#143 R.P.I. Boston College @ #35 R.P.I. Virginia Tech: 

Virginia Tech men’s basketball team returns to the Cassell Coliseum hardwood precisely five days young into the new (2019 A.D.) year. So happy Hokie New Year to all of you and yours and my humble thanks per always for reading me!

The HokieBird will be making nesting room for the 9 up and 3 down Flying Eagles of Chestnut Hill fame who will flap their 702-mile wings to get here for this high-noon Atlantic Coast Saturday early tip-off tilt. The Eagles are likely some version of a 2019 Marching along post-season squad. It remains to be verified regarding what tourney or what level of post-season prestige best suits them, however. As Boston College is not far removed from being a St.Charles Place version of Buzzektball right now; albeit it with only two houses and no hotels. Nevertheless, you wanna know who is gonna win? Read on… to find, out!

Boston College Head Coach: James Patrick Christian: Age=53, 299–240 (.555) overall, and yet 57–86 (.399) at Boston College.
$1,140,225.oo, (lowest in the A.c.c.)

Baller Christian was born in Bethpage, New York. He was an all-state Guard at St. Dominic High School in nearby Oyster Bay. Following his prep career, Christian was recruited by current Louisville coach Rick Pitino (then) at Boston University where he played two seasons before transferring to the University of Rhode Island. Christian played his final two seasons under Tom Penders at the University of Rhode Island, where he helped the Rams reach the Sweet Sixteen of the 1988 NC2A Tournament. After earning his bachelor’s degree in consumer affairs from the University of Rhode Island in 1988, Christian spent one season playing professionally in the Australian Basketball Association for the Sydney City Comets.

After that Baller Christian became Coach Christian with numerous apprenticeship assistant coaching stops along the way, including: Western Kentucky, St. Francis (Pa.), W.K.U. (again), Miami (Oh.), Pitt, and Kent State; where he finally won his first job as a big whistle. Coach Christian had an impressive run of six seasons at 20 wins or more, five M.A.C. titles and six post-seasons. T.C.U. then came a calling and Coach Christian lead them to their first winning record in seven years and the N.I.T. After one year there he was off to a two-year hitch at Ohio U where he rang up 49 wins, one M.A.C. championship and two post-season bids in two years. Then Coach Christian climbed up Chestnut Hill and entered the big leagues of A.c.c. power conference play for the Eagles.

Coach Christian has won seven total conference crowns and has two mid-major Coach of the Year Awards to show for it. He is somewhat itinerant, or a modern-day Larry Brown with 10 coaching notches already carved in his resume` belt. Coach Christian teams come with a rep’ for lower scoring, tempo curtailing offense and defense alike. He is very friendly to the JuCo and/or transfer circuit finding/soliciting talent as and wherever he can.

Daddy Christian and his wife, Patty, were married in the summer of 2005,
and have three children, MacKenzie, Zach, and Jay.

Boston College at a glance:

• 22nd in defensive rebounding (29.67 d-rpg).
• 34th in FG percentage D (39.1% allowed).
• 37th most FTA’s (325).
• 80th in 3-point defense (31.2% allowed).
• 304th in 3-point shooting (30.7% made).
• No injuries reported (THX @Coach God)!

BeeCee Returning Starters=4

Boston College Strengths:

• One #0, the A.c.c.’s second-leading scorer… Ky (cue: Bud’s: “hair on fire”) Bowman is a third-year 6′1″, 188 lb. rising star of a Lead-Guard who is really a One being asked to do multitasking things; plural. As Ky leads BeeCee in scoring (21.2 ppg) and he nearly leads the Eagles on the glass what with a nearly shocking 7.8 rpg. Which on an inch-for-inch basis is great work, if you can get it. As last year the real live street-credit-card-carrying Ky Bowman was the only player in the country to average at least 17.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 4.7 assists! That’s the only baller out of approximately ∑=5,250 D-1 ballers last year give/take mind yah! True, I’d say that counts— I’d also say Ky’s 83% free-throwing, 44% from the floor and a serviceable 34% on threes counts, too. Now mix in the team lead in dimes dropped (3.5 apg), first in swipes (1.6 spg), second in swats (1 bpg), and you begin to see what I mean. And what I mean is… can you say: “Team M.V.P.?” As this sticky defending though needs a little handling work Bowman has started for BeeCee right from the start and that makes him an ironman baller to boot. This all from a kid who was not only a 40-point high school outburst type scorer on the regular, Ky was also originally committed to North Carolina to play football as a Wr in 2014! Yah; I’d say that counts as well. And you can also count on this kid in the clutch as he has lit the A.c.c. Tourney up two years straight. Accordingly, Ky prolly needs to head over to the U.S. Post Office and ratify that passport as there are export hooping merchanting and the associated paystubs to be collected here. As Ky was Lindy’s Most Versatile A.c.c. and that’s nearly always code for getting paid by me. Even if the N.b.a. told him he was a 1st-rounder year away this time last season. Though last game Ky told everyone: “how you like me and mycareerr high (44); now?!?”

  

• 6′2″, 193 lb. rookie voting year, G, Wynston Tabbs is almost something of a sleeper pick to be doing what he’s doing and he’s doing pretty well for a guy who was not picked to be doing much of anything until 2021 or so comes. As Rivals.com had the rather athletic though athletically reliant Tabbs as its no.150 player in America and yet quite honestly, this combo’-Guard’s scholastic number’s came up a bit south of that eye-test wise. So getting a second-best 14.6 ppg married to 4.3 rpg and 3.o apg is no small come-up-ins for a good though not quite great looking H.S. recruit. Now add in the team lead from the charity-stripe at 85% and a reasonable 34% long and you have a darkhorse A.c.c. Newcome of the Year on your hands unexpectedly enough. I believe that’s called: “recruiting” or metal-detecting or finding emeralds on the rough. As Wynston is a hard-work-ethos kinda kid every coach loves to coach. Even if some expected him to be a bit more precocious on D (1.2 spg) and not much else, at this stage of his (early) blossoming offensive career.
• Nik -no relation- Popovic, is a Jr. year, 6′11″, 255 lb. P/F imported by way of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina as bucu Scrabble points are yous if you rock it from there. Nik, however, is dropping you 14.7 ppg with 7.5 rpg on 56% in and around the basket. As this is actual rarified back-to-the-basket, strong-finishing, dunker of a Euro’ Four. Not a stretch-P/F or another Dirk. Which is a long long way up from his very modest high-school numbers of: 8 points, 7 boards and a couple of blocks. i.e. late bloomer 1o1 or scouting out the arse. Nik does send back 1.3 shots in colligate terms although he lacks rang beyond ~15′ as his 10% from downtown says. Although there is a history of foul-trouble at times in-play or DQ’ed, here.

Boston College Weaknesses:

• As you can see based on class rank and contribution percentages associated with the same… this Boston Eagle team is still a year away from their pinnacle. Their best -whatever that is- is yet to come.
• Don’t wanna hit this one too hard, though don’t wanna ignore it either, as there are whispers that BeeCee’s effort level has been south of life-n-death at times this year.
• Likewise, this team is southerly of having the best handles I’ve ever seen in breaking-tape. Curly Neal or Isiah Thomas these guys, ain’t.
• Most of my magazines’ list Ky as something of an award nominee or outright winner and yet they list nothing and no other Eagle after that. All wings clipped not named: “Ky”.
• Most of them say Boston College to be frontcourt poor at the Three through Five spots.
• And all of ’em have BeeCee in their A.c.c. bottom-3.

Eagle Nest: (depth=2’ish)

Steffon Mitchell 6′8″, 220 lb. is the real Minnesota native workhorse here as one or two other guys play token or match-up minutes whereas Steffon nearly goes for starting stat sheet time. As Steffon (great name) was basically a Florida High School human double-double who could and still can, defend. 5.7 ppg, on a team-leading 9.8 rpg with 2.8 apg, 1.6 spg, and a swat is doing a lotta little to medium things big on right. And if Mitch’s offensive game ever evolves, he’s prolly an overseas pro’ just for his defensive acumen. As he’s a stretch version of Ky sans the offensive output as is.

6′5″, 210 lb. third-year Swing Jordan Chatman is more a part-time starter, although he’s also a utility guy and that’s why I listed him here. 12.6 ppg with 84% on FT-attempts is reasonable enough for a guy with no mid-range game whatsoever. Though a little more shooting everywhere else (40% from the floor and 30% beyond the arc) from a guy said to be a *the* teams’ shooter would be much more marksman like— at least to me.

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of Eagles who could soar @Tech=2 maybe even 3.

the takeaway:
The takeaway here is… Boston College is precisely two FT-makes per two overtimes and three shots in another game removed from being perfect.

However, are these Flying Eagles fo’ real or are these Flying Eagles snipe-hunting, here?

As Boston College may be something of a lowercase or smaller invite post-season team, or they could still yet -in mathematical theory- flunk Atlantic Coast regular season out and end up Spring Broke for any hard finishing troubles.

---

Because their docket or 2018 schedule thus far, is not all that GungHo looking prima facie. (see: below).

And on top of all of that, they were beaten by regional upstarts/rivals: Hartford and Providence by three total shots all in extra innings or in OT (overtime). So is that what they are… or is that all, they are?

 ***

• “There are a lot of teams that have really good players, better than the players we have, but the symmetry and togetherness of the group is what I think is very unique,” -Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams-
• ^AMEN!^ This is a Gestalt Group that Eye for one view as being very narrow on remaining 2019 headroom. Or at least close to being ceiling pressed; if not soon to be roofing outright.
• BeeCee leads the all-time series 18-12, but Virginia Tech has won the last four.
• The Hokies rank fifth in the nation with a 51.8% shooting percentage and have shot ≥50% in seven of 12 games this season.

Virginia Tech, on the other hand, is season hyphen one single solitary Penn State point removed from being Top-10 ranked. As right now the Hokies are… no.1o in the ESPN/Coaches poll, no.10 per the Associated Press, no.11 in the ESPN Power Poll, no.11 in Covers.com Power Poll and no.13 in NET Rankings.

And yet we/VeeTee are no.35 in real-time R.P.I.

So either the herd mentality is bang on the chin or a bunch peeps are drunk on the olfactory manufacturing of their very own… fumes.

the call…

Our handy-dandy friend the so-called Forum Guide is still a week or a fortnight away from A.c.c. round-robin activation. However, the year to date trends do tell us that VeeTee is 7% ahead from the floor, 14% better from 3-ball land, and shockingly virtually even on Rebounding Margin.

The most recent five-game trends tell us that the Hokies are now up to 10% better on overall shooting margin (thanks to an O&M defensive uptick); 12% better from long-distance and insanely enough, +2 in Rebounding Margin in the last couple of weeks.

Boston College is +1 on rest here, although that’s awash via having to travel for this Coastal vs. Atlantic roundball date.

And “yes”, there are those that would have me say that the best baller on the court this Saturday afternoon balls for Boston College.

That, or at least the best all-around {sic: Ky Bowman}, flies for the Eagles. They could even be correct, although even this jumped up all-round J.Rob’ does not a fully filled in or fully filled out team make.

Although I do have a lotta respect for Ky’s game and Boston College does have two post-match-up advantage guys. Neither guy is that towering or that athletically advantageous like we will (eventually) Duke and U.n.c. face. The Eagle medium-bigs do give me pause, although they do not give BeeCee… cause.

Because Boston College is gonna need some Hokie-help or an off-shooting afternoon to have a legit chance to steal one here.

“Yes”, outta 16 Atlantic Coast times, Coach J.Lennon and, “momma told me— there would be days like this.”

She just did not have much to say about tomorrow or Saturday afternoon
over in the slightly temperate New River Valley.

 

(91% confidence interval)
Virginia Tech=83, Boston College=66

“LETS GO!”

“Hokies!”

 bourbonstreet**