Heights Hoop Update: Week 2

By Andrew Linnehan

Following the Eagles disappointing trip to the Barclays Center where they fell to a superior Richmond and Kansas State team, BC returned home aiming to get back on track against some inferior opponents. They dominated Evan Boudreaux and Dartmouth through efficient shooting and significant contribution from their bench. However, Boston College collapsed in their two most recent home game against a talented Harvard team but also an inexcusable defeat at the hands of the Hartford Hawks. The Eagles now sit at 4-5 prior to conference play; a place coach Jim Christian did not desire nor did he anticipate the young Eagles squad would find themselves.

On Wednesday, Boston College welcomed in a talented and seasoned Harvard squad. Despite Harvard’s surprising 3-4 record coming into the game, it was imperative that the Eagles’ coaching staff and players did not overlook their opponent. Up until Yale’s bid last year, Harvard had represented the Ivy League in the NCAA tournament the previous four years, accumulating two impressive wins in that stretch over #3 New Mexico in 2013 and #5 Cincinnati in 2014. Harvard has struggled since their tournament success, but it is no excuse for BC to underestimate their skilled big man, Seth Towns, and their Lou Williams-type bench scorer in Bryce Aiken.

BC’s strategy was to get their star, Jerome Robinson, involved early. Although Harvard presented a strong defense that rotated well and closed out effectively on BC’s perimeter shots, the Eagles looked to Robinson to provide the offense, regardless if the shot was in rhythm or not. Robinson ultimately scored 25 points, but on an unimpressive 10-23 from the field.

Harvard thrived off BC turnovers which allowed Harvard’s lead to increase to as much as 18 at one point in the first half. Eagles’ athletic freshman point guard, Ky Bowman, struggled against the Harvard trap defense and ended with three turnovers and no points to help his case. Center Mo Jeffers also had his hands full with his defensive assignment of Harvard’s power forward, Seth Towns. The freshman has been averaging 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists in his young career. Towns used a variety of post moves to get Jeffers off-balanced and exposed, and he finished 7-11 from the field with 18  points, including 3-4 from downtown.

The defensive struggles did not stop at Jeffers, however. It remains a recurring theme that BC struggles to rotate on defense, allowing uncontested 3-point attempts and late help defense that results in foul shots for their opposition. Harvard shot 6-14 from three-point range, half of those successful attempts coming from the 6’7” Towns. As Towns typically drew Jeffers as his defender, BC struggled to recognized when Towns gravitated out to the perimeter. 6’0” Jeffers is the anchor of the interior defense so he is not capable of stretching out to the perimeter to defend stretch-forwards like Towns. Instead of Boston College adjusting and allowing Jeffers to be more flexible defensively, Towns ran free and knocked down his open shots, inside and out. The Eagles’ defense has a terrific initial trap at the wing, but the rotation following the first trap is subpar and leads to slow recoveries by other components of the defense. For example, if Bowman and Chatman trapped a Harvard guard at the wing and applied pressure, the guard would slip out and reverse the ball to the top of the key or swing to the opposite wing. From there, the recovery would be late and allow penetration to the interior of the defense where the rotation was also late, resulting in a foul. Harvard feasted at the line as they went 16-18 on the day. BC dug themselves a hole with errant turnovers and poor defensive rotation and fought hard to get the deficit down to 4, but the hole was too deep and led to a 74-66 defeat to Harvard.

Despite a disappointing conclusion, it wasn’t all discouraging for the Eagles. Jerome Robinson might pose himself as Batman, but AJ Turner continued to solidify his role as the Eagles’ Robin. Turner has been consistent all season long and continued his success with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. BC does not want to become solely reliant on Robinson, so it is imperative that Turner continues to develop his role as the steady offensive option that consistently contributes. Along with Turner, senior forward Garland Owens earned his playing time back as he hit two from deep early and tallied 8 rebounds. Although Owens is just 6’5” his freakish athleticism enables him to be a force on the boards, an area that BC struggles with at times. If you don’t believe me when I say Owens is an athletic freak, check out his put-back dunk against Virginia Tech last season: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT1xneuRnE4

Turner and Owens will continue to be key contributors for BC going forward, so their contribution against Harvard is encouraging for Jim Christian and is a positive to find out of a competitive loss.

On the other hand, Boston College suffered their most devastating and demoralizing loss of recent memory as they lost a nail-biter to an inferior Hartford team 65-63.

This was a game full of necessary adjustments made by Jim Christian. His adjustments were plentiful and constant, but his first modification came before the jump even took off. Although Ky Bowman had started the majority of games up until this point, Christian started his change-of-pace point guard Ty Graves against Hartford. This decision could be contributed to the fact that Bowman struggled against Harvard with three turnovers and no points, but the primary reason why Graves got the start was because Christian realized Hartford’s zone defense would be more vulnerable to three-pointers. Perimeter shooting is Graves’ strong-suit while Bowman is a more athletic option who does not look for his shot as much as he looks to pass and attack.

Theoretically, the shift from Bowman to Graves made perfect sense, yet the shots were just not falling for Graves. He finished just 2-8 from the field and 1-6 from deep. However, the struggles did not just come from Graves. The poor shooting was certainly a communal effort and the most perplexing aspect of the entire game.

The first half was a frustrating half of ugly basketball for both teams. Despite BC shooting an abysmal 6-27 from the field (22.2%) they only found themselves with a 27-23 deficit as Hartford was not performing much better; 7-26 (26.9%).

The first half featured a frustrated and scoreless Jerome Robinson, his first scoreless half of the entire season. BC struggled with Hartford’s zone defense that began with a ¾ court pressure from two Hartford guards and shifted into a well-oiled 2-3 zone defense. BC was undisciplined against the zone for the entire first half and settled for either contested threes, mid range jump shots that were out of rhythm with the offensive flow, or awkward floaters that shied away from contact.

However, Christian and his Eagles adjusted. BC found their groove on offense by passing the ball quickly and efficiently around the perimeter to get the zone off-balanced, then attacking the zone’s weak spot at the foul line. This is where AJ Turner, Garland Owens, and Connar Tava were at their best. Once the forward was found at the foul line, these veterans had the awareness to turn and face the basket, recognize where the defense was and where it wasn’t, and they would either pull an uncontested jumper or find a cutter on the baseline for an easy layup. With Bowman and Graves, the typical point guards, struggling, Christian looked to initiate his offense with an unorthodox point guard; one of his three power forwards at the foul line.

The offense adjusted and was operating quite efficiently in the second half, yet the defense then became the primary problem of the second half. Hartford found their offensive groove as well through their reliable senior guard Jalen Ross and Jason Dunne. Dunne had a quiet first half and put up just 7 points, but immediately caught fire once the second half got under way with two 3-pointers in as many minutes. The Eagles recognized Dunne as the best shooter Hartford had to offer yet continued to lose track of him. Christian adjusted by putting his grittiest defender, Ky Bowman, on him. Bowman initially gave him no space to work with and did not leave his side regardless of where the ball was on the court. However, eventually the 6’4” and lengthy shooting guard got himself involved again in the offense despite Bowman’s air-tight defense and was still able to shoot over the shorter 6’1” Bowman.

Dunne was giving the Eagles headaches for the duration of the second half of the game, but with Bowman temporarily locking him down and the offense operating efficiently at the hands of their point-forwards Turner, Tava, and Owens, the Eagles were able to turn an 11 point deficit to a one point lead with under a minute to go. Monumental plays included Tava having a tremendous finish and converted a basket and the foul as well as Jordan Chatman drilling a transition three and drawing a flagrant foul then hitting both free throws.

After a clutch jump shot by Hartford’s Jalen Ross put the Hawks back up by 1 with 27 seconds remaining, the Eagles had the opportunity to take the last shot with nearly a full shot clock to let the offense function. Jerome Robinson had his most frustrating performance of the year and was 1-11 from the field with just 2 points up until the last possession. Yet, Robinson being the Batman he is, put the team on his struggling back and converted a tough, contested floater to put the Eagles up 1 with just 9 seconds left.

Robinson’s heroic effort came up just short as the defense made sure to collapse just one more time. Hartford moved the ball around the perimeter well and ultimately found the man of the hour, Jason Dunne, for an uncontested three ball that went straight through the net. He was left open because BC trapped too hard in the corner and did not rotate in time to close out on the fire-hot Dunne one last time. The last second heave from beyond half court was just far right, and BC suffered a demoralizing 65-63 loss to a team they had no business losing to. The most devastating part of this game was that Boston College fought so hard to get back into this game just to come up short.

AJ Turner, once again, led the consistency of the team with 13 points. Christian’s adjustment of letting the offense operate through a forward at the foul line was what allowed BC to compete in the game. The ordinary offense clearly wasn’t there as Bowman and Graves combined for just 9 points 1 assist. Turner, Owens, and Tava took over the responsibilities of distributing the ball from the foul line and accumulated 7, 3, and 3 assists respectively.

These two losses were heartbreaking for the young Eagles team but it is crucial that they learn from these losses rather than become discouraged. In both of these losses, their deficiencies in particular areas were heavily exposed. The areas of focus going forward for Boston College must be proper rotation on defense and zone offense. BC is very athletic and is perfectly capable of operating an effective man-trap defense, yet they are unable to pursue this scheme if they do not rotate properly following the initial trap. This is certainly something that can be improved through practice and defensive communication. The type of defense BC aspires to play requires conscious attention and communication by all five court-members at all times. Once the Eagles iron out these wrinkles and begin to rotate, help, and close out on defense, it is indisputable that the defense will flourish through their athleticism. Pertaining to zone offense, the Eagles are not able to feed Jerome Robinson as much as he is most effective against a man-to-man defensive scheme. When Robinson gets shut down against a zone or is just having an off day as he was having on Friday, it is vital for the Eagles to seek offense in different ways. The second half was much more efficient as the ball movement was crisp and the cuts to the basket were effective. Although Boston College had been in the 15th percentile of 3 point efficiency in the nation up until Friday at 39%, their offense cannot become reliant on the deep ball. So often, you see teams that rely on 3-pointers live and die with the shot. The deep ball was not falling as they went 6-21, and their inefficient 3-point shooting certainly contributed to their loss. Against a zone it is so easy to fall in love with threes because they always seem to be open. Yet, BC must continue to develop their zone offense by swinging the ball across the perimeter, feeding the forward at the foul line, and allowing that player to expose holes in the zone to create easier shots off of cuts to the basket or uncontested mid-range jumpers.

These losses to Harvard and Hartford were absolutely frustrating performances, but the bright-side is that the problems for the Eagles are fixable. Rotation on defense and zone offensive efficiency both develop their practice and communication. BC should not feel discouraged going forward, but it is still essential that they address these deficiencies and get back on track against Auburn at Madison Square Garden on Monday.