Ervins Meznieks End of Year Player Review

Ervins Meznieks End of Year Player Review

March 18, 2017 · by · in Basketball

By Ben Neuwirth 

First posted on bostoncollege.247sports.com

247 Sports will be doing a recap of the 2016-17 Boston College Men’s Basketball Season, going over where each player improved throughout the year, their best performance of the season and what we hope to see them add, heading into the 2017-18 campaign.

2016-17 was sort of a lost season for sophomore from Latvia as Ervins Meznieks found himself chained to the bench for much of the year, getting into only 9 games and registering just 41 minutes all season. A key cog in the rotation last year, Ervins was surely disappointed in his limited role but was a consummate professional, never complaining, showing up to work hard and putting up decent stats in his time on the court. With Garland Owens and Connor Tava graduating, the Latvian forward should have the opportunity to earn minutes and contribute to next year’s squad.

2015-16 Stats:

19.0 MPG

3.5 PPG

2.0 RPG

1.0 APG

33.3 FG%

30.9 3P%

54.5 FT%

6.5 PER

45.4 TS%

90.1 ORtg

108.4 DRtg

2016-17 Stats:

4.6 MPG

0.9 PPG

0.6 RPG

0.2 APG
30.0 FG%

25.0 3P%

N/A FT%

1.4 PER

40.0 TS%

62.3 ORtg

107.0 DRtg

 

Best Game:

2/4/17 vs Louisville 67-90

5 Pts, 2 rebounds, 0 TOs

2-5 FG, 1-4 3P

This was one of only two games this year in which Meznieks registered over 10 minutes of game time, much of it coming in garbage time against a vastly superior Louisville team. Ervins had played just 4 minutes in the two preceding months and was understandably rusty, making only one of his four attempts from beyond the arc, but his 5 points were a season high and he didn’t look totally lost on the court, a victory for a guy who rarely sees time.

 

Looking Forward:

The 2017-18 campaign will be a big one for Meznieks, perhaps a last chance to leave an impression on Coach Jim Christian and become a contributor in his final couple of seasons on  the Heights. If you look at Ervins’ numbers from the conference season, he was actually quite effective in the time he saw, shooting 33% from downtown on a team high 7.3 attempts per 40 minutes, registering a 57% true shooting percentage, 4th on the team, and a 3.4% steal percentage, tops on the squad. He took over 85% of his shots from long range and it’ll be crucial for him to get even more efficient on those in the future, surrounding stars Ky Bowman and Jerome Robinson with knockdown shooting.  He has good size, at six-foot-seven-inches, allowing him to soak up minutes at the 2,3 and 4 positions, a versatility that may give him a leg up over perhaps more athletic competition. While it’s almost impossible to judge a player’s defense in 41 minutes, he looked competent on that end of the floor and his defensive effort in the lost 2015-16 season was admirable. If he continues to improve his defense, shooting and displays more of the quick, decisive decision making we saw in his freshman year, we could see Meznieks as a 3-and-D weapon off the bench for a BC team that desperately needs that kind of depth. I’ve always been a believer in Ervins and while Latvian Eagle fans may be disappointed with this recent season, I firmly believe there are better things to come.