Boston College Athletics
Photo by: John Quackenbos
Thursday Three-Pointer: Week Fourteen
March 04, 2020 | Men's Basketball, #ForBoston Files
An injury-riddled BC team is fighting valiantly down the stretch of the 2019-20 season
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Head coach Jim Christian is bullish about never using injuries as a crutch. Significant players missed time at various points through his tenure at the Eagles' helm, but he has never pointed to it as a reason why his team struggled in individual particular areas. The basketball mind in him only begrudgingly allows his heart to recognize an absence before it snaps back into its analytical X's and O's.
At some point, though, even Christian had to admit the injuries began to take their toll on Boston College. Facing Syracuse on Tuesday night, his team was without three of his top five scorers - Nik Popovic as well as Jared and Jairus Hamilton. The depleted Eagles battled for 40 minutes before the Orange left Conte Forum with an 84-71 victory.
"Jairus has knee tendonitis," Christian said. "Jared has had an Achilles and ankle injury for about a month, and some games, he just can't play. Popovic has a back problem. Julian Rishwain is toughing it out and he's starting to move better. It's more of a shin or calf issue with him, but he's a tough kid. He's competing because he's a tough kid."
Sustaining one or two injuries is commonplace over a season, but what happened to the Eagles this year is downright weird. Tuesday's first five featured Kamari Williams in his first collegiate start, as part of the 11th different starting lineup. Losing a starter hurts for a number of reasons because it forces players into different roles. It's difficult to extrapolate a player from one role into another when they expect to play a certain style; a role player off the bench, for example, is dedicated to learning how to take the floor for energy, intent on wearing down an opponent. It's difficult, mentally, under any circumstances to hit that switch when they spend a whole season doing one thing and are then expected to do another.
1) Zone tax
Tuesday's game felt like it cast BC as Sisyphus, but the box score revealed the Eagles almost pushed the rock to the apex. The Eagles shot nearly equal to the Orange, and they set a program record for three pointers made in a single game. The trademark Syracuse zone defense extends offenses by forcing outside shots, but the Eagles, with its backcourt intact between Jay Heath and Derryck Thornton, made the Orange pay a price. The duo combined for 11 three-pointers, part of a 19-shot performance that included 13 three's by the Eagles in the second half.
"Because we've been inconsistent shooting, they fan out high and force us to shoot it," Christian said. "We had to get the ball into Steffon Mitchell and the area of the court where we wanted it. I thought we executed well, except for turnovers. Minus that, we played as well as we've played, offensively."
The difference between winning and losing stared at BC as a glaring number on the sheet. The Eagles committed 18 turnovers against a unique zone defense employed by no other team in college basketball, but they also shot 2-for-10 from the free throw line. Syracuse drew 21 fouls against BC and forced both Kamari Williams and Derryck Thornton to foul out, then sank 21 of its 25 free throw attempts.
"They do a good job to jump into you as you go to defend, and if you don't contest shots high, they draw contact," Christian said. "They got the ball to the basket and didn't foul. We fouled a couple of jump shooters."
2) Runnin' on Empty
Losing starters hurts for a number of reasons because it forces players into different roles. It's difficult to extrapolate a player from one role into another when they expect to play a certain style; a role player off the bench, for example, is dedicated to learning how to take the floor for energy, intent on wearing down an opponent.Â
It's difficult, mentally, under any circumstances to hit that switch when they spend a whole season doing one thing and are then expected to do another. It's a completely different kind of physical conditioning capable of crunching players playing against a team committed to a demanding, half-court style of play.
"Defensively, we just ran out of gas," Christian said. "They had 10 offensive rebounds in the second half. Guys played a lot of minutes who don't usually play a lot of minutes."
Syracuse entered Tuesday averaging well over 14 assists per game but chose to play more isolation basketball against the Eagles' depleted forwards. The Orange only had nine helpers, four of which came from forward Marek Dolezaj. Both Buddy Boeheim and Elijah Hughes went over 20 points, but it came largely from individual execution and without consistent 3-point shots.
"You can't regroup help," Christian said. "When guys are healthy, guarding a guy like Hughes is difficult. Julian and Kamari physically had to get him. Mitchell had to step out on him, which hurt us on the glass. He hurt us, but he's a tough matchup for a lot of people."
To his credit, Mitchell had a double-double by adding 10 helpers to the 11 previously-mentioned rebounds, but Syracuse neutralized him to just six shot attempts. He took only one 3-pointer because he spent most of his day in the paint.
3) Sizing Up For Greensboro
Six teams play in the ACC Tournament's first round when all 15 teams qualify for the postseason, but this year's format changed due to Georgia Tech's ineligible ruling. With one less team, the ACC shifted to a four-team first round, moving an extra team into the second round with an automatic bye.
That means the tenth place team earns an automatic ride to the 7 p.m. game on Wednesday when the conference descends on Greensboro, N.C. next week. That's a spot the Eagles currently have a good shot at earning if they can earn an upset over Florida State on the road in the season finale.
BC owns a head-to-head tiebreaker over Virginia Tech, which ends the season at Notre Dame. Miami, a third team factoring into this race, closes out at Syracuse, but the Hurricanes beat both the Eagles and the Hokies. So in the event of a three-way tie, Miami would end the season with the bye after winning the head-to-head tiebreaker among the teams.
None of these teams, however, play any of the teams sitting one game back. Pittsburgh, Wake Forest and North Carolina all play teams from the top of the table, and the head-to-head tiebreaker among common tied opponents is used regardless of how many teams are involved. BC owns a 2-2 record against those three teams, but each holds wins, in some capacity, over Virginia Tech or Miami.
It means the last day of the season could really unleash carnage, especially if tiebreakers have to go to records against the first place team in the conference. How it shakes down could be very easy, or it's going to be messy. And somehow, in the midst of all of this, a game against a seventh place team to be determined is hanging in the balance, with two potential spots in the second round to be determined as a result of Georgia Tech's elimination.
Layup Line: No(le) Retreat, No(le) Surrender
Everything hinges on BC's ability to win at Florida State. That's a tall order considering Leonard Hamilton's team is having a magical season and is on the verge of earning at least a share of the ACC regular season title.
The Seminoles swept Louisville this season with ease, rolling to a 15-point win at home before upset-minded Clemson won at the buzzer over FSU. The defeat did little to nothing to drop FSU from an entrenched perch among the top-seeded teams bound for the NCAA Tournament, with Joe Lunardi slotting it as a No. 2 seed bound for a first round bracket at home in Tampa.
Only four ACC teams are in the national tournament according to Lunardi's most recent bracket. It highlights the overall strength of the league - one that put a record 13 players into the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft. There are no runaway favorites. Fourth place and 15th are separated by four games.  That sort of parity shines a light on teams that are more than capable of getting hot at the right time.
Boston College plays No. 7 Florida State on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The game can be seen as part of the ACC's Regional Sports Network package, which is locally broadcast in Boston on NESN. Radio broadcast is available on the BC IMG Sports Network, heard locally in Boston on WEEI 850 AM.
At some point, though, even Christian had to admit the injuries began to take their toll on Boston College. Facing Syracuse on Tuesday night, his team was without three of his top five scorers - Nik Popovic as well as Jared and Jairus Hamilton. The depleted Eagles battled for 40 minutes before the Orange left Conte Forum with an 84-71 victory.
"Jairus has knee tendonitis," Christian said. "Jared has had an Achilles and ankle injury for about a month, and some games, he just can't play. Popovic has a back problem. Julian Rishwain is toughing it out and he's starting to move better. It's more of a shin or calf issue with him, but he's a tough kid. He's competing because he's a tough kid."
Sustaining one or two injuries is commonplace over a season, but what happened to the Eagles this year is downright weird. Tuesday's first five featured Kamari Williams in his first collegiate start, as part of the 11th different starting lineup. Losing a starter hurts for a number of reasons because it forces players into different roles. It's difficult to extrapolate a player from one role into another when they expect to play a certain style; a role player off the bench, for example, is dedicated to learning how to take the floor for energy, intent on wearing down an opponent. It's difficult, mentally, under any circumstances to hit that switch when they spend a whole season doing one thing and are then expected to do another.
1) Zone tax
Tuesday's game felt like it cast BC as Sisyphus, but the box score revealed the Eagles almost pushed the rock to the apex. The Eagles shot nearly equal to the Orange, and they set a program record for three pointers made in a single game. The trademark Syracuse zone defense extends offenses by forcing outside shots, but the Eagles, with its backcourt intact between Jay Heath and Derryck Thornton, made the Orange pay a price. The duo combined for 11 three-pointers, part of a 19-shot performance that included 13 three's by the Eagles in the second half.
"Because we've been inconsistent shooting, they fan out high and force us to shoot it," Christian said. "We had to get the ball into Steffon Mitchell and the area of the court where we wanted it. I thought we executed well, except for turnovers. Minus that, we played as well as we've played, offensively."
The difference between winning and losing stared at BC as a glaring number on the sheet. The Eagles committed 18 turnovers against a unique zone defense employed by no other team in college basketball, but they also shot 2-for-10 from the free throw line. Syracuse drew 21 fouls against BC and forced both Kamari Williams and Derryck Thornton to foul out, then sank 21 of its 25 free throw attempts.
"They do a good job to jump into you as you go to defend, and if you don't contest shots high, they draw contact," Christian said. "They got the ball to the basket and didn't foul. We fouled a couple of jump shooters."
2) Runnin' on Empty
Losing starters hurts for a number of reasons because it forces players into different roles. It's difficult to extrapolate a player from one role into another when they expect to play a certain style; a role player off the bench, for example, is dedicated to learning how to take the floor for energy, intent on wearing down an opponent.Â
It's difficult, mentally, under any circumstances to hit that switch when they spend a whole season doing one thing and are then expected to do another. It's a completely different kind of physical conditioning capable of crunching players playing against a team committed to a demanding, half-court style of play.
"Defensively, we just ran out of gas," Christian said. "They had 10 offensive rebounds in the second half. Guys played a lot of minutes who don't usually play a lot of minutes."
Syracuse entered Tuesday averaging well over 14 assists per game but chose to play more isolation basketball against the Eagles' depleted forwards. The Orange only had nine helpers, four of which came from forward Marek Dolezaj. Both Buddy Boeheim and Elijah Hughes went over 20 points, but it came largely from individual execution and without consistent 3-point shots.
"You can't regroup help," Christian said. "When guys are healthy, guarding a guy like Hughes is difficult. Julian and Kamari physically had to get him. Mitchell had to step out on him, which hurt us on the glass. He hurt us, but he's a tough matchup for a lot of people."
To his credit, Mitchell had a double-double by adding 10 helpers to the 11 previously-mentioned rebounds, but Syracuse neutralized him to just six shot attempts. He took only one 3-pointer because he spent most of his day in the paint.
3) Sizing Up For Greensboro
Six teams play in the ACC Tournament's first round when all 15 teams qualify for the postseason, but this year's format changed due to Georgia Tech's ineligible ruling. With one less team, the ACC shifted to a four-team first round, moving an extra team into the second round with an automatic bye.
That means the tenth place team earns an automatic ride to the 7 p.m. game on Wednesday when the conference descends on Greensboro, N.C. next week. That's a spot the Eagles currently have a good shot at earning if they can earn an upset over Florida State on the road in the season finale.
BC owns a head-to-head tiebreaker over Virginia Tech, which ends the season at Notre Dame. Miami, a third team factoring into this race, closes out at Syracuse, but the Hurricanes beat both the Eagles and the Hokies. So in the event of a three-way tie, Miami would end the season with the bye after winning the head-to-head tiebreaker among the teams.
None of these teams, however, play any of the teams sitting one game back. Pittsburgh, Wake Forest and North Carolina all play teams from the top of the table, and the head-to-head tiebreaker among common tied opponents is used regardless of how many teams are involved. BC owns a 2-2 record against those three teams, but each holds wins, in some capacity, over Virginia Tech or Miami.
It means the last day of the season could really unleash carnage, especially if tiebreakers have to go to records against the first place team in the conference. How it shakes down could be very easy, or it's going to be messy. And somehow, in the midst of all of this, a game against a seventh place team to be determined is hanging in the balance, with two potential spots in the second round to be determined as a result of Georgia Tech's elimination.
Layup Line: No(le) Retreat, No(le) Surrender
Everything hinges on BC's ability to win at Florida State. That's a tall order considering Leonard Hamilton's team is having a magical season and is on the verge of earning at least a share of the ACC regular season title.
The Seminoles swept Louisville this season with ease, rolling to a 15-point win at home before upset-minded Clemson won at the buzzer over FSU. The defeat did little to nothing to drop FSU from an entrenched perch among the top-seeded teams bound for the NCAA Tournament, with Joe Lunardi slotting it as a No. 2 seed bound for a first round bracket at home in Tampa.
Only four ACC teams are in the national tournament according to Lunardi's most recent bracket. It highlights the overall strength of the league - one that put a record 13 players into the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft. There are no runaway favorites. Fourth place and 15th are separated by four games.  That sort of parity shines a light on teams that are more than capable of getting hot at the right time.
Boston College plays No. 7 Florida State on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The game can be seen as part of the ACC's Regional Sports Network package, which is locally broadcast in Boston on NESN. Radio broadcast is available on the BC IMG Sports Network, heard locally in Boston on WEEI 850 AM.
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