Photo by: John Quackenbos
Thursday Three-Pointer: Week Three
November 28, 2019 | Men's Basketball, #ForBoston Files
A lesson through disappointment, and checking in on some old friends currently starring both domestically and abroad.
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- The Gotham Classic is one of the many early season tournaments designed to simulate March Madness-type drama. Power conference teams compete against each other - and potential Cinderella teams - in strong fields, across two weeks' worth of games. All parties fulfill non-conference requirements, and the tournament ends with a showcase game.
On Wednesday, the Gotham Classic closed with this year's showcase between Boston College and Saint Louis at Conte Forum. It was one of those matchups of contrasting styles; a strong, big, powerful rebounding Billiken team versus an Eagle squad forging its commitment to team defense and fast break speed.Â
Along with the win over Eastern Washington, it stood to bookend a non-conference loss to undefeated DePaul team in the Big East. Instead, a sloppy second half performance vs. SLU enabled a 21-0 run, and BC dropped its third out of four games.
"Our problems weren't defensive," head coach Jim Christian said. "We weren't efficient enough. We had wide open shots, but you have to make the most of those opportunities. We were better in the half court than we were against DePaul. We just missed a lot of shots. Then in the second half, defensively, our rebounding wasn't really good."
That the past week resulted in a pair of setbacks is particularly stinging to the early BC season. The team entered this stretch with a 4-1 record, with the one loss coming to a tournament-caliber Belmont team that shot the lights out of Conte Forum with 15 3-pointers. Watching DePaul pull away, though, compounded the need to play a full 40 minutes on Wednesday. When that didn't happen, it left a sour taste heading into a holiday weekend game at Richmond.
"It's not anything that anyone did great against us," Christian said. "They just did what they were doing in their game plan. We just weren't executing for whatever reason. We haven't maintained for 40 minutes. You can't do it for 35 minutes against good teams and expect to win."
Here's what else to learn from this past week against DePaul and Saint Louis:
*****
1) Cooperation
Christian designed the Boston College system to utilize fluid creativity among the personnel on the floor. Decisions in ball movement open up opportunities through a fast-paced aggressiveness. It charges a physical tax on defenses, and the toll is paid in fouls or open looks at the hoops.Â
Players have to knock down those shots, though. Both games this week were one possession games at halftime because the Eagles failed to shoot consistently. Their 8-of-27 shooting in the first half against DePaul nearly replicated itself with a 8-of-26 mark against Saint Louis; knocking down even a couple of more shots would have altered the lead and possibly changed approaches in the second half.
"You can't have those open court turnovers, especially after you steal or rebound to get a stop," Christian said after Saint Louis. "For whatever reason, we're just not doing it. We're disconnected on the glass and in coverages. We have to know that we have to execute. That's how we practice. On Wednesday, we either missed a layup or didn't convert back on defense."
"Saint Louis was a team that can offensive rebound from four spots," Christian added. "They can penetrate downhill. We gave up penetration downhill because we got lazy at the point of ball screens. That led to guards trying to block out bigs, and that's a problem."
2) Industriousness
Both DePaul and Saint Louis presented unique challenges to BC's rebounding because both have reputations for dominating opponents. The Blue Demons crush opponents on the defensive window, ranking 24th nationally with over 30 boards per game. The Billikens, meanwhile, went the other way, ranking 12th nationally in offensive rebounding with just under 15 per game.
Both teams outrebounded opponents by a factor of seven boards per game. Saint Louis in particular dominated a common opponent, outrebounding Belmont with a 60-38 advantage, a game in which Hasahn French recorded 24 rebounds on his own.
Jim Christian understood BC lacked the size to bang with those teams, so the Eagles set out to negate advantages with stiff defense. It worked to an extent because DePaul committed 16 turnovers, equal to BC, and Saint Louis committed 15.
"I told the team that we needed everybody to play well to beat Saint Louis," Christian said. "We were going to need everybody because we were shorthanded. The minutes couldn't be big because of how physical they were."
DePaul and Saint Louis finished with 16 and 17 offensive rebounds, respectively. It reflected back to what Christian said about playing "disconnected" basketball for minutes at a time.
"I don't think everyone was ready to contribute the way I know they're capable of," he said. "Those stretches of three or four minutes where we turn the ball over are killing us. We can't have those stretches and expect to beat good teams."
Jay Heath missed Wednesday's game with an illness, and Jairus Hamilton returned to the lineup after a five-game layoff. Hamilton suffered a scary crash in the first half on Wednesday, but a right hip contusion didn't prevent him from returning. With both expected to gradually return to full strength, a more regular rotation of minutes will at least provide a start with getting consistency back after this week.
There was also a long run in the late second half on Wednesday after BC dug a double-digit hole. It didn't mitigate the deficit, but it proves the talent is there. It's just a matter of consistency, which is identified and provides the team a working schedule before Saturday's game against Richmond.
3) Competitive Greatness
The stories of both Ky Bowman and Jerome Robinson continue to develop on the West Coast in the NBA as both rewrite what it means for Boston College Eagles in the Association. Bowman dropped a career-high 24 points for Golden State on Nov. 25 in a loss to Oklahoma City, but his overall numbers prompted head coach Steve Kerr to express a desire to keep the two-way player on a guaranteed, one-way contract.Â
Bowman is just over 20 days into a 45-day maximum on his two-way contract, meaning the Warriors have approximately three weeks to determine how to keep him. A two-way contract normally would send the player back to the G League for the remainder of the season once time runs out.
Robinson, meanwhile, dropped 21 points on Atlanta for the Los Angeles Clippers, continuing a breakout for a team positioned as the third-best record in the Western Conference.
Several former Eagles greats are also making waves overseas. Tyrese Rice, for example, is still going strong. The 10-year professional veteran scored 21 points in 20 minutes to lead Panathinaikos to its third consecutive victory in Greece. He's playing in the Greek A1 league with Olivier Hanlan, who is averaging 15.6 points per game and just under three rebounds and three assists per game for league-leading Iraklis.
The biggest breakout, though, belonged to Jordan Chatman's 25 points for Romania's Sibiu franchise in the FIBA Europe Cup. The team, which competes in the Ligia Nationalia's Group A, is currently part of a four-team grouping with Aradia, another Romanian side.
Layup Line: Come Into My Web
Two intriguing matchups face the Eagles this upcoming week, with a road matchup on Saturday against Richmond. BC returns home to face Northwestern on Dec. 3 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge presented by Continental Tire.
Richmond is an interesting matchup because the Spiders are a program on the rise. The preseason Media Day poll put the team at sixth place in the Atlantic 10, a sign of respect considering it finished the last two seasons sub-.500. This year, the Spiders are proving that prognostication correct, defeating Wisconsin by 10 before losing to Auburn in the title game of the Roman Legends Classic.
The win over the Badgers marked the second win over a power conference opponent this season for Richmond. The recent KenPom rankings, often used for a predictive measure for its ability to weigh efficiencies against strength of schedule, have the Spiders at 85th overall. They enter Saturday with four players scoring in double figures led by Nick Sherod, who is averaging 17.2 points per game thanks to his ability to knock down from outside.
Northwestern, meanwhile, is a case study in how quickly fortunes can change in college basketball. The Wildcats are less than three years removed from a historic postseason run. Head coach Chris Collins led Northwestern to the NCAA Second Round as an eight-seed, falling in the round of 32 to top-seeded Gonzaga. But a steady decline resulted in a tough 2018-19 season. NU was chosen to finish at the bottom of the Big Ten's 2019-20 preseason poll.
The team is a true enigma to start this season. It lost to a transitioning Merrimack team by 10 in its first game but beat Providence five days later, 72-63. The Wildcats promptly followed it up by dumping an 11-point loss to Radford, though the Highlanders, struggling to start this season, won 22 games last year.
Both games will be available on national television this upcoming week. The Richmond game on Saturday tips off at 2:30 p.m. and can be seen on NBC Sports Network, and the Northwestern game tips at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night on ESPNU.
On Wednesday, the Gotham Classic closed with this year's showcase between Boston College and Saint Louis at Conte Forum. It was one of those matchups of contrasting styles; a strong, big, powerful rebounding Billiken team versus an Eagle squad forging its commitment to team defense and fast break speed.Â
Along with the win over Eastern Washington, it stood to bookend a non-conference loss to undefeated DePaul team in the Big East. Instead, a sloppy second half performance vs. SLU enabled a 21-0 run, and BC dropped its third out of four games.
"Our problems weren't defensive," head coach Jim Christian said. "We weren't efficient enough. We had wide open shots, but you have to make the most of those opportunities. We were better in the half court than we were against DePaul. We just missed a lot of shots. Then in the second half, defensively, our rebounding wasn't really good."
That the past week resulted in a pair of setbacks is particularly stinging to the early BC season. The team entered this stretch with a 4-1 record, with the one loss coming to a tournament-caliber Belmont team that shot the lights out of Conte Forum with 15 3-pointers. Watching DePaul pull away, though, compounded the need to play a full 40 minutes on Wednesday. When that didn't happen, it left a sour taste heading into a holiday weekend game at Richmond.
"It's not anything that anyone did great against us," Christian said. "They just did what they were doing in their game plan. We just weren't executing for whatever reason. We haven't maintained for 40 minutes. You can't do it for 35 minutes against good teams and expect to win."
Here's what else to learn from this past week against DePaul and Saint Louis:
*****
1) Cooperation
Christian designed the Boston College system to utilize fluid creativity among the personnel on the floor. Decisions in ball movement open up opportunities through a fast-paced aggressiveness. It charges a physical tax on defenses, and the toll is paid in fouls or open looks at the hoops.Â
Players have to knock down those shots, though. Both games this week were one possession games at halftime because the Eagles failed to shoot consistently. Their 8-of-27 shooting in the first half against DePaul nearly replicated itself with a 8-of-26 mark against Saint Louis; knocking down even a couple of more shots would have altered the lead and possibly changed approaches in the second half.
"You can't have those open court turnovers, especially after you steal or rebound to get a stop," Christian said after Saint Louis. "For whatever reason, we're just not doing it. We're disconnected on the glass and in coverages. We have to know that we have to execute. That's how we practice. On Wednesday, we either missed a layup or didn't convert back on defense."
"Saint Louis was a team that can offensive rebound from four spots," Christian added. "They can penetrate downhill. We gave up penetration downhill because we got lazy at the point of ball screens. That led to guards trying to block out bigs, and that's a problem."
2) Industriousness
Both DePaul and Saint Louis presented unique challenges to BC's rebounding because both have reputations for dominating opponents. The Blue Demons crush opponents on the defensive window, ranking 24th nationally with over 30 boards per game. The Billikens, meanwhile, went the other way, ranking 12th nationally in offensive rebounding with just under 15 per game.
Both teams outrebounded opponents by a factor of seven boards per game. Saint Louis in particular dominated a common opponent, outrebounding Belmont with a 60-38 advantage, a game in which Hasahn French recorded 24 rebounds on his own.
Jim Christian understood BC lacked the size to bang with those teams, so the Eagles set out to negate advantages with stiff defense. It worked to an extent because DePaul committed 16 turnovers, equal to BC, and Saint Louis committed 15.
"I told the team that we needed everybody to play well to beat Saint Louis," Christian said. "We were going to need everybody because we were shorthanded. The minutes couldn't be big because of how physical they were."
DePaul and Saint Louis finished with 16 and 17 offensive rebounds, respectively. It reflected back to what Christian said about playing "disconnected" basketball for minutes at a time.
"I don't think everyone was ready to contribute the way I know they're capable of," he said. "Those stretches of three or four minutes where we turn the ball over are killing us. We can't have those stretches and expect to beat good teams."
Jay Heath missed Wednesday's game with an illness, and Jairus Hamilton returned to the lineup after a five-game layoff. Hamilton suffered a scary crash in the first half on Wednesday, but a right hip contusion didn't prevent him from returning. With both expected to gradually return to full strength, a more regular rotation of minutes will at least provide a start with getting consistency back after this week.
There was also a long run in the late second half on Wednesday after BC dug a double-digit hole. It didn't mitigate the deficit, but it proves the talent is there. It's just a matter of consistency, which is identified and provides the team a working schedule before Saturday's game against Richmond.
3) Competitive Greatness
The stories of both Ky Bowman and Jerome Robinson continue to develop on the West Coast in the NBA as both rewrite what it means for Boston College Eagles in the Association. Bowman dropped a career-high 24 points for Golden State on Nov. 25 in a loss to Oklahoma City, but his overall numbers prompted head coach Steve Kerr to express a desire to keep the two-way player on a guaranteed, one-way contract.Â
Bowman is just over 20 days into a 45-day maximum on his two-way contract, meaning the Warriors have approximately three weeks to determine how to keep him. A two-way contract normally would send the player back to the G League for the remainder of the season once time runs out.
Robinson, meanwhile, dropped 21 points on Atlanta for the Los Angeles Clippers, continuing a breakout for a team positioned as the third-best record in the Western Conference.
Several former Eagles greats are also making waves overseas. Tyrese Rice, for example, is still going strong. The 10-year professional veteran scored 21 points in 20 minutes to lead Panathinaikos to its third consecutive victory in Greece. He's playing in the Greek A1 league with Olivier Hanlan, who is averaging 15.6 points per game and just under three rebounds and three assists per game for league-leading Iraklis.
The biggest breakout, though, belonged to Jordan Chatman's 25 points for Romania's Sibiu franchise in the FIBA Europe Cup. The team, which competes in the Ligia Nationalia's Group A, is currently part of a four-team grouping with Aradia, another Romanian side.
Layup Line: Come Into My Web
Two intriguing matchups face the Eagles this upcoming week, with a road matchup on Saturday against Richmond. BC returns home to face Northwestern on Dec. 3 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge presented by Continental Tire.
Richmond is an interesting matchup because the Spiders are a program on the rise. The preseason Media Day poll put the team at sixth place in the Atlantic 10, a sign of respect considering it finished the last two seasons sub-.500. This year, the Spiders are proving that prognostication correct, defeating Wisconsin by 10 before losing to Auburn in the title game of the Roman Legends Classic.
The win over the Badgers marked the second win over a power conference opponent this season for Richmond. The recent KenPom rankings, often used for a predictive measure for its ability to weigh efficiencies against strength of schedule, have the Spiders at 85th overall. They enter Saturday with four players scoring in double figures led by Nick Sherod, who is averaging 17.2 points per game thanks to his ability to knock down from outside.
Northwestern, meanwhile, is a case study in how quickly fortunes can change in college basketball. The Wildcats are less than three years removed from a historic postseason run. Head coach Chris Collins led Northwestern to the NCAA Second Round as an eight-seed, falling in the round of 32 to top-seeded Gonzaga. But a steady decline resulted in a tough 2018-19 season. NU was chosen to finish at the bottom of the Big Ten's 2019-20 preseason poll.
The team is a true enigma to start this season. It lost to a transitioning Merrimack team by 10 in its first game but beat Providence five days later, 72-63. The Wildcats promptly followed it up by dumping an 11-point loss to Radford, though the Highlanders, struggling to start this season, won 22 games last year.
Both games will be available on national television this upcoming week. The Richmond game on Saturday tips off at 2:30 p.m. and can be seen on NBC Sports Network, and the Northwestern game tips at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night on ESPNU.
Players Mentioned
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