Saturday, January 31, 2015

Looking rough in Littlejohn

I rarely attend BC games in person, so much of what I glean is based off of TV feeds and what I read or hear. What's nice about the occasional in-person basketball game is seeing how the team interacts with the staff. Saturday's loss to Clemson was ugly but it did help build a little more faith in Jim Christian. Despite the continued losing, the team has not checked out. As much as it was frustrating to watch the offense settle for bad 3-point attempts, Christian was imploring them to drive. The staff is also very active during the game -- at least compared to some past BC basketball huddles. Here are a few other thoughts:

-- No touch, no strength. BC was off all over the floor, but it was uncomfortable to watch them miss so many shots close to the basket. The bigs couldn't do it. The guards missed plenty too. I would blame Clemson's D, but too often it was just our guys missing. We desperately need a guy who can just go up and either slam it home or draw a foul.
-- I think I overrated Hanlan. Changing offenses certainly hurt his numbers this year as does playing more point. But maybe Hanlan is just very good but not great. He was fine Saturday, but BC needed him to step up early. He didn't. They also needed him to drive more. It didn't happen -- in part to how Clemson was defending him.
-- The team misses Clifford. He still not 100% and that left Carney playing long minutes. We could have used him on the boards and if he had been healthy, he might have finished some of those shots in the paint.

3 comments:

EL MIZ said...

RE: Hanlan - agree. think he is as good as he was as a freshman, but he hasn't developed the leadership or killer instinct that is necessary for a scorer like him to take the next step. he doesn't take games over, misses free throws, seems to go on autopilot for stretches. i'd be shocked if he left early - neither NBADraft.net or DraftExpress have him listed in their full 2-round mock. hopefully he realizes that and comes back next year understanding what he needs to do to go from good to great.

i sure as heck hope Diallo will be healthy next year. who plays C in the event neither he nor Clifford is healthy? Owens? we need to add at least one more recruit.

JBQ said...

Hanlan is already dreaming about the NBA. He wants to take his skill to the next level. There are teams with interest. He is just one more street athlete with an inflated ego who feels that school is of no value and to be played in order to make the big money.

mod34b said...

JBQ, what exactly is a "street athlete"? I shudder to ask.