Should be a good early season measuring stick. Looks to be a bottomed dweller ACC team. Beat Roche less Citadel team by 4 last time out. But it is an ACC team and on the road . Fully expecting we can take this one.
Boston College
- Thread starter spider23
- Start date
BC should be about as tough as a middle-of-the-pack A10 team this year. Should give us an idea of where we might end up in a10 play.
Yeah I’d say mid pack A10 is fair. & it’s on the road. will be good to see how we react in uncomfortable situations. Vmi & Siena r both hot garbage but we did blow them out. Much different game athletically. Haven’t seen us play yet will try to check this one out.
Winning on the road is tough in college basketball and this is an ACC team. But, they only drew 4700 fans against Fairfield so it's not like we're heading to Cameron Indoor here.
Also, did anyone watch the postgame press conference with Bigelow? He seems supremely confident (not arrogant just confident) when asked about BC. I think these guys believe they are good which is important.
Also, did anyone watch the postgame press conference with Bigelow? He seems supremely confident (not arrogant just confident) when asked about BC. I think these guys believe they are good which is important.
BC probably has the worst environment in the ACC, I don't think it's particularly close. FSU probably second, at least for an OOC game against a team like us. If we lose, we definitely cannot blame the crowd.
I’m with you 23, we can take this one, we have convincingly did it before up there.
Therefore, no pressure on us. We have them right where we want them at, Go Spiders 🕷️🕸️
I'm very pleasantly surprised by the team so far this year. But here are my worries for this game, mostly centering on response to adversity.
1 - first road game. different shooting sightlines, no supportive crowd.
2 - likely a bigger/more athletic team than we've yet faced. Siena was able to block a lot of UR shots. Conversely, UR has had tons of open looks on the perimeter so far. If the athleticism factor ratchets up, what is the response to things not being so easy on offense? Same on defense if they hit the offensive glass - will we revert to historical UR rebounding trends?
3 - We haven't yet been punched in the face by a 10-0 run, or been down 7+ points, where you need someone to make a play. What will the response be if/when that happens? Who gets the next shot, and do they make it? I thought the beginning of the 2nd half had a little lull against Siena but UR then got like 10 in a row and the game was out of reach. How will Mooney use his rotation and will UR continue to play fast or will it be a return to the weave to get a "good" look, and a rotation where Walz and Tyne go missing?
4 - Forward/Interior play - can Dji maintain effectiveness against more athletic defenders, and can Bigs handle the 4 against guys with more size? Is Walz ready to be a consistently effective, positive-impact backup?
based on what I've seen, I like the backcourt to handle a lot of the offensive things but until we see them do it under different circumstances vs improved competition, it's a bit of wait and see.
1 - first road game. different shooting sightlines, no supportive crowd.
2 - likely a bigger/more athletic team than we've yet faced. Siena was able to block a lot of UR shots. Conversely, UR has had tons of open looks on the perimeter so far. If the athleticism factor ratchets up, what is the response to things not being so easy on offense? Same on defense if they hit the offensive glass - will we revert to historical UR rebounding trends?
3 - We haven't yet been punched in the face by a 10-0 run, or been down 7+ points, where you need someone to make a play. What will the response be if/when that happens? Who gets the next shot, and do they make it? I thought the beginning of the 2nd half had a little lull against Siena but UR then got like 10 in a row and the game was out of reach. How will Mooney use his rotation and will UR continue to play fast or will it be a return to the weave to get a "good" look, and a rotation where Walz and Tyne go missing?
4 - Forward/Interior play - can Dji maintain effectiveness against more athletic defenders, and can Bigs handle the 4 against guys with more size? Is Walz ready to be a consistently effective, positive-impact backup?
based on what I've seen, I like the backcourt to handle a lot of the offensive things but until we see them do it under different circumstances vs improved competition, it's a bit of wait and see.
?? There should always be pressure/urgency to win. With the rare exception. This game certainly isn't one. It's a toss up game. Same as if Ken Pomeroy projected us a 1 or 2 pt favorite.
As a former high school coach, some games as some,little or no pressure to win depending on the situation.
Brooklyn, I have the same concern with athleticism, particularly how it affects are interior players. As noted, Sienna was blocking everything at the rim for awhile there. While Walz and Quinn have looked good, we have looked really slow making the move and getting the shot off in there. No idea what BC will be like, but hoping our guys respond. Do like the attitude and enthusiasm with this group so far, so even if we start slow, or have a run against us I am expecting us to answer. Have a feeling this will be a pretty empty arena, so not expecting home crowd noise to be a factor.
If Bigs and Dji can keep knocking down open shots, I like having both of them on the court together b/c this does help with our athleticism and rebounding.
If Bigs and Dji can keep knocking down open shots, I like having both of them on the court together b/c this does help with our athleticism and rebounding.
why do u think this D1 college game is a no pressure game due to analyst Ken Pomeroy having us as a 2 point dog?
I didn’t say that, why do you think you have all the answers. There are different perspectives to every situation.
Post #8 above. You literally said exactly that in response to Spider Law. I don't have all the answers but I do know this is really odd.
Are we not on the same team, I have been a Spider fan since the mid ‘70. Sorry if I offended you, it wasn’t my intention to you or Spider Law.
There is/was no offense. I know u r a lifelong Spider fan. Full respect.
Spider Law commented that UR projected a 2 point underdog per KenPom. U responded "Therefore, no pressure on us."
All I did was question that. It made no sense to me, it still doesn't. Nor did your last reply denying u said it.
But I will drop it now. Go Spiders.
Well, just to confirm what we know, according to kenpom BC only has the 175th best home court advantage. I do think this one is there for the taking.
Agree, see this as a very winnable game. The situation is right.
I do not know how good the BC bigs are. However, I suspect that Spiders will need more from Quinn, Noyes, and Roche. If history - trends repeat, I think it likely that Bigelow, Bailey, and Walz will see some drop off.
King will probably make up the difference with his offense. Didn't need King as much against Siena, and I was very impressed that he facilitated more and didn't force his offense after 34 in game # 1. King & Hunt run the game really well, and such a blessing that Tyne gets to be their understudy for a year.
Good observation about King. Liked what I saw too and was hoping he was not going to come out try to get 30 in the first half.. Not opposed to him scoring a ton, but glad to see him not force shots. Will also say that I have been impressed with Hunt. I know we were getting reports pre-season, and I was a bit skeptical - however he is backing it up in games. Aggressive on O and D and initiating offense and getting to the basket. Really impacting the game on both ends and leading.
Roche playing his role really well. comes in ready to shoot and he plays hard.
Roche playing his role really well. comes in ready to shoot and he plays hard.
8legs1dream
Team Manager
OK, I though you were saying BC's post was good, but you were actually saying BC's post Post is very good. I concur. 7'1 - looks pretty strong and quick, and can shoot 3's.
What is great about having Hunt and Tyne is it can allow King to be the de facto shooting guard in halfcourt sets and look for his shot.
Our 6'11" guy is shooting 100% from there.Just noticed they have a 7 foot guy shooting 71% from three...
sample size...
there's is also averaging 20 and 6, and was the MIP of the ACC last year. I think he's a problem.
From just watching a few highlights, he is strong, pretty athletic and can shoot. And plays with an edge. So agree, looks like a problem. Hopefully Quinn can be active on the offensive end, and we can run Walz at him pretty hard too. Going to need big effort from both of them tomorrow night.
To me, this game is a real litmus test for us. We had two blowout wins at homes against what conventional wisdom said was inferior competition. VMI did hang with South Carolina in a much closer game than ours though. Siena beat Holy Cross, who turned around and beat Georgetown the next game.
So, the question that I can't answer yet, is are we what most prognosticators said we would be a bottom tier A-10 team OR are we better than that? A road test against an ACC school I think should give us a better temperature of what we are or might be.
I'm not getting optimistic because Mooney has fooled me before and we all know how that saying goes, but I will say I am withholding my preconceived notions on this team until more evidence is gathered.
So, the question that I can't answer yet, is are we what most prognosticators said we would be a bottom tier A-10 team OR are we better than that? A road test against an ACC school I think should give us a better temperature of what we are or might be.
I'm not getting optimistic because Mooney has fooled me before and we all know how that saying goes, but I will say I am withholding my preconceived notions on this team until more evidence is gathered.
The main reason for optimism is that we performed much better against terrible competition than we often do. But yes, these next few games is where we'll get an actual read on things.
really is incredible how almost anyone can beat almost anyone right now.
it's been light comp for us so far, but everyone who figures to be part of the rotation has looked good and played well. that's unusual.
our defense is better for sure. the concern was offensive. I want to see how well we score against better athletes.
I think the analysts predicting rankings in the pre season is an impossible art in the portal error, especially when ranking non power conference teams. Every team is a mishmosh combination with fewer returning players.
UR seems to be a good example of that.
Espicially in the portal era, where most every team has a new squad each year.
And despite this low home court advantage, and expected low crowd, Kenpom has our game as the number 2 "thrill" score of the night
, just behind Princeton and Duquesne.
Quinn and Walz will need to play some defense, with Quinn staying out of foul trouble. I want Walz to use all of his. Mooney won’t have them prepared, so we will depend on the older players to keep us in it early. Make the few free throws we get and rebound as hard as possible. See if their guards can beat us with outside shooting.
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