Virginia Tech is a terrible basketball team but BC played well in getting their first ACC road win since Donahue's first year. What is misleading about this game is that the team played really well but still nearly blew it. But step one in improving is beating bad teams. Then you try to steal a few from good teams. But this road win can be a step to our recovery.
Likes:
-- Rahon and Hanlan penetrating. The two of them do it differently. Hanlan did it to push pace and get his own shot. Rahon picked his spots more and looked for an easy basket or open teammate. Regardless of who or how they drove, both styles gave us efficient plays.
-- Aggressive Defense. Once again, VT is not talented but that doesn't capture the good help, good defensive rebounding and clogging passing lanes.
-- Lonnie Jackson finally making 3s. He went 5 for 8 from downtown and had a few that killed VT runs.
Dislikes:
-- Clifford's mobility. We are thin so we need him and he's playing hard, but man he is having trouble on D. If he gets out of the paint, his legs are so bad right now that he cannot get back into the paint if someone drives.
-- Terrible Free Throw shooting again. This number is misleading because Jackson made some key FTs in the final minutes. Against a better team it would have cost us.
-- Heckmann's dumb fouls. It seems like every game he does something that hurts the team. Tonight he made multiple dumb fouls. It forced us out of small ball.
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12 comments:
Sad I missed this game. From the recaps, it seems like another typical BC start, but I like how our guys are grinding it out.
My biggest like: only 5 turnovers. That is amazing for a team led by two freshman PGs, on the road no less.
Likes:
How about the turnover margin... BC hasnt been great at turning teams over, the more aggressive D is resulting in a nice turnover margin, considering our young backcourt isnt giving the ball up to the other team at a high rate.
Dislikes:
Anderson's mid-range to long game and inability to finish And1 opportunities. Its tough to knock the kid, because he has been playing great (in part because he benefits from our two frosh), but he still has some work to do to be a next level player, he needs to get stronger, and he needs to get his shot ironed out...
I'm still frustrated by Anderson as well. I know he put up a lot of points but he should have scored at least 10 more. His shot selection is odd at times. I hope these are just growing pains he needs to go through to take his game to that next level.
Virginia Tech has a history good basketball squads. They play tough and aggressive. BC appears to be guard oriented. I believe that they need to develop an inaide presence which is intimidating.
The 1,2 and 3 positions are as good as anyone in the Conference.
Hanlon
Rahon
L.Jackson
R. Anderson
Henckman - serviceable.
The 4 and 5 are need more depth and dependability.
Clifford is average and alters shots when he is on the floor. His health is a major issue this year and long term. After him there is nothing really but some guys who can give up fouls: Odio, Claudill, Harvard stiff transfer.
If Donahue wants to win games against healthy teams he will have to rotate his big people defensively and ask them to give max effort rebounding for 10 minutes a game. That is our weakness along with experience but that will fix itself.
agree with Knucklehead about our size -- and we really have nothing coming in the way of help. we have the ND transfer who is a 6'7 SF who will be eligible next year, and our only recruit is a 6'5 SG. the Harvard stiff is gone after this year, so our depth will be even more lacking down there. what is the plan?
that said, i love our guard play -- rahon, hanlan, and jackson all bring different skills to the table and they get better as a group and individually every game. Anderson will continue to get better, which is pretty awesome since he's a 17/10 guy as a sophomore. once he gets stronger and more assertive in the paint, he's going to be an even bigger handful for defenses.
@WAKE on saturday is another winnable game, really hope we can get our 2nd conference win (and conf. road win) and get some momentum.
currently we are 9-6. after 15 games last year we were 5-10.
What is the prognosis on Clifford? Are his knee and ankle expected to heal and strengthen? If so, and he regains a modicum of mobility and puts on a few pounds of muscle, he will be a force inside.
I like how hard Anderson works inside and am eager to see a slightly stronger version of him playing alongside a healthy Clifford next year.
This game would've been a laugher if BC had merely matched its average at the free throw line.
VT had 5 scholarship players available?
I think there were great signs of progress last night, they moved the ball really well and made that extra pass all night. Heckmann is a disaster, I am sorry. He is a nightmare defensively and he took some really bad shots. If Rahon and Hanlan continue to attack the basket we will be tough to defend.
CT, BC basically had only 7 scholarship players available -- Anderson, Jackson, Hanlan, Rahon, Clifford, Odio, Van Nest.
it is funny how sometimes we don't allow any excuses (like we only have freshman and sophs) but make excuses for teams we beat routinely. VA Tech is an ACC team and we beat em on their floor, enough said.
it is just nice to see the improvement in handling of the ball, digging in on D and hitting the glass with effort. they play a nice team game.
I agree with MIZ. I also like how this motion offense does seem to create reasonably high percentage scoring opportunities. Anderson had a few open jumpers from the FT line extended, which is a good sign, despite the fact that he missed them. If we start scoring from there, it will open up the even higher percentage dish under the hoop (much as the guard penetration did several times).
Good progress.
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