Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Getting by Bucknell

When the team lost to Yale earlier this year, many wondered if we would struggle against teams with less talent but more mental toughness. Tonight's win over Bucknell was a sign that this team can respond to less-talented teams' "A" games. It was a frustrating game in the sense that the guys didn't play well but also didn't play poorly.


Likes

-- Another well rounded effort from Josh Southern. Very positive minutes from our big man with few mistakes. Is he becoming our second best player?
-- Paris remains hot from outside. Four big 3s, plus he also had seven assists.
-- Making our free throws. Especially important in the final minutes.


Dislikes

-- No ability to shut down Bryson Johnson. This guy was hot and nailing threes. Yet we never did anything to shut him down? No fronting. No doubles. Allowing him to get good looks from 3 felt Skinner-esque.
-- Raji's shooting. I know he hit some big outside shots, but I don't know if he should be chucking 3s. Maybe he should be closer to the basket to get some points off of putbacks.

14 comments:

matthew2 said...

another game with only 5 turnovers... 116 on the year in 12 games... less than 10/game ain't bad so far.

Galvin said...

If we tighten up our defense a bit, my hopes are going to start getting really high for this team. Regardless, they are fun to watch and I'm excited for each game.

Erik said...

Bucknell was playing out of their minds for a while. I'm pleased with the Eagles win and don't see this an an example of us struggling.

Erik said...

Kudos to the North Andover HS band who sat in as our pep band. They did a pretty good job and were cheering louder than any traditional fans. Even were trying to yell out fake shot clock times to throw off Bucknell.

Ry said...

To BC's credit, they did switch Reggie onto Bryson Johnson and he was playing much more aggressive D and allowing fewer open looks. What became apparent, and part of the reason that we were able to get back in the game, was that no one on their squad was very good shooting when they were faced up by a defender.

erik, i didn't realize that was north andover's band because they had the BC Band's usual conductor. they did an awesome job.

Danny Boy said...

Last night would have been a game that Skinner lost. Adjustments were made, and the guys didn't quite. It was an odd feeling to go into halftime down and losing most of the 2nd half, but not even being concerned about the outcome.

I still think we'll have trouble beating teams who are good outside shooters. Our defense seems to rely on a lot of help, which leads to the other team getting open(ish) looks from the outside. But Donahue encourages this. When you're there in person you can hear him and his assistants not only calling out switches and encourage the help defender, but congratulating the players mid-play. Someone is always talking to the players and providing constant feedback. It was quite something to hear Donahue call something out and seeing the players not only react, but call back it him.

I feel weird saying this, but I think Biko right now is the 2nd best player. I expect just about any 3pt shot from him to go in, especially when its in transition and Jackson just fed him the ball. I'm not sure what changed in him in the off season, but it is incredible. I would never believe he was the same guy we had last year.

As the season progresses, I imagine we'll see even more improvement from the entire team. Trapani has all the body language of a guy in a slump. I expect that he'll be back, and our young kids will continue to get better. We have already made progress during the season, and it will continue. It really is a new era of basketball at the heights (and not a moment too soon).

Erik said...

Ry - they annoucned it at the start for the Nat'l Anthem, and true to form indicated their leader was a former BC conductor.

eagleboston said...

We are half-way to the Dance! I never could have envisioned this turn around so fast. Amazing what the difference a coach can make! And BC has some quality wins and only 1 bad loss (Yale).

mod34b said...

welcome back Matthew2! Where u been!

I promise i will not make any comparisons btw your guy and Jimmy Carter.

jrtmurphy said...

I don't know what to make of our D. We definitely give up a lot of uncontested shots.

Although I like the press (don't remember one time Skinner did it) I would love to see us generate more turnovers from it. Seems we do it just to mix up the defenses, not terribly effective at creating turnovers

neenan said...
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neenan said...
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neenan said...
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matthew2 said...

hahh thanks mod... I haven't been posting much in the fall, as my passion is more with the bball team than the football team. But I continue to read everyday. Let's all enjoy a nice holiday (yes I celebrate Christmas) with little to fight about!