or four defenders caving in on him and either throw up a prayer shot or tirn the ball over."
Very infrequently. Rice takes good shots the great majority of the time and he is a superior offensive player. His true shooting percentage is in the 60's. He is also the only player on this time capable of driving to the lane consistently. When a team's clear #1 option is a smallish guard, tough shots will occassionally be part of the package. Chris Paul does that, Jonathan Wallace did that last year, Lowry, Foye, Collison, Jerrod Bayless.
I absolutely agree with you that he takes plays off, plays passively and does not hustle for stretches and does not actively lead as much as he should.
Guess who'll have pictures from the BC-UMD Game next Tuesday?
Me!
Having watched Rice for four years, I would disagree that Rice takes mostly good shots.
His shooting pct. is 44% this year. He shoots 37% from behind the arc. Those aren't really good numbers.
Having said that, he is the only guy who can consistently go one-on-one and get into the lane. The better point is that I don't mind that he takes it upon himself to do that b/c Jackson is pretty much the next most athletic guy on the team.
The most disturbing trend is that he says one thing in the papers about leading by example, but does another during games. He sulks too often.
There's a reason he came back for his senior year and there's a reason that he'll be a good player in Europe. Quick offensive feet, lethargic defensive feet.
I just have to disagree strongly that Rice does not take good shots. His shooting percentage shows it. A guard that shoots .487 from 2 and .381 from 3 is providing very effective results from his shots, especially since Rice also uses almost 28 possessions per 100 eagle possessions. Rice's true shooting percentage is 60% and his effective field goal percentage is 52.6%. You know whose percentages are very similar to Rice's numbers? Tyler Hansborough who is universally regarded as an extraordinarily effective scorer. Tyrese Rice takes the most shots because he is, by far, our best shooter. The numbers are decisive.
I have to agree with CT. I think Rice's effectiveness at scoring and taking good shots has dropped this year. He's not taking bad shots all of the time, but much more often this year than in the past. He talks about "getting other guys involved" but in reality, he's forcing too many shots. We have others (Jackson, Trapani, Raji when he's healthy, and Sanders when he plays within himself) that are scoring threats. But on far too many possessions, mostly because of the ineffectiveness of the flex, it's left to Rice to create with the shot clock winding down. That's when he usually takes a bad shot -- either a highly contested 3 or a drive to the hoop into a collapsing defense. The worst part is that we've become very predictable in this way. I might give Rice more slack if he were a hustler, but poor shooting combined with lax effort = hard to root for.
Rice does not take bad shots. The numbers are really decisive on this. The other criticisms about hustle and leadership and slow defensive footwork I completely agree with. And those are big problems that hurt the team's ability to win consistently.
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