Pacific thoughts

V for Vendetta Victory: Natalie Portman gets ready for BC's next game.

The theory goes “survive and advance.” Does the survival part consider the fans? This game teetered on nightmare territory for long stretches. It is a shame too, because Dudley and Smith played great for about 48 minutes. Both made huge mistakes that almost cost us. And both atoned when the game was on the line. What concerned me most was the no show by other key players and a few other problems that made this game way to close. Here are my likes and dislikes.

Likes:

Smith and Dudley’s low post games. Our next opponent (Montana) and if we dare look beyond them (Nova) cannot stop Craig and Jared down low. This game showed how hard it is to contain them when you are facing them for the first time. We forced Pacific to abandon their desired defense and switch to a collapsing zone. Unfortunately we got complacent. But both looked great within 10 feet of the basket.

Louis Hinnant’s forcefulness. Perhaps he is just riding a wave of momentum or it is all coming together in his final days, but we are clearly seeing Louis Hinnant at his best. He is scoring and getting off shots with the clock winding down. He is making open shots. He is controlling the offense as the point guard and shifting to the 2 guard slot with ease. Great offensive stretches from byrd.

The steals and using Sean Williams in the press. Although the total defensive effort was poor, nearly everyone did a good job disrupting passes. Williams out in front in the OT made a huge difference. I would like to see us go to that the rest of the way.

Rice and Williams in the second overtime. These guys both have the ability to change the game. Neither did for the first 45 minutes. The last five is all that mattered. Huge play after huge play. They both even had touches that could have been steals too. Hopefully this will build confidence for Saturday.

Dislikes:

Williams initial defense of Maraker. What happened here? The size made a difference, but clearly no one prepped Sean on how to deal with Pacific’s biggest star. You know things are off when Oates is more effective in one on one defense.

Sean Marshall’s entire day. As Kenpom wrote in the pregame matchup, Marshall is a good rebounder for a 2-guard. He is not a shooter. And he is not really good in transition. The guy killed us today. I think he should be on a short leash the rest of the way.

Dudley’s two huge errors in the closing minutes. Jared had a great day and usually makes smart plays but fouling a guy behind the 3-point line when we are up with less than a minute is inexcusable. Don’t even go for the block. He also lost his man in the pick and role leaving Maraker wide for the 3 to tie the game. BC doesn’t play good defense to begin with. We certainly don’t need our best defender making bonehead plays.

Smith dribbling in the open court on the last potential shot. I know that the scheme allows for all the guys to bring it up, but Craig should not be anywhere near the ball. He needs to be under the basket waiting to flush home any last second heave. This is the second time this season he was in a position to win when he wasn’t our best option. Despite the messes, we won both games. We won’t get that lucky again.

The perimeter defense. Pacific doesn’t shoot many threes. Thursday they made 10. Why? Because our perimeter defense stinks. No other way to put it. We are too slack and don’t switch very well on the perimeter. I also couldn’t believe Hinnant was getting beat off the dribble again. It is not like he was facing the lightning quick Sean Singletary. This was Pacific. If we play like that against Nova we will get run out of the building.

Defensive rebounding. How did we let Pacific have so many second chances? Inexcusable.

Getting away from our offense too early. Killing clock makes sense. Settling for outside shots does not. Even with a crowded lane, forcing the ball to Smith and Dudley is a higher percentage shot than Sean Marshall chucking it from outside.

I am still is shock over the whole day. What is scarier is that from the looks of things Montana is very similar to Pacific. The team got a scare. Now how do they react?