Likes
-- Sanders getting hot. Credit where it was due, Rakim was hot tonight. Sure there were a few "no, no, yes!" moments when he put up shots I thought were a bit ill-advised, but he played well.
-- Raji's productivity. We've all mentioned Raji's recent slump, but tonight he put up good minutes against a big frontline. He rebounded well and converted his shots.
Dislikes
-- Decisions in the closing minutes. I didn't mind getting the ball to Trapani on the low block. I did think we wasted too much time on NC State's possession (that resulted in a foul anyway). I also think Rice should have taken a shot earlier in our possession. And think we should have rushed up a shot before they fouled with 6 seconds left.
-- Paris's playing time. We've spent the past few weeks talking about Paris' emergence and then he barely gets off the bench tonight after taking a hit to the head. I guess it was bad...I think Paris might have been a good option when the offense started to get a bit stagnant and might have resulted in more high percentage shots.
BCI did a good job breaking down our ACC Tourney seeds. It's 5 or 6 now.
Posts
12 comments:
Dislikes- Sanders being white hot and Rice not passing him the ball in favor of incessant dribbling on the perimeter.
Give Lowe credit for having his boys get those two quick fouls before we could get off any kind of shot. This is where the lack of inbounds plays hurts us even more. We were forced to inbound away from the three point line and then try and dribble to get there - big mistake and NCSU did the right thing. Too many opposing coaches let the offense dictate that last shot scenario, Lowe did not take that chance.
My buddy who is not a BC fan watched the game with me and commented repeatedly about how poor Southern played.
The NCST blog had it correct. He's 6'10" and plays like he's 6'3".
We desperately need a big man. Josh *usually* plays good position defense. Aside from that, he's really very poor. I don't know how else to put it.
I think what bothered me most about this one is the fact that we never adjusted to the way the game was being called. This was a very physical game, and we never changed our style of play. Southern isn't the sort of big man who is going to convert while he's being mugged (unlike their big oaf McCauley). Ty can't keep taking it into the lane to get hammered if he's not going to get to the line. I'm a big Al fan, but between his not adjusting and Lowe's moves in the last minute, Al got outcoached in this one.
GT just knocked off Miami... beware.
It seems like we can find every possible way not to play a complete game. How do you come out so scorchingly hot, and then fail to do much consistently on the offensive end for the entire rest of the game? I agree, Patrick, as soon as the commentators said, "get it to Rice for the final shot", I thought.....WHY?! Give it to Rakim....he just made three 3s in a row! Rice was 0 for 5, and I know that doesn't always matter because he can nail one at any time, but don't you go for the hot hand? I still think we are far enough off the bubble, but now, what are we looking at? A 10 or 11 seed? I guess my disappointment only shows how far we have exceeded expectations.
Once again thanks to JP from Dorchester for the link to justin.tv. It was great for those of us without ESPNU to watch the game on live stream. Pretty good video too, better than ACCSelect, I think. Too bad we didn't get the win.
The Sean Williams saga ends...
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3954685
If you read my post from last night, you know I was at the game. Morrina, I can tell you that all of the fans surrounding me were groaning loudly when Rakim touched the ball coming down the stretch. They had Rice pretty well smothered and he had to alter some of his shots - no question that the ball should have been distributed to someone else - Rakim especially. God bless him, but in some regards this young team will be better with Rice off to some pro league next year. Then ANYONE on the floor might take the crucial shots, and the defenders can't key on one man.
I agree with TBSBC03 - NC State was pretty physical with us at times - and whenever their fans would yell "that's a foul" when they were unhappy with a call - I would smile and point out to all around me that "so was that" whenever appropriate.
Their big lineup did give us problems.
This young team now gets the chance to win a game that is truly a must win. GT will be tough with a weak homecrowd due to vacation.
Let's see if Al can give them the proper motivation and coaching. Go BC - Beat GT on Saturday - Finish 9-7; 21-10. Yes, we would have taken that at the start of the season but many of us are disappointed now.
I agree with you, BCMike -- Al needs to bring in a quality big man or two, while his coaches oversee improvement plans for Southern and Dunn, etc - this team will be a contender for the next two seasons for sure.
One other thing. Although I found the guy exasperating at times (and maybe we really could have gone all the way to the National Championship) - I wish Sean Williams the best. I hope he can square away some of his issues and reach his true potential - and his true bliss and happiness. That's my hope for everyone, anyway.
BC "5-0" looked pretty stupid on that one.
BJK, I've been complaining about the "one man show" predictability of our offense all year. I guess Al's plan is to live by the sword (winning shot agianst FSU) or die by the sword (final shot last night) with Rice. And I agree about Williams. He didn't handle hiomself well, but he sure got the wrong end of stick by BCPD, who do not come off smelling like roses by any means.
People should be happy we are still very much alive for an NCAA bid. This team was 4 - 12 last year in the ACC and has a solid chance to finish up this year at 9 - 7. That's a great turnaround and I think most would have certainly taken that record before the season began.
Post a Comment