Boston College, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech
1. With losses to Providence and Vermont, Boston College has dropped a bit below the radar. But with recent wins over Michigan State and, on Sunday, Maryland, the Eagles have shown that they should remain a part of the national conversation.
Maryland coach Gary Williams called Jared Dudley the best player in the ACC, and that was before the BC senior lit his team up for 20 points. Dudley is a matchup nightmare; a rugged player inside with great instincts for rebound and scoring in the post, but too quick to be guarded by someone bigger.
BC also has Tyrese Rice, a confident lead guard with a sweet stroke who really took it to Maryland in the first half tonight. And they have the enigmatic Sean Williams, the best shotblocker we've seen in quite a while in college basketball.
With a number of solid role players to boot, the Eagles are clearly the conference's most rugged team, and that's a quality that should go a little farther in this year's ACC than it would in most years. With the notable exception of North Carolina, the league is not full of the highly-polished offensive teams that we've gotten used to. It won't be mistaken for the Big East or Big Ten, but there's so much youth on so many teams (think Duke, Georgia Tech, Maryland) that the fundamental, smashmouth basketball that BC plays will be effective against the talented, but inconsistent, competition.
2. Joseph Jones is one of the best big men in the country. You would think, then, that his team would get him the ball when playing the top-ranked team in the nation.
But Texas A&M didn't against UCLA on Saturday. The Aggies star took just 11 shots, making five and finishing with 11 points, in a 65-62 loss. Many of those attempts came off offensive rebound, as Jones collected seven caroms off the O-glass.
It's particularly puzzling given that the Bruins are very strong defensively on the perimeter, but are rather thin and inexperienced in the post. Jones should have gotten the better of Lorenzo Mata all night. And when Mata fouled out with about three and a half minutes to go, A&M really should have focused on Jones. But the only shot Jones got the rest of the way came down three with under a shot clock to go in the game -- 20 feet away from the basket.
Acie Law IV is a tremendous talent on the perimeter, and I'm not saying that he should never take 20 shots in a game, like he did against UCLA. But the circumstances of that game dictated that the ball should go inside to Jones, and Law and coach Billy Gillispie share in the blame for the failure to do so.
3. Georgia Tech has a truly remarkable group of athletes; a bunch of players who can run and jump as well or better than anyone else in the country. To take advantage of their superior athleticism, they play a frantic, up-and-down style. That brand of basketball is what allowed them to turn a 13-point first half deficit into a five-point lead early in the second against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
However, the Yellowjackets are also very young, and young players are prone to making bad decisions and playing out of control. Putting young players into a system where chaos is pretty much the order of the day can be dangerous, as the style that is designed to rush the opponent into turnovers and forced shots can carry over to when they are on offense. That danger was evident in the latter part of the second half, when Vandy came back to take an 11-point lead, hanging on to win 73-64.
During that stretch, the Jackets committed several silly turnovers, and squandered at least as many possessions with difficult shots. Several times down the floor, Tech threw just one pass, with the recipient doing one of three things: traveling due to being over-anxious to make a move and get a shot; jacking up a tough three-pointer; or pounding the ball towards the basket and taking a difficult two-point shot.
I think GT can be effective in this up-tempo style, but coach Paul Hewitt will need to find a way to get through to his kids that it works because it forces turnovers and bad shots, and that committing turnovers and taking bad shots yourself cancels out that effect.
Maryland coach Gary Williams called Jared Dudley the best player in the ACC, and that was before the BC senior lit his team up for 20 points. Dudley is a matchup nightmare; a rugged player inside with great instincts for rebound and scoring in the post, but too quick to be guarded by someone bigger.
BC also has Tyrese Rice, a confident lead guard with a sweet stroke who really took it to Maryland in the first half tonight. And they have the enigmatic Sean Williams, the best shotblocker we've seen in quite a while in college basketball.
With a number of solid role players to boot, the Eagles are clearly the conference's most rugged team, and that's a quality that should go a little farther in this year's ACC than it would in most years. With the notable exception of North Carolina, the league is not full of the highly-polished offensive teams that we've gotten used to. It won't be mistaken for the Big East or Big Ten, but there's so much youth on so many teams (think Duke, Georgia Tech, Maryland) that the fundamental, smashmouth basketball that BC plays will be effective against the talented, but inconsistent, competition.
2. Joseph Jones is one of the best big men in the country. You would think, then, that his team would get him the ball when playing the top-ranked team in the nation.
But Texas A&M didn't against UCLA on Saturday. The Aggies star took just 11 shots, making five and finishing with 11 points, in a 65-62 loss. Many of those attempts came off offensive rebound, as Jones collected seven caroms off the O-glass.
It's particularly puzzling given that the Bruins are very strong defensively on the perimeter, but are rather thin and inexperienced in the post. Jones should have gotten the better of Lorenzo Mata all night. And when Mata fouled out with about three and a half minutes to go, A&M really should have focused on Jones. But the only shot Jones got the rest of the way came down three with under a shot clock to go in the game -- 20 feet away from the basket.
Acie Law IV is a tremendous talent on the perimeter, and I'm not saying that he should never take 20 shots in a game, like he did against UCLA. But the circumstances of that game dictated that the ball should go inside to Jones, and Law and coach Billy Gillispie share in the blame for the failure to do so.
3. Georgia Tech has a truly remarkable group of athletes; a bunch of players who can run and jump as well or better than anyone else in the country. To take advantage of their superior athleticism, they play a frantic, up-and-down style. That brand of basketball is what allowed them to turn a 13-point first half deficit into a five-point lead early in the second against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
However, the Yellowjackets are also very young, and young players are prone to making bad decisions and playing out of control. Putting young players into a system where chaos is pretty much the order of the day can be dangerous, as the style that is designed to rush the opponent into turnovers and forced shots can carry over to when they are on offense. That danger was evident in the latter part of the second half, when Vandy came back to take an 11-point lead, hanging on to win 73-64.
During that stretch, the Jackets committed several silly turnovers, and squandered at least as many possessions with difficult shots. Several times down the floor, Tech threw just one pass, with the recipient doing one of three things: traveling due to being over-anxious to make a move and get a shot; jacking up a tough three-pointer; or pounding the ball towards the basket and taking a difficult two-point shot.
I think GT can be effective in this up-tempo style, but coach Paul Hewitt will need to find a way to get through to his kids that it works because it forces turnovers and bad shots, and that committing turnovers and taking bad shots yourself cancels out that effect.
posted by H.S. Slam, Ph.D at 2:54 PM
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