Sunday, December 16, 2012

BC needs OT to beat UNH

Some of Al Skinner's best teams won games only making two 3-pointers. The difference though is that those teams weren't designed to take or make lots of 3s. This one is. Despite going not making one in regulation, they hit enough in OT to beat a bad UNH team. The win gets them back to .500 and hopefully builds some confidence. Here are my other thoughts:

Likes
-- Huge game from Ryan Anderson. It looks like his gimpy ankle is healed. He moved well today and put up huge numbers. He also made some good defensive plays.
-- Heckmann's athleticism. He had a few nice defensive plays late and did this.
-- Rahon handling it late. Donahue said he has the best feel for what they are trying to do. At least someone does.

Dislikes
-- Shooting. You can talk about talent issues or understanding the system, but the shooting is inexplicable. These guys used to shoot and now they can't buy a basket. We also supposedly have great shooting instructors on staff. Someone needs to figure out what is going on!
-- Defensive lapses. How is this still happening. They tightened up down the stretch but left themselves in a huge hole because no one on this team plays consistent defense.

18 comments:

EL MIZ said...

Donahue's 1st year (w/ Jackson, Biko, Trapani, Raji etc) BC shot 38% from 3, 46% FG, and averaged 15 assists to 11 turnovers.

last year: 34% from 3, 41% from FG; 12 assists to 15 turnovers.

currently: 33% from 3, 45% from FG, 13 assists to 13 turnovers.

for historical benchmark, his sweet 16 cornell team: 43% from 3, 48% from FG, 16 assists to 12 turnovers.

the guy to watch is Lonnie Jackson -- last year he shot 40% from 3, this year only 31%. he's made the most on the team, but if his % went up just a few ticks, we'd be scoring a lot more points.

the fact that our A:T is 1:1 with 2 freshman handling the ball basically all the time is pretty good as well.

there are some glimmers of hope, but when they struggle they are frustrating. really looking fwd to next SAT's game against Providence - the Friars have some good players, but if Clifford plays i think we can give em a game.

mod10aeagle said...

Footwork on one-on-one defense is pretty awful with a few exceptions now and then. There's a lot of reaching and slapping and, no doubt, shouts of "Help".

Donahue said the abysmal shooting was the result of the team not being in the gym for a week during exams. Eh.

nceaglefan said...

How can there be any likes, we are losing to Bryant and struggling to beat UNH at home, this is the beginning of the end for Donahue, the guy is in over his head!

lbkjj said...

I had a choice of taking my grandkids to the UNH game or a Christmas dance pageant on the BC campus.
I chose the dance and believe I made the right decision. It's going to be a long , discouraging season.

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BCAlum2000 said...

Awful. Plain awful. Lose at home to Bryant. Lose at home to Harvard (5th straight year). Nearly lose at home before escaping in OT with a win against UNH. This team will be lucky to win 2 ACC games. They suck and are actually getting worse. I hear Al Skinner is looking to get back into coaching ...

Tim said...

Brad Bates needs to start wooing Chris Mack from Xavier.

EL MIZ said...

for perspective, al skinner went 11-19 in his 3rd year, and 3-13 in the Big East.

funny that people are upset we won the game. as ATL said, that this team is designed to make 3's and didn't make their first until OT and we still won is probably a good sign. young team coming together for a W.

we've matched last year's pre-ACC schedule win total, hopefully we can surpass it in the next 3-4 games. i too am intrigued by this team in the ACC, we'll see if they can continue to improve.

TheFive said...

With the sh!tshow that was the football coaching search, anybody that thinks the answer is firing Donahue and replacing him with whoever Bates hires is kidding themselves.

Joseph said...

Alabama is accepting BC diplomas in trade. You get ten of theirs for one of ours, but you have to live in Alabama or Mississippi. And, they will not allow alums to bitch about every move that is made, unless they actually are the AD.

Knucklehead said...

Chris Mack is not leaving a legitimate program with no recruiting restrictions to come to Boston College.

We almost lost to UNH a couple times when we had Troy Bell and Ryan Sydney.

The problem with this team is that they have injuries and they have ZERO depth.

They need to get someone who can rebound.

Bravesbill said...

Did I just hear Al freakin Skinner? I hope that was a joke.

nceaglefan said...

The problem with this team is that they are not very good, and if we do not see improvement next year will be tough because we have only 1 marginal recruit coming in. This could get ugly for BC basketball fast! Boy GDF has really left quite a mark on our programs! Why would ACC play be any better there are no Bryants or UNH in the ACC!

Joseph said...

NCE, Alabama wants you!!!

Joseph said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
nceaglefan said...

That is unfair, the thing I love most about BC is that we do stand for something and that something is the fact that by in large most of our athletes are student athletes unlike these football factories of the SEC. I do not expect BC to ever be like those schools. It has been proven that if we put the right people in charge of our programs we can compete and win. I am troubled by many of the decisions that have been made by BC over the last several years in regards to who coaches our programs. I think the record of these programs support my concern. I love BC and will always love BC and I really want us to succeed, and I do hope I am wrong about Donahue and Adazzio. If I am wrong, I will be the first to admit it. This is my forum to vent my frustration because I think this blog is by in large filled with reasonable people. I do not think I am the only one who feels this way. I reject your notion that as fans we are never allowed to criticize, that is why we are fans, it is short for fanatics, yes we are crazy! Perhaps one day, I will share your utopian views on BC sports but right now that is not the case.

Joseph said...

Fair enough, but all the negative Neds seem like little kids that make a face at a new food and say that they don't like it even before they taste it. The kids have the excuse of being little kids. TRY IT YOU MAY LIKE IT.

If the only criteria by which we should judge new coaches is whether they came from a powerhouse school with a 90 % win rate, and then produce high powered teams at BC after inheriting a crappy situation, then you will be forever waiting for something better. The BB and FB situations are bad. It is not easy to recruit into a program that has not been successful for a while. Why should a kid that has multiple offers take a chance? Rebuilding takes a few years at best. patience is not easy, but the alternative is despair and negativity.

nceaglefan said...

Joseph, I agree with many of your thoughts. We will get back to where we were, I am confident, it may take some time and if Adazzio gets us to where TOB had us, I will be very happy, trust me. I still think the Donahue hire was a reach, but like it or not we have to stick with him for a couple more years.