Likes
-- Dennis Clifford's hustle and defense. He earned the "C" on his jersey tonight. He's playing smart and moving better and had a real difference against a big team like Miami. I know he won't be 100% this season, but spurts like this would be huge for BC.
-- Hanlan driving. In my opinion he didn't drive enough. Good things happen when he goes to the hoop and he has great touch with his floater.
-- The gameplan. The pace probably wasn't where we wanted it, but defensively we were smart and well prepared. On offense we got plenty of open shots against a long team.
Dislikes
-- Hekmann's decisions. I know he is my whipping boy but tonight he earned his rep. He passed up shots and missed the ones he took.
-- Playing Rahon as much as we did. He wasn't playing well and had trouble moving and then made a turnover late. I know it was a borderline call, but does he even pick up his dribble if he is not hurt?
-- Missing foul shots. It wasn't just about Hanlan's miss at the end. The other misses were in a sense as costly.
Posts
13 comments:
It is obvious that the BC coach has not read Al McGuire's path to greatness. You need a big inside presence. Donohue is very stubborn in his use of a three guard offense. You can't win unless you can score. I believe that this is a big mistake.
i guess it is a good sign that this season is actually becoming frustrating even though we once again came into the year with no expectations.
Hanlan is a stud, you could tell in the Penn St. game when he took over that he'd be special, and its nice to see him exerting his will on ACC opponents. i agree -- if anything he should be driving more. as he gets more mature and figures it out, watch out; i think he is our best player, or at least our most dynamic player.
anderson was only 4-11 from the field, i still feel like he could really use an offseason dedicating himself to conditioning and strength. he gets pushed off the block with ease. i'm being nitpicky, as he's a really nice player and seems like a good kid.
man you can see with Clifford how important he is. i believe Donahue's earlier quote about "our best player isn't playing" and many interpreted it to be about Dragicevich, he said it more recently and it was clearly about Clifford, and its probably true. he's got great size, a great feel for the game, and spreading the floor around him makes him more effective. really hope he doesn't further hurt himself playing on his bum knee, and can come back strong next year, when i think we will be a top 4 ACC team.
other dislikes: van nest and caudill getting 0 minutes. i know van nest is gone after this year, but Caudill clearly isn't even an ACC caliber backup at this point. what is the plan with the size? odio is thin as a rail and more of a perimeter forward who has nice hops -- we have 0 depth up front and the one recruit coming in is a 6'5 G/F. what is donahue's plan up front?
we only play 7 guys -- hanlan, rahon, anderson, clifford, jackson, heckmann, and odio. van nest and caudill occasionally get burn when clifford goes out, and rubin or jacobs when one of the guards is hurt or in foul trouble.
still, having only 7 quality players after having basically all of the schollies at your disposal and 2 recruiting classes is disappointing. i continue to scratch my head that Donahue and his bench consist of nobody with major AAU connections to the northeast OR with experience on a d1 staff. next year presumably that # goes to 9 with Dragicevich and Owens, but our lack of muscle/size is confusing. clifford is basically on one leg and could be out any second; if we were to lose Anderson to injury or transfer, what would the plan be?
lots to look forward to though -- this backcourt is superb and its 2 freshman and a sophomore (i consider jackson part of the 3 G's all in the backcourt). Anderson is an excellent all around player and will only get better, and he's only a sophomore. also #Giddy4Garland:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv76Cj3qi9I
The fact that we even care is a positive sign. This team will struggle to win 5-7 ACC games this year. That said, they will give everyone a game barring a inevitable blow-out or two. They are well positioned for next year especially if Clifford can get healthy. The FT shooting is a huge concern. All I keep hearing is that BC is a good FT shooting team, but every game I watch they are constantly missing 1 out of 2 and often the front-end's of 1 and 1's. Dont forget had Hanlan made his front-end with about 40 seconds to play, BC might never have been in a position to need 3 at the buzzer to tie. Additionally, this team just does not know how to finish/win games. That I chalk up to inexperience.
To ElMiz
After watching him in the OOC schedule, it's pretty clear Caudill isn't ready to give ACC minutes. I don't think the guy can get 2 inches off the ground.
As for Van Nest, he's had 3 minutes in a month since his concussion. Safe to say he isn't over it yet.
Claver, i agree on Caudill. perhaps I didn't phrase it clear enough, but my dislike was not the fact that him and Van Nest didn't play, but that we have no size off the bench to play.
Completely agree.
Getting a servicable big (4/5) who can rebound should be priority #1 for Donahue. Apparently he doesn't feel that way though.
ATL, you have to do something about these robot checks, they're impossible to read.
i was at the game and didn't see the replay of the Rahon elbowing offensive foul. Was it a blatant dive? anyone see a replay online anywhere?
Ry, the Rahon play (according to my somewhat hazy ESPN3 broadcast) was bogus. Rahon initiated the contact with the upper part of his shoulder, but it was a total dive by the defender. no elbow was involved at all, the guy was already in free fall by the time Rahon's elbow came through. it was a terrible call.
On the Rahon "foul": first, the defender fouled Rahon twice after Rahon picked up his dribble (something he would not have done had he been even 75% healthy); after the defender chest-bumped Rahon, Rahon twisted, resulting in the top of his shoulder (NOT the elbow) glancing the defender's chin (that's how in his face the defender was). It was a crap call, one of several, but perhaps the most devastating.
Last night shows how punative the 1-and-1 rule can be. We're up 1 and taking the ball out of bounds with ~25 seconds on the shot clock and 42 on the game clock. They foul Hanlan immediately. He misses the front-end (essentially a turnover) and Miami gets the ball with a full shot clock. If we assume the average free throw shooter is 66%, the chances he makes both are 44% (roughly equal to an average field goal percentage for a team), but the penalty is more severe (i.e. the second point hinges on getting the first point..not the case with a field goal). So by fouling right away in that situation Miami increases their probability of winning. Teams in Europe foul all the time in that situation. Man that loss was rough!!
Best thing re the loss is that it shows this team
Belongs in the ACC - extremely competitive in each of it's 1st 4 games. We are a bit if experience and a healthy big man away from being 4 and 0. Much to
Look forward to...
The Rahon call was terrible, it was a total flop, somebody needs to get that guy a Duke uniform. ATL you are spot on about Heckmann, he is killing us and I think the guy is a stiff, I have seen enough of him to make that decision. It is really a shame because the case could be made that we should be 3-1 but you are what you are. That being said, I am encouraged and this is from a guy who wanted to run Donahue out after Bryant. I think this team has a chance to be really good next year and incredible the year following. These freshman can play and they fear nothing. I like the way Odio has been playing, I would rather see him out there than Heckmann at this point.
Heckmann can shoot the three, but he's almost never ready to. He simply will not attempt the shot unless he's got a good ten feet of clearance when he receives the ball, and that's because he's simply not thinking like a shooter. Given that it's really the only value he brings, that's pretty remarkable, right? A shooter is always anticipating and putting himself in a position to shoot quickly. I've been saying the same thing about Rubin for a couple of years -- he has, or at least had, a good stroke but simply doesn't yearn for the ball like a shooter does, doesn't work to get himself in a position to use his stroke. I'd like to think this can be taught, but maybe not. It may be like trying to teach a linebacker to have a nose for the ball (i.e. Kuechly). If Heckmann doesn't acquire that nose, he's going to be flattening his ass on the bench.
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