Heights Week Conversation

DL1: Well, it has been a while since we’ve posted, so, the two of us thought we’d gang up here and do a little back-and-forth on the game this Saturday night along with our thoughts from earlier in the week. Heights week has been a split so far, with Men’s B-Ball going 1-1, Men’s Hockey going 1-1 and the Ladies Hockey team taking the Beanpot. Of those games, probably Wednesday’s Duke game sticks out the most.

DougBushBC: The Maine game was nice, but in reality the two biggest games of “Heights Week” have been a major bust so far. The hockey team looked great in the second and third, just like the hoops team looked from minute 12 to minute 19 of the second half of the Duke game. But in reality we have fallen a bit flat in both of those settings. What really matters, is that its not over yet, and we have two chances to make up for the mistakes of Monday/Wednesday. Can we?

DL1: I think we have two different situations going on here. The Hockey team really outplayed BU for 50-55 of the 65 minutes. The basketball team got embarrassed with a complete lack of hustle on Wednesday. If you are losing the rebound battle and points in the paint, you are going to lose. What bothered me most was the commitment to Oates by Skinner, who never let BC get into the groove early in the game when Duke was on its heels. I think the number one key to the game is to set the tempo against the Heels because they are certainly more athletic than the Eagles. This should probably start with the center not launching brick’s from beyond the arc 10 seconds into the shot clock.

DougBushBC: Another problem with the Hoops game was that we didn’t play our style of ball. We NEVER allow teams to beat us in the paint and beat us on the hustle; it has always been with Skinner’s teams, “if you are going to beat us, you have to beat us by shooting exceptionally behind the arc”. Sadly we tried to shoot behind the arc a lot, and the only one making them was Marshall. That’s another story. Our team is still very individual. They play exceptionally individually, but you need more than one or two guys shooting well to beat these guys on Tobacco Road. This weekend is going to be the test. Skinner will NOT let the guys make the same mistakes this game, they won’t be sloth, they wont be weak inside, but they still need to get fired up TOGETHER.

DL1: I think I was most surprised my Marshall’s line at this game. If you would have told me that Marshall put down 23 and we broke 70 points, I would have said ‘blowout.’ I don’t think Marshall is as crucial to this game. For some reason, Tyrese Rice goes all pre-2006 Peyton Manning against Duke and plays terribly. The opposite can be said about UNC. I don’t know why Duke has BC’s number, but, the Eagles have found ways to compensate for Hansbrough the last two times we’ve played them, both in the state of North Carolina. A rabid home crowd, motivation and national television could mean that Tyler will be invisible on the court.

DougBushBC: Hansborough will never be “invisible” on the court Dave, he’s one of the top 5 players in the country, and he is undoubtedly the best big man in the game. If we had the more experienced Sean Williams here, maybe we’d mitigate some of his damage, and in reality Tyrelle Blair has a chance to do the same thing, but he will have to play the game of his life. We let sub-par big man Josh McRoberts run all over us Wednesday, which HAS to change. Oates cannot be on the court more than 8 minutes if we want to win this. Another factor we need to remember is that last year, we had undersized but overpowered Craig “The Friggin Tank” Smith in the front court and he put it to Hansborough like he was a rag doll.

DL1: In the legendary words of Rick Pitino: Craig Smith is not coming through that door. For the record, let it show that the tournament win over UNC was because Hinnant decided to show everyone that he could hit a basket, and the February game at the Dean Dome was the Sean Marshall Show. I agree, though, that it will not be Oates to slow down Hansbrough on the inside. It has to be Blair and Spears. I said a few weeks ago that the key to our interior defense is forcing the ball back out to the point where the zone can force bad shots. If we leave the lane uncontested, we’re in trouble, but the key to defense is that it does not have to be Swat City Contestation a la the Block Party. The only foul trouble BC wants is on Oates. My final prediction is an instant classic, low scoring game, where BC holds UNC on the final possession for a court-storming win.

DougBushBC: Despite my “bad-cop” persona, I don’t disagree with you. I know that Al Skinner is one of the best coaches in the league, and he will NOT let his team make the same mistakes, and if they can avoid those things they royally screwed up in the Duke game, they have a damned good shot at holding down the Tar Heels and taking this game. Beyond that, if anyone saw any of the numerous interviews with JDud about his performance, you KNOW that the player with the best Basketball IQ in the country will NOT play poorly twice. I want to see a great court storm like Dave and I had to miss out on during the ‘Cuse game of 3 years ago. My feelings, Dudley has a “Look-at-me-I’m-NCCA-POY” type game and BC wins in a close one.

DL1: And, just for giggles, I’m also gonna call another win over Maine and their starting goaltender, Benny Bishop. The production last night from the 2^nd and 3^rd lines was huge, and, I think the momentum is going right. After losing to BU in the Beanpot last year, we rattled off win after win. I see it happening again. Check in after the weekend and we’ll have our thoughts on after the game.