Saturday, February 21, 2009

M.I.A. in Miami

This was sadly predictable. In fact commenter BlockParty warned us of the noon start yesterday. Throw in the week off and the over confidence from the Duke game and you had a recipe for disaster. BC was out of it from the start and every time they inched back Miami answered. I would like to blame the shot clock malfunctions but it didn't seem to bother the Hurricanes. BC needs to put this behind them quickly because Florida State will also be a very tough game. Not much good to take away from this but here are my thoughts. As always, feel free to share yours in the comments.


Likes
-- Reggie Jackson penetrating against the zone. For much of the game our reaction to the zone was pathetic. The only guy who seemed to have an idea of how to get the ball moving was Jackson. He found a few soft spots for good shots and did a great job of driving and dishing.
-- Raji's rebounding. Raji hit the boards hard and also helped break down the zone from the low block but...

Dislikes

-- Raji's shooting.
Plain and simple -- he's got to get better at finishing around the basket. He's a natural rebounder and there are plenty of garbage points to be had. I don't know why he struggles converting so close.
-- Rice running point. In a way Duke encouraged the wrong thing. Early in the game he was forcing "flashy" passes in traffic like he did against the Duke only with less success. Then when he felt he had to take over, he could not get the offense going. It was four guys standing around watching Rice.
-- Trapani's minutes. He started strong yet sat for long stretches in the second half. Why did he only get 26 minutes? Weird rotation and line up changes from Al today.

The other dislike was the overall effort. Hopefully it is the last lackadaisical game of the season.

9 comments:

blockparty said...

miami shot the lights out. 52% overall, and 55% from 3. tough to beat any team if they shoot like that.


especially when we shoot 36% overall and 33% from 3.

Big Jack Krack said...

This is what it comes down to - let's go BC - we're not there yet.

vs. Fla. State
At NC State
vs. Ga. Tech

Big Jack Krack said...

Please note the "long layoff" between the Florida State game and the trip to Raleigh. Let's finish strong team - it can still be a special season. Can we possibly win all three? We need 2 of 3 at least and then a good showing in the ACC Tournament.

Big Jack Krack said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dan Popko said...

I think Trapani was sitting for a while because he took two shots that were less then stellar and wasn't hitting to boards too hard so Al decided to give Roche more minutes, but his shooting was very off after that first three

Deacon Drake said...

Yeah, Trapani was pretty passive on the defensive boards... Graham and Asbury looked much faster, more athletic, and just seemed to get better position.

I honestly think this will be a much better team next year, after everyone moves on from the Rice era... good player, but is a poor fit for the flex./

UNC also laid a turd against MD, taking much of the polish off that win. BC has to finish alone in 6th or better to feel comfortable... ties with MD, VT, or Miami put us down a few pegs when looking at the competition from the other major conferences.

Southern_EAGLE said...

Was unable to watch the game, but noticed only two points for Sanders. What's up with that? For this team to win we need Rice, Trapani and Sanders all to score and play well.

Nick said...

Re: UNC's loss to Maryland - I thought the same thing, Drake, but with more thought, the committee isn't going to look at Carolina differently because of this loss, I don't think. They're still a 1 seed, especially since 1 and 2 went down this week as well. Plus, BC's still the only team to beat UNC in Chapel Hill, which says something, and they did what UNC couldn't do, which was beat Maryland in College Park.

We still control our own destiny.

Nick said...

Also, Maryland just passed BC in RPI - 53 to 56, respectively. F-ing Harvard.