Saturday, November 28, 2009

Basketball back on track (for now)

After the disaster in the Caribbean, I feared that the season could unravel as early tonight. Fortunately we beat Providence without Rakim and without making a 3-pointer. I didn't see the game, but it looks like we were much more efficient on offense, better on the boards and less careless with the turnovers. If anyone saw the game, feel free to leave your thoughts below.

14 comments:

AO said...

I didn't see the game either but Reggie Jackon with a 20 12 and 7!?

When's the last time BC had a legit low post threat or at least a big man who was reliable on the boards?

WI_Eagle said...

Craig Smith

JP said...

BC was the better team out there tonight, but they managed to blow an 18-point lead and actually trailed at one point very late in the game. Still, they won and it was a better effort than pretty much anything they did in the USVI. There were certainly some positives to take from it.

ClassO10 said...

WI Eagle- i'll try and one up you on more recent- Jared Dudley?

Nick said...

Anyone have any idea on Rakim's status? Maybe I missed any update on this.

Lenny Sienko said...

Even on the radio:

Ted and Bill made much of BC employing a 2-3 "matchup" zone defense very effectively while building a 17-point lead in the first half.

Asst. Coach Moe very graciously gave credit to Coach Skinner for the change to the 2-3 matchup; but iirc Coach Al has not seemed partial to zone defense, even when it seemed called for; e.g., when we didn't have the players for mtm.

Tyler Roche was reported out with back spasms. Joe Trapani played well despite being bothered by the flu.

No update on Sanders other than he was there in street clothes on the bench.

Raji scored 16 points in the first half; but was held in check in the second half, to the point where he was taken out; but inserted too late to get back into the flow of the game.

Paris made a steal as time was winding down to keep providence form taking the lead. Southern contributed timely offense, especially a conventional 3-point play with about a minute left.

Andrew said...

Jackson is neither a big man nor a low post threat, but he played very well. Love the way he attacks the basket.

Providence lives/dies on Curry's threes.

Raji had 16 and 10.

Nice effort. Hopefully, there's some confidence gained and everybody's ready to roll when Sanders gets back. Should be a fun year.

AO said...

To clarify my comment, I know Jackson is not a big man or a low post threat. I was marveling at the fact that he had 12 rebounds and thinking how pathetic it is that a guard is leading our team in boards like that.

Craig Smith and Jared Dudley were not fearsome big men. They were both great college players but no one feared them in the low post or on the boards. Craig maaaybe, not Jared. Again, I loved them both. I just wish BC would recruit a big man over 6'8 that has decent coordination and toughness, thats all i ask for.

CEW said...

Duke fans would also love to have a big man, which is a roundabout way of saying that real low post threats are very hard to find, even for the very best teams.

almost_paul said...

I didn't see the game, so I'm just going from the box score, but I find it interesting that Roche only played 10 minutes. Sometimes I swear Skinner forgets he has a bench. Yeah, he was 0-3, but Skinners way of managing his rotation has to KILL some guys' confidence. Remember that Roche was 5-6 beyond the arc a week ago. Maybe it was because Reggie was playing so well, but just thought it was interesting.

almost_paul said...

AHHH ... just saw that Roche had back spasms. My bad. My sentiments on Skinners management on the rotation still stands, though.

modest34b said...

Duke's center is 7-1 and they have 2 frosh who are 6-10!

Ry said...

having tall guys doesn't mean that you have a guy who is an impact player down low. we have had big guys who stunk, just like every other school.

i understand that dudley and smith aren't exactly the impact low-post players you want to see out there. but the fact of the matter is that they are both NBA players. so if not them, then who do you point to as the type you would like to see? for every blake griffin there are more than a handful of corey rajis

marcos said...

AO...you're nuts if you don't think Craig Smith was a "legit low post threat". Cmon man!