Close one finally goes BC's way

Aside from the win, the most encouraging thing about tonight was the team's reaction. As Austin Tedesco tweeted, they didn't act like this was special or they got some monkey off their back. This was a close game that went our way, but also a reminder that we should be better than our record. And even in victory, we didn't play to our potential. If not for some bad decisions on Wake's part in the final minute, who knows how this would have played out. I am not really relieved nor excited. I guess I am a bit hopeful. Maybe, just maybe, this will be the start of a strong finish to the season. Other thoughts:

Likes

-- Heckmann's offensive game. It wasn't a perfect night for him (his turnovers were typical Heckmann) but there was a confidence that has been missing. Heckmann has enough skills to create mismatches offensively. It was nice to see him finally use them. 

-- Making free throws. The foul line has been our undoing in close games. Tonight it was a strength (18-21).

-- Aggressive Defense. There were plenty of boneheaded defensive moments but at least the guys are getting more aggressive. 

Dislikes

-- Anderson settling for the midrange shots. He wasn't converting and it takes our best offensive rebounder away from the basket.

-- Careless passes. I am glad to see the team do more backdoor cuts, but the execution needs to be improved. 

-- The final shot. I know he got fouled and made his shots, but that is the best we could do? Rahon throwing himself towards the basket with two guys on him? After so many questionable late possessions, I would hope for something better.

Yet another close Conte loss

It seems like I am constantly revisiting the "moral victory" aspect of this basketball season, but what else can you do when the team keeps losing close game? Sunday night's loss to Duke was fun and pulled me in, yet even in the final moments, I had real doubts about our chance to win. Does that invalidate the previous 39 minutes of fun basketball? Does it make it any less fun to watch Odio dunk it or Hanlan intercept a pass while running in a full sprint? No. But that doesn't mean we should feel good about coming close in another loss. There are eight regular season games left. This team needs to win at least three of them. The close games are proof enough that they can. Other thoughts:

Likes

-- Odio dunk! and everything else. In a season full of empty moments and lack of progress, Odio has been one of the standouts. He's not even a space filler anymore. He's bringing legitimate energy and defense when he is on the floor. We are better with him than without. He doesn't need to shoot much. He doesn't need to handle the ball. He just needs to play smart, don't make any turnovers and be aggressive near the basket. It was a good showing. 

-- The Defensive game plan. I am not sure which assistant was responsible for tonight's prep but it was well done. Even as Duke adjusted in the second half, we countered with more ball pressure and trying to cut off Plumlee's passing lanes.

-- Hanlan's driving. I will get to the final shot below, but thank goodness Hanlan is willing and able to drive to the basket. So many of the guys are passive under the slightest pressure and we waste so much time passing around the perimeter. Hanlan might miss FGs, but good things are happening when he drives.

Dislikes

-- The final possessions. Rahon's clanker was terrible. It was a good look but bad, bad shot. That's on him. The Hanlan possession was as frustrating but for different reasons. I would have liked for him to shoot earlier in the shot clock. Why did Donahue have him wait so long? Anderson got the rebound (and was fouled). If Hanlan shoots earlier in the possession we might get another shot. The risk is Duke answers, but when you are down a point, that is very secondary. First get the lead! Then worry about protecting it.

-- Abandoning the 3. We were cold and were keeping it close regardless, but that doesn't excuse not attempting more. 

-- Officiating. It is cliches to argue that Duke gets all the calls, but they do. Cook knew he fouled Anderson on the last play. You could see how he reacted. But there were about ten different times that they could have whistled Cook earlier. Duke's guards were very aggressive with their hands. It is not the reason why we lost and is not new, but needs to be mentioned when it is egregious. 

Not even close

Our first loss to Miami was a heart breaker. Tuesday's loss was never in doubt once Miami took an early lead. A little surge at the start of the second half narrowed the deficit, but Miami killed the momentum with some tough 3s. The Hurricanes are playing good basketball and will always cause problems for us with their size, but that doesn't excuse the poor play. We seemed real tentative on offense and over passed many times. Here are my other thoughts:

Likes
-- The first half Defense. We weren't down in the first 20 minutes simply because Miami overpowered us (see first dislike). Instead we played good defense and with intensity. And the guys guarding their big men moved well and didn't just hack away.
-- Anderson's ability to score close. He had some nice moves inside against Miami's giants. In fact his wide open mid-range shots on the pick and pop were the problem.


Dislikes
-- Hesitation and timidness on offense. Time and again our guys would pass decent looks. Too often that "extra" pass led to nothing. We wasted time and forced some bad shots towards the end of the shot clock.
-- Odio taking 3s. The other team's are forcing the issue by leaving him open, but I would prefer he play closer to the basket and grab more boards.
-- Rahon's night. This happens to freshmen. But Hanlon over came a cold shooting night by getting better shots close to the basket. Rahon stopped looking for his shot.

A "Yes, yes, yes, NO, yes" win over Clemson

Immediately after the game I felt numb and went to Twitter to gripe. A couple of hours later I feel better, but still think this was a frustrating win. The headline of this post may be clumsy but for those who didn't see the game, I think it captured the spirit of the day. We played really well for long stretches, shots were falling and then the wheels came off. Fortunately we closed it out. Here are my detailed thoughts:

Likes

-- Defensive effort. Clemson is not a good offensive team but we still played good defense for most of the game. There was an energy and an aggressiveness that has been missing. We also did a good job helping and doubling without getting burned. Odio seemed to provide the spark and often that sort of thing is contagious.

-- The backdoor and driving to the basket. Rahon was the key for most of this. Unlike Hanlon, who drives with a shot in mind, Rahon seems to drive to open something else. We also converted on guys cutting to the basket more.

-- Anderson's late basket when the lead was cut to 1. Getting a good shot to our best player is the best way to turn the tide.

Dislikes

-- The collapse. There were a myriad of things that went wrong. Part of it was Roper just getting hot for them, but we still made some stupid turnovers and lost our edge offensively.
-- Donahue over substituting down the stretch. When a team is pressing you need to put your best, and most poised lineup out there and let them play. All the substituting has guys overthinking and pressing.
-- Free throws. How much better would our record be if we converted more free throws? How can we be so hot from 3 and clank so many gimmes?

BC wastes opportunity at Wake

I am not greedy about this team's progress. I know road wins are rare and Wake is improving, but we cannot let ACC wins slip away like that. Although we fought back to make it close, BC could and should have controlled the game. We made too many lapses defensively and too many turnovers and wasted FTs. Other thoughts:

Likes

-- Jackson getting hot. He's driving well and he made some huge shots to help our momentum at different times.

-- Heckmann's offense. Defensively he had some head scratchers and bad fouls, but he was very efficient on the other end. 

-- Fighting back. I mentioned it above, but the team did show some poise by chipping away at Wake's lead in the final minutes. 

Dislikes

-- Rahon's day. If you put that much on a freshman's shoulders, a bad day is bound to happen. He couldn't buy a shot including his drive in the final seconds. 

-- Anderson's foul shots. He's got to convert those in a tight game.

-- Defense on Harris. He's a good player but we made him look great. The coaches need to make adjustments especially when Wake doesn't have a team full of scorers. 

Rahon's big week and other links

Joe Rahon's play earned him ACC honors as well as two different features. One from his hometown paper and one from ESPN Boston. 

Here is a nice feature on Gaudreau. 

BC finished 108th in USA Today's final football rankings.

HD thinks we will be at the bottom of the conference again next season.

A group of BC Athletes are using their last days of vacation to help out in New Orleans. You can follow their experiences at BCeagles.com.

Belated thoughts on moral victories

Sorry for the delay in posting about BC's loss to NC State in basketball. Even though the game was meaningless in the big picture, it left me with mixed emotions. I was excited to see the team compete. I am encouraged by how the offense is adapting but we shouldn't consider conference home games "moral victories." I am as guilty as anyone else of this mindset too.

The biggest problem as I see it, is that even when the team plays better defense and moves the ball well within the motion offense, we are still missing too many shots we should make. We only converted 24 of 37 free throws. We only made 7 of 22 3-pointers. For a team of shooters, that is not going to get it done.

But the defense was better, especially against an athletic NC State team. I also liked going small for long stretches. The small ball does raise the idea of what to do with Clifford once he is 100%, but Donahue managed that well yesterday.

So what is the real BC team? Is it one that can hang with anyone like Baylor and NC State? Can they pull off some wins? Or was yesterday a result of our best effort against their offday? We will find out more this week.

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.