A.c.c. basketball preview: Boston College @ Virginia Tech:

#218 R.P.I. Boston College @ #90 R.P.I. Virginia Tech:

TV coverage: 6pm, ESPNU
Vegas line: VT-13.5
o/u=117
$-line: TBA

Tough to say that this is a quality Boston College hoops team; as it has been said -by numerous pre-season publications- that these Flying Eagles wings are clipped and that they are firmly grounded in twelfth place in a race of 12 inside the Atlantic Coast Conference.

That’s what happens when you depart 5 full starters from last season’s squad and basically have to start from scratch with a playing rotation that is 70% freshmanic or down right raw as experience and learning curve effects go alike. That’s not good, even if that does bode well for four years from now when the 2015 Flying Eagle basketball team should enjoy experience to spare.

To take that a step further it is entirely possible that Boston College will court absolutely zero Flying Eagles on this year’s post-season all-A.c.c. basketball team(s). That too is not good and neither is Boston College’s last-place overall mark in the entire A.c.c. at 8 up and 16 down. Whenever you are getting beat twice as much as you are winning, and therefore 8 games south of .5oo, you Sir are not a quality hoops team. When you have also put together 3, 4, 3, and 6 game getting beat streaks you are getting used to non-winning and that is a dangerous thing.

That said, Boston College did upset 17^th nationally ranked F.S.U. at home last Wednesday night and they did beat VT by a bucket (2 points) earlier this campaign. Ergo, I would not be surprised if Boston College is not feeling real shy about their chances this time out –not even out on the Atlantic Coast road.

Boston College at a glance:

• 324^th in offensive rebounding
• 323^rd in offensive points per game (59.5 ppg)
• 318^th in rebounding margin (-5.3)
• 312^th in turnover margin (-3)
• 76^th in 3-point makes per game (7.3)

Boston College Frontcourt:

• N.B.A. pros= 2 long-term fringe pros here; Ryan Anderson (forward) and Dennis Clifford (center)
• Injuries=none
  

  

#24 Dennis Clifford is a 7` 241 lb. freshman true-pivot (or center) from Bridgetown Massachusetts. Dennis gets you a steady if unspectacular 9 points, with 5 boards and one block on a team leading 57% from the floor. Dennis is a skilled big-man who can finish inside with either hand and he is surprisingly athletic down on the low-blocks. Dennis is said to have great hands, he passes well and he can handle the rock with either hand. There were those who said he was a year away to begin the season. However, those kinda numbers from a fundamentally sound big-man in his debut rookie season bode well for the future. That’s not half bad work for only being 18 (years of age) which already puts Dennis ahead of a good 50% of his A.c.c. brethren down-low. You have to like where this kid is trending long-term as he is the perfect fit for Coach Steven Donahue’s offense.

Ryan Anderson is a rookie year 6`8“ 230 lb. four (power-forward) who is second in scoring (9.8) and first in rebounding (6.8) despite only shooting 38% from the floor. The Cali’ native is said to be a skilful yet strong frontcourt player as he is second in blocks (.6) and will mix it up with you on the inside. Ryan is a versatile baller who does have a little range on his J, although he did appear to hit the freshmanic year wall about 2-3 weeks ago as his numbers have been a little off in terms of recent play. Backing things up and substituting in sparingly off the Flying Eagle bench in low-post terms would be true-center K.C. Caudill and swing John Cane Carney who is not even listed in any pre-season magazine and he has yet to break the seal on scoring with 0 ppg so far. That’s what I call coming from off the radar to contribute, even if said contributions only amount to spot-minutes for Mr. J.C.C. Carney has only appeared in five games thus far and all of ‘em less one have been in twenty-twelve calendar terms. Carney is a 6`7“ 218 lb. rookie year gym-rat who has worked his way into a few token minutes here and there. Carney is a Philly product who is fundamentally sound and does nothing to hurt your team while he is out on the floor. K.C. Cauldill is an even more intriguing début season prospect, if he can only stay in pulmonary-shape. 6`10“ 295 lbs. worth of back-to-the basket pivot puts the big in big-man and than some. This prospect kid is know for his defensive prowess and rebounding more so than his offense at this early stage of his game. Caudill is said to be working hard up on Chestnut Hill and is reported to already down into the high-270’s in weight. Right now K.C. is limited in production terms, with 2 points and 1 rebound; although he is a bona fide space-eater on the inside and his offensive game will come if he really is not all that shy when it comes to efforting and hard-work.

Boston College Backcourt:

• Association pros=zero
• Hurts=1 (G, Patrick Heckmann, 6`5“ 195 lb. freshman Germanic 2-guard, imported baller known for his diversity, shooting, and all-round sill-set, 3^rd leading scorer at 9 ppg with 3 rebounds on 47% shooting; Pat has been diagnosed with Mono’ and is expected to miss at least a month of basketball while he recovers –God Bless)

The Flying Eagles are lead in scoring by Matty Humphrey with 10.5 ppg. Now imagine what Matt would do if Matt could net more than 34% of his shots. Clearly, shot-selection is not his thing; Matt is one of the few non-freshmen contributors (junior year) and a Chi-town native by way of Oregon from whence he transferred last year. Humphrey is yet another multipurpose Eagle who has nice handles at 6`5“ 187 lbs. from his slender 2-guard spot and he does have some length on his jumper 32% from downtown. Matt does however need some work on the defensive end as offense comes first, second and third with his game. Jordan Daniels (left) is a 5`8“ 135 lb. (no that’s not a typo) itty-bitty flavored point-guard who is speedy, cat-quick and a downright heady floor-general when it comes to running your offense your way. Daniels is a rarefied freshman year pass first kid who looks to set your table before he serves himself. Daniels paces the Eagles with a team leading 2.8 dimes (assists) per contest and finds time to kick in 6.4 ppg of his own. That said, he is yet another suspect shooter from the field as he only nets 3.5 shots in 10. Lonnie Jackson rounds out the Flying Eagles 3-guard starting backcourt unit at 6` 3“ 167 lbs. worth of ‘tweener guard. Lonnie is more parts freshman year shooter and less parts anything else though he does get you 8 ppg on a noticeable 41% from beyond the arc although he does need to get stronger as he and Daniels are ripe for getting posted up by their larger Tech backcourt counterparts.

Deirunas “scrable points” Visockas is a 6`4“ 194 lb. Lithuanian grad-student who began playing college basketball at Lafayette way back in 2007. However, he missed two complete years due to a series of knee injuries. Dee.Vee has recently cracked the Eagle rotation and he does have some shooting skills when and if his twice bad-knees allow him to contribute playing-time. John Cahill is a 6` 170 lb. senior from New York. John is a fine shooter at a team leading 48% from 3-point land and 84% from the charity stripe alike. In point of fact, this may be one of the few Flying Eagles who needs to shoot more and not less and just like Dee.Vee, John too has already earned his degree. Gabe Morton on the other hand is something of a Flying enigma; as he was thought to possibly be the Eagles best ball-player coming into this season. Gabe is a 6`1“ 170 lb. point-guard from St.Pete Florida. Gabe is a civics oriented kid whose resume reads like someone who is going places well beyond the hoops court before the game of life is all said and done. He was the centerpiece recruit for Coach Steve Donahue a year ago and for whatever reason(s). That said, it is known that Gabe has been battling a right-ankle roll all season long that has cost him two full games of action as he has just not be 100% locked, cocked and ready to rock since  late November. Gabe does have the ability to net shots from long-distance when and if his flat-tire allows him to properly elevate on his J (jumper).

Conclusion(s), illation, OPT digits:
When you look at this Boston College basketball team it becomes quickly apparent that they are just not good and likewise that they are not real far removed from being flat out bad. Indeed this is an A.c.c. basketball club that is 4 total baskets removed from being o for the year inside of A.c.c. play. When you read the Boston College 2011-2012 hoops schedule there is nothing beyond the F.S.U. upset win last time out that jumps out at you as anything even remotely approaching a quality win. In fact the Flying Eagles out-of-conference docket reads like a who’s who of northeastern nobodies. Accordingly, it says something when you can not even beat Holy Cross, neighboring Boston U and Ivy League Harvard. What that says is that you are not very good no matter how you slice it.

Now do a double take and revisit the section with the Boston College at a glance national rankings up above. You see that negative rebounding margin and the negative turnover margin? In five letters or less –yikes! That’s at least 8 extra FGA or at least 16 points that you are potentially leaving on the table when you can not rebound and when you can not hold onto the ball. That’s called digging when you hit rock bottom as Boston College has had to dig itself outta numerous opening first-half holes all year long. Such is the key to this game, go ahead and jump on these Flying Eagles from the word go and do not allow them to feel their flow or catch their sexxy after upsetting Florida State earlier this week. Keep these Eagles grounded from beyond the arc in this one and you demonstratively reduce their odds to win down in the New River Valley. As this is the lowest scoring team in the entire A.c.c. and they have yet to win a road game (o-6) on the year.

 In ‘capping this game one quickly sees that even combined these two teams would still not be in the Top-3 in A.cc. terms. Both teams are extremely inexperienced, youthful and downright freshmanic. Such results in near-side play with regard to the learning-curve and experience curve’s alike; and that is never a good thing, much less easy on the eyes.

---

Boston College only averages 56 ppg on 38% shooting out on the road. Ergo, it does not appear like it will take a whole helluva a lotta points to put Boston College down inside our very own Cassell. If we just make it into the low 60’s that should be enough to win, Now notice that Boston College is actually playing worse of late on offense as their points per game have dropped to a season low 53 ppg on average over their last 5 contests. Hence, even a high 50-something point output from Seth and company should be enough to seal the deal. As the Hokies are a salty 38% allowed defensive team at home from the floor and enjoy the second-best 3-point percentage defense allowed (26.6%) outta all 338 D-1 mens hoops teams.

Do not sleep on how important that last metric is folks. As you can see above at a glance; the one thing Boston College can (sorta) do is jack up a whole lotta 3’s from downtown. When the nesting Flying Eagles get hot from outside they suddenly have a lifeline to victory and suddenly have the ability to play over their heads and steal basketball games. Just ask Florida State how that tastes. Be that as that be, Virginia Tech is due to play a good game for a change and that is precisely what I am expecting them to do here.

Virginia Tech=69, Boston College=50

“LETS GO!”

“HOKIES!”

bourbonstreet**