Developing Depth Has BC Cruising Into Virginia

Photo by: John Quackenbos

Developing Depth Has BC Cruising Into Virginia

February 01, 2022 | Men's Basketball, #ForBoston Files

A season-long development is now paying dividends as the season enters February

By: Dan Rubin, BCEagles.com contributor

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Sunday's win over Pittsburgh all started with a made basket by Boston College.

By itself, that statement is pretty obvious. Basketball teams have to score more points than their opponent, so the idea of beating a team logically starts with a converted jump shot or layup. A 3-pointer or dunk might add a little flair to the drama, but the sport's entire premise is predicated on literally putting a ball through a basket.

But BC's win over the Panthers never started with a basket made after the opening tipoff of their snow-delayed game. It instead happened hours earlier as the Eagles finished their pregame shootaround with their typical half-court shooting contest.

Normally, they would compete with one another to see whose long ball would end the morning practice, but this time, head coach Earl Grant grabbed a ball and offered a shot. He steadied himself and took a couple of steps - it wasn't a travel - before unleashing a perfect rainbow that clocked through the twine.

Nothing but net. Pitt never stood a chance.

Half-court antics aside, the shot served as the appetizer to the Eagles' main course that evening when they defeated Pitt, 69-56, to earn their fourth ACC win. The complete team victory was one of BC's finest all-around performances of the season, and as the tables turn to tonight's road game at Virginia, there are now clear signs of how the Eagles intend to defeat opponents - both now and in the future.

"It's going to be a quick turnaround," Grant told the ACC media on Monday morning. "We have [Monday] and will do a shootaround [on Tuesday]. We'll just do what we do and do it at a high level for this time of year. It's almost February, and we're playing four or five games [over] nine days, so it's not the time to be tweaking things."

There really shouldn't be much need to tweak anything anyways after the way BC defeated Pitt on Sunday afternoon. A seven-minute scoreless stretch prevented the Panthers from gaining any traction against the Eagles' defense, and the home team built a nine-point lead at the break by holding its opponent to less than 29 percent shooting from the floor.

The defensive effort, as expected, anchored offensive momentum, and the Eagles poured 41 percent of their own shots into the cup as time wound down on the half. They built on those successes on the other side of the break and closed the Panthers out by shooting 50 percent from the floor in the second half, a number enhanced by the emergence of the inside-out game and a 4-for-9 shooting performance from beyond the arc in the latter 10 minutes.

Both Makai Ashton-Langford and DeMarr Langford were unimpeachable on the offensive end in combining for 38 points on 15-for-28 shooting, but beneficiaries emerged everywhere. Quinten Post came off the bench to register a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds after James Karnik recorded three fouls in 12 minutes, and the seven-foot Dutch import dominated at both ends by grabbing seven defensive boards with two blocks and a steal.

"He plays inside and out," Grant said. "He's a seven-foot, European big [man], so he plays inside. But a lot of those guys won't step out and shoot the three, and he's capable. We just encourage him to be really good around the basket because he's seven-foot, 240 pounds. He's been offensive rebounding [and] driving from the elbows, so it's been a little bit of everything.

"James has had some really good games," he added, "and it depends on who is not in foul trouble. That determines which one of those guys plays 25 minutes versus 15 minutes. [Against Pitt], Quinten was playing well and James got into a little bit of foul trouble, so QP played a lot of minutes. That also means the next game, James Karnik is going to be fresh. So it's been good having those two go back and forth."

Post was hardly the only player recording those types of "winning plays" against Pittsburgh. Jaeden Zackery recorded six rebounds and four assists out of the backcourt while T.J. Bickerstaff grabbed five boards in addition to his six points, but the most pleasant surprise came from freshman Gianni Thompson, whose six points and three boards over 17 minutes also included an assist and a block.

"We had a shorter bench earlier [in the year]," Grant said, "and I wasn't really playing a lot of guys off the bench. Brevin Galloway was in and out of the roster, so we didn't really have him for 50 percent of the season, but Gianni and Kanye [Jones] were both freshmen that I really just didn't play a lot. I wanted more out of them in practice, but they've given me more and they've developed to play in some games."

Finding those additional options are transforming BC, and opponents are dealing with a full roster reckoning as the Eagles are playing more basketball. Throughout the season, Grant emphasized how this year's iteration only started playing together over the summer, and his system, with all of its defensive complexities, included a steep learning curve for a roster largely turned over from last season. He didn't call it an expansion team, but the elements of a new roster offered similar challenges as incoming transfers and freshmen started seeing court minutes together for the first time.

Early season wins and losses never changed that approach to developing the new additions because Grant knew he would need depth to compete with the rest of the ACC when the margin for error is razor thin. The top scorers would still need to play north of 30 or 35 minutes, but other options and the players who could score six points or grab key rebounds while making defensive stops in key minutes were critical to earning the wins that evaded BC in its first game against Pitt or the losses to Louisville and North Carolina.

"In the middle of freshman year, you're not a freshman anymore," Grant said. "You should have a good understanding of what we're trying to do. So they may get more minutes [like how] Gianni played 16 minutes [against Pitt]. Quinten Post basically played 20 minutes. Brevin Galloway played 16 minutes, so we're starting to use guys more. Certainly we need them; we were playing guys 37 minutes per game early in the year, and hopefully we can continue to grow our bench."

Boston College and Virginia take to the court at John Paul Jones Arena in a game hotly anticipated as one of the best defensive matchups in the league. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. with national television coverage available on ACC Network and online streaming available through the ESPN online platform. Radio broadcast is also available through the Boston College Sports Network from Learfield, locally in Boston at WEEI 850 AM.