Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Ho hum: we beat St. Francis

Another tune up went well as BC beat St. Francis tonight. I didn't see it, but I am encouraged by a few things...

Tyler Roche is locked in from 3. We made most of our free throws. We didn't let them hang around.

What I am bothered by is our poor shooting from 3 by everyone else. We will need to make those, especially against inferior teams.

Anyone who actually saw the game is welcome to leave his or her thought.

31 comments:

matthew2 said...

Conte Forum was about 20% full tonight, after the opener being about 40% full. Students (and alum) were much less represented this time around.

The team played very well defensively tonight. They were aggressive -- a lot of double teams outside the perimeter and rotational help when needed. I know this was St. Francis... but outside of about 4 minutes at the end of the first half, this team was committed. No let downs, not runs AT ALL by the opposition.

Biko got into foul trouble early, and sat for about 13 minutes in the first half. He didn't attempt to establish himself as a scorer, and made a couple of bad passes. Once the offense is more crisp and the 2 suspended starters return, I think he'll be fine.

After a few minutes, St. Francis realized that they couldn't stay in man-to-man D and went to a zone for the rest of the game (mostly). I was very impressed with our commitment to passing tonight -- always making the extra pass to set up a teammate. We had 21 assists on 28 FG tonight (they had 7 on 18 FG).

Tyler Roche appears to be a the team leader at this point. As I have said before, confidence and comfort seems to do wonders for a jump shot. He knew exactly where to be in the zone offense to find his jumper, and shot exactly when he should have. Though he probably won't start over Raji (as Erik wondered previously), I won't put anything past Skinner. Regardless, I don't think 20-25 minutes and 7-8 ppg is out of the question. I'd sign up for that right now out of a 7th man.

Jackson is a scorer... he didn't play his best game tonight, but did have a couple of acrobatic finishes. I love that he wants the ball and wants to create when we really need a bucket. He doesn't appear to be at his best when Biko is out and he is running the point. His passing isn't consistently crisp, which the flex requires. Kid is certainly scrappy and exciting though... and he has the legs of Julius Hodge, my God

Elmore was the first man off the bench, again. He appears to be the 8th man once the suspendees are back, and may provide some minutes occasionally. He looked a little calmer tonight, and made a couple of nice moves. He's not a terrible liability if we end up needing some minutes one night. He can hit a jumper, and is committed to the system.

Ravenal doesn't appear ready to contribute... Skinner never goes 9 deep.

Southern is Southern. He seems to be "OK" at everything... passing, mid-range shooting, rebounding, defending...

Trapani has definitely struggled in the first 2 games. He might be trying to do too much. We will see when he gets Sanders and Raji back. His shot hasn't fallen as much as he'd like, and he seems frustrated out there. Like Paris, I think Trapani will come around. He also might end up as our leading rebounder, and he has remained committed to the boards thus far.

I was encourages tonight... no let downs, really, as we've seen in the past. Skinner has been very active with the referees through the first 2 games... this team seems to be pretty tight with each other, and committed to do better than a first round exit. We will soon find out if they are for real.

Matt said...

Couple fun highlights in the first half too. nice alley oop from tyler to joe. sweet dunk by reggie. I liked what I saw out of Elmore too, won't do anything spectacular but could be solid. Seems to work hard.

Rakim looks like he is going to be a beast.

How about the nice looking scoreboards in Conte?? Great upgrade!

Most encouraging, at least once, maybe twice, BC ran an inbounds play from under the St. Francis hoop that was designed to score, not just lob it in to half court. Maybe Al is gonna do some serious game coaching this year.

Erik said...

Thanks for the updates. I have been chocked by Trapani's box scores, considering Raji & Sanders haven't been there to score. I'm sure he'll be fine, good viewpoint about him probably forcing it.

BCMike said...

Thank you Matthew, Matt.

Eagle1 said...

Basketball. Yawn.

Ry said...

also, worth noting....i don't really see elmore being the 8th man after the suspendees come back. i think dunn is pretty well-set in that spot and with good reason, we need a body down low to spell southern or he is gonna get tired/in foul trouble.

i see the bench going:
jackson
roche
dunn
elmore
ravenel

DS said...

is the 6pm game this friday in the virgin islands going to be televised? or i am going to have to try to watch it on b2livetv.com or something

i cant find it on any listings. thanks.

morrina said...

Trapani has been forcing things. I hope he settles down. Ravenel was gassed and pretty ineffective in the 2nd half and was actually asking to come out -- not good. I don't see him contributing. I do think we have a pretty deep team with enough experience and diversity of skills that we may be very competitive and surprise people. If they are playing this well with out two key players, there is a lot of potential for sucess now that they are back in the line-up. The upcoming tourney will tell us a lot.

Erik said...

The Purdue website said something along the lines of nothing in the first round, the semi-finals are Fox Sports College (don't think I have that one), and the Finals are on something more regular, like Fox Sports Net.

Hopefully we can see the semi-finals and finals, but I wouldn't hold out hope for the 2st round game.

I see in the Herald that St Joes only beat Holy Cross by 2, and Holy Cross had lost to Harvard already, for perspective.

mod34b said...

double yawn until end of january

morrina said...

Thank DS and Erik for info/ideas about how to watch. Please keep us posted on b2livetv.com or other online sources for those of us who are technologically challenged!

Andrew said...

Sunday and Monday games are being shown on Fox College Sports - if you have Comcast you have to be a Sports & Entertainment Package subscriber to receive this (NFL Network is in this)

No TV for Friday.

blockparty said...

"double yawn until end of january"


the problem with game attendance.

Danny Boy said...

"double yawn until end of january"

Are you serious? Every game counts. Every game boosts our RPI. Every win moves us that much closer to the national spotlight. We don't start the season 20-0 a couple years ago without this part of the season. Don't think that the 20-0 ultimately meant nothing. Every bit of national publicity and credibility brings us that much closer to a tournament bid and a higher seed.

If you want to watch Duke and UNC games, go become a Duke or UNC fan. Last time I checked, the BC basketball season starts in November, and should be followed from that point on.

Unknown said...

No TV on Friday? Ugh!!!

Looks like me, TedNation and a six pack of brew will be getting reacquainted on friday night - WOW!

To the "yawners" out there - true fans would show up for the manathon oil games back in the 90's. Give me a break.

almost_paul said...

Thanks for the updates, Matthew and Matt.

I'm a little surprised that folks are saying Ravenel looks so lost. I thought he showed flashes of offensive ability at the beginning of last year when he got some minutes. I hope he can develop into something.

Very encouraging results from Roche so far - I thought he began to turn it on at the end of last season.

I love watching Reggie play. His enthusiasm is contagious - and very much needed on a team with no clear-cut leaders.

Nice attitude, Eagle1 and Mod ... I don't care if you care, but outward campaign against basketball only hurts BC.

DS said...

yeah i'm going to give b2live a shot at 6pm est on friday to watch the bc st josephs game. here's the link, just scroll down a little.

http://www.b2livetv.com/upcoming_events.asp?q=s&value=basketball

Eagle1 said...

At 1:02 PM, almost_paul said...

"Nice attitude, Eagle1 and Mod ... I don't care if you care, but outward campaign against basketball only hurts BC."

Lighten up, Francis. Just being silly. Not my sport, but of course we support the team. I'd root for BC in a circle-jerk contest.

morrina said...

DS, thanks for the link. Much appreciated.

Erik said...

So I'm glad the official BC release for our LOI's indicate that Noreen is 6'10" and Papa Samba is 6'9". The recruiting sites had them shorter from probably at least a year ago. I know Noreen isn't necessarily an insider banger on offense, but that height will help on D.

morrina said...

The Friday game is also available online at Fox College Sports....for $8! They also say that semis and finals are on their FCS-Pacific channel. That makes no sense.
http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/10387260/PARADISE-JAM:-Starts-Streaming-Live-Online-This-Friday!

mod10aeagle said...

Oddly enough, the circle jerk contest will be on network TV with Brent Musberger on the play-by-play (of course).

Badgers Rule said...

Hey fans, if you want to check out the 2009 Paradise Jam College Basketbal Tournament, you can view all of the early round games online at www.foxcollegesports.com. Both semifinals, the consolation game and the championship can be seen on Fox College Sports, check your local listings for the correct channels. Click here for a preview of the tournament:
http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/10387260/PARADISE-JAM:-Starts-Streaming-Live-Online-This-Friday!

blist said...

SI's season preview doesn't have us in their top 65 making the tourney. Why am I not surprised?

Ry said...

"Oddly enough, the circle jerk contest will be on network TV with Brent Musberger on the play-by-play (of course.

you're looking live at the campus green...THE DUSTBOWL...chestnut hill massachuseets as we prepare for Boston College CircleJerk '09 presented by Jergens

modest34b said...

hey, watch your words!

Ry said...

i was just having a little fun with the musberger reference...no offense intended there

modest34b said...

psst, psst Ry.. did you miss my pun??

i know you were just having a little fun with the musberger reference ...no offense taken

look at my name. look at your last post where you use my name in vain. (explaining a pun kills the pun!)

blockparty said...

sean marshall always enjoyed a good pun.

Ry said...

boy am i red in the face

Paul said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt7_rGNGzEs