Likes
-- Reggie Jackson's big game. I know Donahue liked Sunday's balanced, team effort against Cal, but you can't overlook a game like this from Reggie. Here he is on national TV against a Big Ten team putting on a near flawless performance.
-- Good ball handling. I didn't expect this when Donahue arrived. Not that Donahue teams are careless, I just thought we wouldn't have the ball handlers on the roster to be so careful. I also thought the transition to a more perimeter based passing system would invite steals.
-- Josh Southern's post passing. This was a factor later in the game but I was impressed with Josh's ability to find open men and cutters. If he can do that every game our offense will become very efficient.
Dislikes
-- Trapani's off night. I know people had big expectations for Joe this season, but he seemed a bit off. I don't know the best way for him to get points, since he's not the spot shooter that say Rubin is. Maybe we should get him cutting to the basket more.
-- Dunn and Elmore's rebounding. Neither logged big minutes, but neither were much of a factor. We are lucky that Indiana is not a great rebounding team. Against better team's these guys will have to step up.
I think we are all excited, but keep Yale in the back of your mind. This team is playing well, but we will have some cold shooting nights ahead. This will be an unpredictable season...let's enjoy the ride.
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17 comments:
I think there will be nights Joe Trapani is carrying the team, and other nights he won't score as much and the other guys will be carry the load. It's bound to happen when we have him posting up, shooting 3s, cutting, passing, playing zone, playing man-to-man on a center. He does so much that he can't be an offensive force every game.
The good part of your LIKE of "Reggie's big game" is that it didn't stand out (to me) as any different from the other 5 games I've seen. Business as Usual. The kid is having an awesome year.
Great passing by Josh. Not to be overlooked on Southern, his free throw shooting has been excellent all year. He's an easy guy for opponents to foul -- but he's making them pay.
joe trapani's FGs made and attempted in each game this season, starting with the most recent:
Indiana 3-11
Cal 4-14
Wisco 4-12
Texas A&M 4-13
HC 3-11
Yale 3-8
St. Francis 6-11
That's a 33.75 FG Percentage. I would argue that he has been an offensive force in only one game. This is significantly below what he has done the previous two years, and I know it is early, but I think he may be the biggest loser of Donahue's system. It gets uglier still if you choose to just focus on his performance in games against the BCS Conference teams.
Not having Cory Raji in the game in the 2nd half was brutal for BC offensively. He really is the guy who works the high post and makes cuts in this offense. It also hurt us on the defensive end as he really is the only player we have that even resembles an interior defender. We were fortunate to make shots and I was thrilled that we found a way to win without a key player.
All in all, I was enthused by the effort and the style of play. Reggie was phenomenal and Biko has been twice the player I thought he was before the season started. He has clearly taken to this coaching staff and style. There are going to be nights where we don't make shots and lose because we don't have a ton of consistent shooters. That will come down the road with Donahue's recruiting. I am very excited to see how this season plays out in what has to be considered a down ACC.
ATL,
As for football, are you mailing it in?
No football grades
No coverage of Kuechly selection as an All-American
No Guest bloggers for Syracuse football
Although slightly early, I think we've reached that time of year for HARRY COLLINS (aka Observer College??) to re-emerge. Harry you might consider starting by eating a little crow as to Biko.
And, Harry, I do hope you can make the type of provacative comments that will lure the pseudo know-it-all CT into debate so you can wipe the floor with him again. That was quite entertaining last year!
Here is a nice compliment:
"Reggie Jackson played like a true playmaker. That's an NBA guard,'' [Indiana Coach] Crean said. "I had a strong appreciation for him going into the game, but even a greater one now leaving the game."
Ry,
During the game, Rafferty commented that he really liked the look of Trap's shot and the way he was playing and thought that his issues had to be mental. Thought that was interesting.
I felt he definitely forced things a little and put up some awkward shots. If I recall, wasn't he named preseason All-ACC or something that seemed a little much? Perhaps he's trying to live up to the hype.
I was at the game and was incredibly frustrated watching BC play defense when Southern was on the floor. Yes, he does do some things nice offensively, but he cannot move on defense, and I think that he sometimes clogs up the paint on offense (which makes it impossible for Reggie or anyone else to drive).
Watching Southern play D is disgusting, and I would much rather have Dunn be our big man because he is much better defensively, and I am ok with him on the offensive end of the floor.
Also, I want Donahue to try this line-up more: Reggie, Biko, Rubin, Raji, and Trapani. Go ultra-small and make teams adjust to you.
I'm still reeling from ATL's opening statement about being a "big Al Skinner fan". I mean those are words I just don't ever expect to see strung together. Sure, the guy had some good, even great years at BC. I respected him for the achievement, but I can't see him inspiring fanaticism ever, especially given the performance over the last few years, which brought us some of the ugliest basketball ever seen in D1 (nevermind the parade of suspended and expelled players).
I wish Skinner all the best and hope he can return to the level of his best years, but I'm really a much bigger fan of his departure.
Skinner is almost assuredly the most successful men's basketball coach BC has ever had. Being a fan of Skinner is entirely justified by the many seasons of success he brought to the program.
rob i think what you are referencing is trapani being named to the preseason naismath award watchlist...but i feel like it was only because he was our highest scoring returning senior.
and as for his shot, i agree...i think it has to be mental. he has shown that he can his these shots before, but i am wondering if he is struggling to get looks that he is comfortable with in the new flow.
Skinner was the basketball equivalent of TOB. I respect both for establishing winning programs but I felt both mentally placed a ceiling on what BC can do and did not put forth the effort to achieve greatness (which I define as a top 10 finish in football and Final 4 in basketball). Skinner at the end simply nailed it in. He did not bring in any recruits 2 years ago and he seemed lost when his long-time assistants left a few years back for head coaching positions. I am so happy with our coaching change and I feel BC B-ball is much, much better for it.
It is unfair to compare Al Skinner to TOB. TOB's teams never were ranked in the top 5.
I just think that people who aren't a fan of his weren't around watching Lou Hinnant running the flex with Craig Smith and Duds banging down low, Troy Bell dominating the Big East or running ball in the Plex with Coach Skinner working on the box.
Sure only 1 sweet sixteen, (we should have won that Nova game) but the Tourney is incredibly tough. Look at Boehim(sp?) he won nothing with great teams until Melo and hasn't won since.
That said it was time for a change, Skinner's assistants were gone, but I will always be a huge Al Skinner fan.
what jdk said. he may have run out of gas, but skinner had some teams play for him that were really fun to watch.
the win over UNC in our first ACC tourney semifinals when hinnant absolutely took over was unreal. as was our march to the big east title in 2001.
i think in time we will appreciate him for what he did and not what he became. kinda like chevy chase.
Chevy Case.
Absolutely fantastic analogy.
Well done.
JDK: Actually, I've been around since Mel Weldon and Bob "Smooth" Carrington were doing their thing for Coach Zuffalato, and the "great" years I referred to in my post were precisely the once you alude to (with Hinnant, Smith and Dudley running the Flex). In fact, for those few seasons when the talent matched the demands of the flex, it really was great to watch. And perhaps Skinner was worthy of fanaticism in those years, but it really wore off, for me at least, over the last several years, when, as someone else said, it appeared that he was "mailing it in".
That "once" above was supposed to be "ones". Synapse malfunction. I blame the 70's.
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