#94 R.P.I. Boston College @ #82 R.P.I. Virginia Tech
TV coverage: Raycom 1:30pm
Vegas Line VT-7.5, O/U=?
Well, we just binged on our final cupcake of 2010, poor little ole NC-Central. They were not very good. And this just in, rain is rumored to be wet. Not much to see vs. an NC-Central; though it was kool we got to play a HBCU on Dr. King Day. And it was cool to see the end of the Hokie bench get some final P.T. before the seniors get their token minutes in our last home game. Now its A.C.C. time fulltime from here on out; until we land in whatever post-season tourney at seasons end.
Boston College is 3 games above .500 at 11 up and 8 down overall and 2-3 in the A.C.C. They have swept the Miami Hurricanes, while dropping their other 3 A.C.C. contests by 17 on average. B.C. is the pick de jour for being the one A.C.C. team to miss out on post-season play this year and find themselves relegated to bottom feeder status an the 2010 A.C.C. doormat. This is a game most will pick B.C. to get beat in. However …
B.C. is not a bad defensive team, just as much as they are not a good offensive team. This could also be the so-called “look-ahead” trap game for Hokies. This isn’t a world beating B.C. squad; we do have a major showdown made for TV date with france up next; and B.C. is good right where it hurts Tech most. Near the basket, as these Eagles have a couple of legitimate low-post ballers; and on top of that they do not turn the b’ball over.
Boston College at a glance:
- 326th in Steals per game.
- 37th in Defensive Rebounding.
- 28th in Assits:Turnover ratio.
- 20th in Rebounding Margin. (+6.8)
- B.C. has ZERO freshmen and only 1 senior!
As you can see, B.C. is good in the paint, and their backcourt –though not exactly star struck- is highly efficacious and parsimonious with the ball. This means Seth and company will not enjoy a deluge of easy basket off of Hokie steals or B.C. turnovers. This means we must score the old fashioned Smith Barney way and “eeeeearn it.”
B.C. is lead by #12, a 6`8“ 228 lb. B.M.I. (body mass index) savant of a Power-Forward in one Mr. Joe “the Cable Guy” Trapani (right in pic). Joe is leading B.C. in scoring with 15.2 and in rebounding with 6.8. Not bad work for the junior with the nifty inside-out all-around game. Joe is the closest thing that B.C. has to a post-season honors candidate this year from a squad that has 4 starters back from last years 22 win team. After Joe, B.C. has two other guys averaging 6 boards and change. #0 Reggie “no I’m not related” Jackson chips in 13.6 and is second in assists (4.1), plus he kicks in his 6 boards. That’s pretty dang nice work if you can get it from a sophomore Shooting-Guard people. #11 Corey “yes I am related” Raji contributes 11 points and his 6 rebounds as a 6`6“ 218 lb. Small-Forward.
Pocket Boston College scouting report:
#12 PF, Joe Trapani: Vermont transfer, also leads B.C. in Blocks and FT%. Nice overall game.
#0 SG, Reggie Jackson: best perimeter defender, not a pure shooter, leads B.C. in FTA’s.
#11 SF, Corey Raji: good interior baller at the 3-spot; finishes strong, limited range, 66 offensive boards already!
#15 G-F, Rakim Sanders: combo ‘tweener, very physical (6`5“, 233 lbs.) has regressed from last year.
#21 SF, Ty Roche: only senior, leader, long-distance marksman and leading 3-point shooter (41%).
#5 Pt.G, Biko Paris: Distributor, pass-first Pt.G, leads B.C. with 5 assists. 52 turnovers is a problem.
#52 C, Josh Southern. 6`11“ 252 lbs. physical defender with rep’ for rough play, very limited offensively.
#30 SG, Dallas Elmore: sizey 2-Guard (6`6“), utility player, hard worker, limited game.
#24 F-C, Evan Ravenel: 6`8“ 255 lb. banger on the inside. Limited game and no range.
In scouting B.C. and watching B.C. tape a couple of patterns jumped out at me. First up, this B.C. team just does not have a whole lotta range. Long-distance plans are not their thing as they tend to make only local calls near the basket. This clearly suggests more Zone defense for Seth Greenberg, which will dare B.C. to win the game on the road from downtown. B.C. does still run their Flex-Offense. The Flex is said to be antiquated by some, as it emphasizes PATIENCE above all else. At first blush that would not appear to be a good set for our instantaneous gratification microwave society. The Flex is designed to produce open shots by having 4 baseline guys come to meet the ball, in a quasi high-post. The Flex is known for ball-reversal to create open shots when an opposing defense falls asleep or forfeits focus. This creates jumpers from the elbows or so-called flex-cuts off the high post to the basket. The Flex is known to excel vs. Man-to-Man defense; which is all the more reason for Seth to hit B.C. with a torrent of Zones.
In watching B.C. run their 1970’s looking Flex, one can see that they look a bit juxtaposed in this throwback offensive set at times. Handcuffed or constrained if you will. The fact that this years Eagles do not have a lotta shooting range is hamstringing this offense that is know to eventually create open elbow jumpers. Or in other words, Boston College has not been as synchronized in their Flex sets as they have in years past.
 Loading ... |
Chris will have hit this already, though it bears repeating, that getting beat by Maine, Harvard and Directional (Northern) Iowa is not cause for encouragement. This is one of the lower echelon B.C. hoops teams in the last decade. Fortunately we do have the Fourm-Guide in play this time as both VT and B.C. have played Miami. The Fourm-Guide tells us that Miami gave B.C. a tougher way to go than they did VT; even though the Canes could not beat B.C. nor our Hokies. The point-predictor here posits something along the lines of between a 12-17 point VT win.
“The mouse no longer wants the cheese, he wants outta the trap.”
-Spanish proverb-
So I’ma gonna pick VT to blow B.C. out? No, though yes, I am picking a VT win. I just have a hunch that B.C. is gonna play a good game here. That and the fact that B.C. does not turn the rock over, and the fact that we could get caught in a look-ahead trap with france up next all conspire to tell me that this one is not a gimmie. B.C. just broke outta a 57.5 A.C.C. 3-game average offensive funk by dropping 79 on a very good Miami defensive team. Hence, this one stays closer longer than it should, as B.C. flexes some offensive muscle and manages to hang around a bit.
Virginia Tech 76, Boston College=64
Yah, pretty much.
Hung around all the way until the very end in fact; where MD-2o-2o sustained his second injury of the game. A left, non-shooting shoulder, impact on the floor after rolling that bad left-ankle over for the 4th time since he originally hurt it, way back when.
B.C. shot a nifty 52% in the first 20 minutes of play; and I was sitting here like: “Damn? What’s up with that?” Right on my in-game notes 1987 VT clipboard. Being down that far yet shooting so well is odd indeed. So What is up with that?. B.C. suffered from an identity crisis and went Turnover crazy; that’s what’s up. 16-zip on points in the Paint favor of VT and 12-zip on Points off of Turnovers. Second Half and B.C. shot even better, almost 57%. Yet, the difference maker was that they put a tourniquet on all of those hemorrhaging Turnovers.
We/VT shot 37% and only netted 62 points, at home no less. Check it out…
35% for 64 points @. UNC.
34% and 58 points @ FSU.
Now the aforementioned 37% and 62.
That’s 35% and 61 points, in three outta four A.C.C. games. Looks like my pre-season offensive jitters are confirmed. And why was Delaney playing vs. NC-Central? That ankle will now have to wait until April to fully heal-up. That’s not good with a 3rd best Turnover, smart shooting and 22nd best defending roadie to france looming large.
MD’s shooting is down to 29-freaking-% from the floor in his last 3 games. Clearly he is really hurting now. His 3-ball is right at 30% and he is not able to get to the FT-line on 1.1 good wheels. Where exactly will we get our points from here on out in the A.C.C.? Rev.Zeke nailed this one when he said the A.C.C. would scout us better and limited our scoring opportunities far more so than our softie out-of-conference docket did.
That said, we did win; I’ll be taking that and not giving that back. My other boy, Hud’ had another delightful game. Bell had one of his best games of the year. The Hokie bench however was good for 5 points and Allen is now officially filed under the acronym of IIWII (it is what it is).
@ france
@ Miami
UNC
Klempson
To put it mildly, we are in a very difficult spot right now. One could argue with MD being this Ginsu sliced and diced that we have one game in our next four that is winnable. The roadie to france would be tough even with MD good to go, and hosting UNC and Klempson is nobodies code for two gimmies. Sure makes me wish we had sat MD down for his own good vs. NC-Central; as it appears like it will only take just north of 60 points to put VT down in conference play.
b’street