Boston College

[GKiller]

Thought our offense was too iso on Quinn for the last 20-15 mins, instead of the good movement throughout the first 15 of the first half. I’d put that on the coaching staff.

Overall the boys fought hard, and on a night where we get a few calls/different bounces we win that one easily. But still think it was out there for the taking and we let it slip.

They made no attempt to guard Quinn or Walz on perimeter. None. Their man stayed basically under basket for all cutters help. We need to adjust & take those shots. Quin did go into lane at least and take some runners. He can hit the free throw line jumper take it, at least make them guard u out there. Also Walz showed nice stroke. But he played with his back to basket too much out there. Face up. I don't mind him taking that with the 3 ball stroke he's shown on limited basis so far.

 

[SpiderAlways]

This his who we are, we are good at making excuses for losing! We should be better than that to a bottom feeder in the ACC

 

[nathanw19]

They made no attempt to guard Quinn or Walz or perimeter. None. Their man stayed basically under basket for all cutters help. We need to adjust & take those shots. Quin did go into lane at least and take some runners. He can hit the free throw line jumper take it, at least make them guard u out there. Also Walz showed nice stroke. But he played with his back to basket too much out there. Face up. I don't mind him taking that with the 3 ball stroke he's shown on limited basis so far.

Totally agree they adjusted by sagging off Quinn and Walz outside. But we still needed more off ball movement.

Hope we use this tape as a learning point, both for the players as well as for the coaches in game adjustments. Definitely think we had the talent to beat those guys tonight.

 

[Eight Legger]

Losing to a bad BC team in an empty arena and then trying to pass it off as something that will happen is just loser talk. I'm sick of losing games like this. We do it all the time. The game was RIGHT THERE to be won and we couldn't win it. This happens every year regardless of who the players are because the coach is the same.

We've given many examples in this thread of how coaching hurt us tonight. Call a timeout when the other team is on a massive run. Instill more toughness when it comes to rebounding. Teach your team how to box out so that late in the game an offensive rebound doesn't just literally fall right into the opponent's hands right under the basket for an uncontested putback. Draw up some plays for someone else to shoot when your normal shooters are cold. Earn your $1.3 million by beating someone other than two shitty teams!

 

[SpiderK]

Losing to a bad BC team in an empty arena and then trying to pass it off as something that will happen is just loser talk. I'm sick of losing games like this. We do it all the time. Three game was RIGHT THERE to be won and we couldn't win it. This happens every year regardless of who the players are because the coach is the same.

We've given many examples in this thread of how coaching hurt us tonight. Call a timeout when the other team is on a massive run. Instill more toughness when it comes to rebounding. Teach your team how to box out so that late in the game an offensive rebound doesn't just literally fall right into the opponent's hands right under the basket for an uncontested putback. Draw up some plays for someone else to shoot when your normal shooters are cold. Earn your $1.3 million by beating someone other than two shitty teams!

I second every word of this.

 

[GKiller]

I didn't think we needed a timeout then,...it wasn't like they were just scoring every time down and we never stopped them. After we went up 28-14, they went 2 pointer, miss, 2 pointer, 4 FTs, turnover, 3 pointer to make it 28-25. So, they had a turnover and a miss while we were missing everything. We missed 6 straight shots, plenty of them good looks during this stretch. Then, there was a media timeout then anyway. After the timeout, we went miss and miss with 2 more good looks, they made a couple FTs, we missed again, they went turnover, and we finally scored to go up 30-27. We missed 9 straight shots during that stretch, they made 6 FTs during this stretch. I don't see how a timeout changes anything there.

I also had no problem with not fouling. It was only a 5 point game and they shot with 25 seconds left. We get a stop there, we are down 5 with plenty of time. I would rather take my chances with getting a stop with 25 seconds left than send a team that went 17-19 at the line to the line there.

I know the theme on here is ALWAYS gonna be when we lose, it's Mooney's fault, and when we win, it's because of the players, but tonight was not Mooney's fault. We lost by 7 on the road and KIng, Hunt, and Roche went a combined 7-28. And, Bigs scored 2 points. I didn't see anything differently our coaches could have done to make that better. They played great D on our guards, and if we tried to drive by them, they had some good size at the rim. We needed to shoot well to win. We didn't. And, as I say most every game, 3 point shooting is key, and 5 made 3s usually won't get it done against a good team.

I'm shocked u disagree VT

But yeah u have to foul there. Again they were just about to hit the 1 & 1. We could do it 3 times if needed. That's a factor. Also there were 47 secs left down 5 after Roche missed. Extend the game. U can't let them run off half the time w that differential & time. And guess what we didn't get a stop so game is over after they go up 7 w/25 secs. Also they have better chance to get offensive rebound on a missed shot than a missed FT. Sorry don't see it. If it was near end of shot clock sure but they just got the ball.

Also re: no timeout in 1st they scored on 6 out of 8 possessions. That's very good. not seeing that they weren't running well there and a drastic change from earlier in game for BC. u can feel them gaining confidence. momentum. those r both powerful things in sports. that's part of why u take TO. & calm us down set up a play get a better shot hopefully. there were bad possessions by us for sure in there. & we r not saving these timeouts. u dont see how a timeout could have changed ANYTHING? Ok I dont see that at all, and we've all seen it play out very frequently with Moon.

I agree about the 3 pt shooting tho. I raised that as concern after VMI. Thought King would regress and Roche doesn't get a lot of time, and when he's off like tonight we don't have options. & it woud be different once we faced more athletic teams and more contested shots. Like Not a Homer I was a little surprised Noyes was glued to bench in 2nd.

Saw some good things about certain players for sure. But we did not get helped by coaching game management at all, and I don't think ppl r making that up to pile on Moon. it happened.

 

[fatherspider]

The moment was too big for the Moondog. A 1/5 full crowd to a low tier ACC team is too big a moment.

 

[ManiBenton]

this game showed me no confidence in this season. The saying "history repeats itself" is true and we see it every year. Its a shame.

 

[MrTbone]

While there’s plenty of blame to share, I think the conventional wisdom is you should be fouling down the stretch there.

The early part of the first half was great, came out hot and then it felt like we reverted to more outside the arc weave without enough intent to score. That felt very familiar in a not so good way.

Of course it hurts when the three ball isn’t falling.

 

[plydogg]

This is a game that a coach as experienced as Mooney should be winning. He had no answers or ideas to counter BC’s mediocrity.

We need a leader. Jacob Gilyard and Grant Golden aren’t walking through that door

 

[wr70beh]

This is a game that a coach as experienced as Mooney should be winning. He had no answers or ideas to counter BC’s mediocrity.

We need a leader. Jacob Gilyard and Grant Golden aren’t walking through that door

I thought Mooney was our leader.

 

[8legs1dream]

I thought Mooney was our leader.

His greatest successes come on the shoulders of all-time talent and that's it. His great legacy.

 

[Captain Anderson]

Every team in the world is going to be successful if they catch fire from 3 but the way Mooney recruits , structures, and coaches puts us in these situations where we have to be the little Cinderella and be almost perfect shooting to beat most physical power 5 opponents. Coach has had success (55% of the time at least) with diminutive guards. Shocking that they have issues with bigger, taller, more physical guards. Coach has never stressed rebounding or recruited more physical kids that excel at rebounding so again shocking that we get crushed on the boards and give up tons of easy, second chance points. NONE of this is an effort issue with the players. They are playing their butts off but we all expect different results even though we have the same guy in charge.

 

[spider23]

Ply, my thought process is what would DT or JB have done? We absolutely could have beat this mediocre yet athletically superior low level ACC team. I think UMass Lowell wins this game. Again, I can never get too excited in these type of games because when things go south Mooney sits there.
Most disappointing part was that UMass guard decided to play some tough physical D on Jordan 2nd half and he could not quite respond.
Just one game. Great 1st 10 minutes. Thought we had a a good plan with Quinn attacking Post and our double teams. But we could not sustain the attack.

 

[gospidersgo]

didn't think we needed a timeout then,...it wasn't like they were just scoring every time down and we never stopped them. After we went up 28-14, they went 2 pointer, miss, 2 pointer, 4 FTs, turnover, 3 pointer to make it 28-25. So, they had a turnover and a miss while we were missing everything. We missed 6 straight shots, plenty of them good looks during this stretch. Then, there was a media timeout then anyway. After the timeout, we went miss and miss with 2 more good looks, they made a couple FTs, we missed again, they went turnover, and we finally scored to go up 30-27. We missed 9 straight shots during that stretch, they made 6 FTs during this stretch. I don't see how a timeout changes anything there.

A 13-0 run is not the right time to take a timeout? As you pointed out we missed 9 straight shots during that period. That means what we were doing was not working - 99 out of 100 coaches would use a timeout on a 13-0 run (or actually well before it got that far) to change personnel, change strategy, regroup, give guys a rest, etc.

 

[Long Island Spiders]

It’s obvious most coaches would call a timeout there.

#firemooney

 

[RichmondNative]

The constant issue to me is that the Spider teams can’t find a way to win when Plan A stops working. The issue is preparation including, and perhaps most importantly, the mental side of the game.

….we're locked in because it's our 1st road game.

This is the first thing that I didn’t see, even though the Spiders did start the game well. However, part of the good start was the fact that BC started poorly and the BC coach told his guys they were beating themselves and they righted the wrongs and it suddenly became a game.

As mentioned in another thread, there isn’t a need to single out individual players for deficiencies since basically the whole team didn’t have it together. Again, that suggests lack of preparation to me. UR just played 2 inferior opponents at home and had a game on the road against a team much closer to its talent level and with P5 body types. Everyone had to know that the game was going to be more physical, but they seemed shellshocked.

Then there were multiple players who just disappeared and seemed to forget the aggressive, energetic type play they showed in earlier games. Somehow they have to capitalize on the confidence gained in earlier games. BC was bigger and more physical, but not more talented. There also is a player that seems to play much worse against the better opponents - same situation but worse results which all comes down to the mental side of the game.

Hope we use this tape as a learning point, both for the players as well as for the coaches in game adjustments.

All games are learning opportunities, but as far as in-game adjustments I am definitely not going to believe that this one game is going to change anything. As others have pointed out, history suggests otherwise.

 

[bshay21]

BC fan here looking to see what type of win this might look like down the road. Tough to tell with the portal these days. I would add I think you guys are undervaluing this BC team when judging the loss. I will be the first to admit we've been wandering the earth since we fired Skinner with some absolutely gross teams so I get why you place BC as a bottom dweller. But, they were 9-11 in the ACC last year (#10) with a bunch of injuries and frosh/deep bench guys getting way too many minutes. If Post stays healthy, BC is at least in the bubble conversation late in the year.

 

[Anachnid]

I thought the time outs were saved for when we went on a run.

 

[urfan1]

A 13-0 run is not the right time to take a timeout? As you pointed out we missed 9 straight shots during that period. That means what we were doing was not working - 99 out of 100 coaches would use a timeout on a 13-0 run (or actually well before it got that far) to change personnel, change strategy, regroup, give guys a rest, etc.

you call TO when you have something to say

 

[spider23]

They made no attempt to guard Quinn or Walz on perimeter. None. Their man stayed basically under basket for all cutters help

This was a huge problem down the stretch. As well as both those guys played, both were either unwilling, or told not to take those shots. Those were basically FT's and instead it morphed into playing 4 vs 5. This situation was painful to watch.

 

[Spider-Law]

I think a fair evaluation of this game depends on an assessment of how good BC is. Some posters are acting like they're going to win one ACC conference game. While I admit that the jury is still out on BC, I don't think that's the case. Post is a legit ACC POY of the candidate. Let's see where BC is on say, Feb. 1, and then we can put this game in better perspective.

While I agree with some of the criticisms of the Moon man in this thread, as a prior poster put it, he "can't make shots" for our guys. We didn't make enough buckets to win. Is some of that coaching? Sure, but the majority of it is just execution.

I'm still cautiously optimistic about the Colorado game. Its a neutral court and our guys are likely smarting over this loss. Let's see if their grit in the next game.

 

[Spider Bob79]

I didn't watch the whole game, but I didn't see that great full court pressure defense that I saw the Spiders play against Siena. After the Siena game, everyone was saying the defense is their best offense-referring to pressure and turnovers. Why didn't they play the same full court defense last night?

 

[Eight Legger]

I think a fair evaluation of this game depends on an assessment of how good BC is. Some posters are acting like they're going to win one ACC conference game. While I admit that the jury is still out on BC, I don't think that's the case. Post is a legit ACC POY of the candidate. Let's see where BC is on say, Feb. 1, and then we can put this game in better perspective.

While I agree with some of the criticisms of the Moon man in this thread, as a prior poster put it, he "can't make shots" for our guys. We didn't make enough buckets to win. Is some of that coaching? Sure, but the majority of it is just execution.

I'm still cautiously optimistic about the Colorado game. Its a neutral court and our guys are likely smarting over this loss. Let's see if their grit in the next game.

It doesn't matter how good or bad they ultimately are (but they're not going to be very good), the point is that we lost the game because of our own inabilities, not because they did something special to beat us. It would be easier to accept a seven-point loss if we just got outplayed the whole game. We didn't. We were dominating them and then fell asleep, so it's a bad loss however you cut it. It was right there for the taking, and we handed it back.

Colorado has the chance to be pretty ugly, unfortunately. They are light years better than BC. (Reminder that BC barely beat The Citadel a few days ago...)

 

[SpiderGuy]

While there’s plenty of blame to share, I think the conventional wisdom is you should be fouling down the stretch there.

The early part of the first half was great, came out hot and then it felt like we reverted to more outside the arc weave without enough intent to score. That felt very familiar in a not so good way.

Of course it hurts when the three ball isn’t falling.

Pattern, pattern, pattern.

Predictable, predictable, predictable.

Nothing any long term fan should be surprised about last night. The reality is that we’ll see last night’s game play out multiple times this year. I wish it wasn’t the case, but some movies just stand the test of time.

 

[CH_Spider]

I'm just constantly blown away by the lack of timeout calling throughout the course of a game. Any kid that plays 2K understands when to call a timeout to stop a run. For some reason, Mooney has no idea when or how to do this.

 

[urmite]

I didn't watch the whole game, but I didn't see that great full court pressure defense that I saw the Spiders play against Siena. After the Siena game, everyone was saying the defense is their best offense-referring to pressure and turnovers. Why didn't they play the same full court defense last night?

They were saving it for the Colorado 3 point shooters...

 

[spider23]

I'm just constantly blown away by the lack of timeout calling throughout the course of a game. Any kid that plays 2K understands when to call a timeout to stop a run. For some reason, Mooney has no idea when or how to do this.

I think you should call the coaches show, disguise your voice as Ivan, and suggest to Mooney he starts playing these games with his kids. Worth a shot?

 

[whampas]

I think you should call the coaches show, disguise your voice as Ivan, and suggest to Mooney he starts playing these games with his kids. Worth a shot?

Noone can disguise their voice as Ivan but a really good thought.

 

[plydogg]

What really frustrated me was that after we went up 28-14 we had no answers. I felt like I could count on one hand the number of good possessions we had in the final 28 minutes. It looked like our offense was Neal Quinn and 4 guys at the YMCA thrown together

 

[spider23]

Right, it seemed we got shut down, other than 3 point launches for the most part. I think ultimately to be successful we are going to need to see more usage/shots from Dji and Noyes. They have both looked pretty good attacking and shooting but not involved enough for my liking.

 

[SpiderGuy]

What really frustrated me was that after we went up 28-14 we had no answers. I felt like I could count on one hand the number of good possessions we had in the final 28 minutes. It looked like our offense was Neal Quinn and 4 guys at the YMCA thrown together

Accurate.

We won the first 10 minutes of the game and pretty much stalled the remaining 30 minutes. The 14 point lead evaporated way too quickly. After BC closed the 14 point gap, we reverted to yesteryear. Game was there for our taking, but too much went wrong for the taking.

 

[8legs1dream]

it's a pattern (one of many with our program)

Some are OK with it.

 

[gospidersgo]

What really frustrated me was that after we went up 28-14 we had no answers. I felt like I could count on one hand the number of good possessions we had in the final 28 minutes.

This loss hurts more for this reason. To win the first 2 handily (albeit against bad teams) and then start off gangbusters like last night, and then it quickly went from thinking "maybe we are for real" to "nothing's changed".

I'm still hopeful that we are closer to the team of the first 90 minutes of the season than the last 30. But there were definitely some worrisome trends and patterns that showed up again last night.

 

[BOSRIC]

Tough loss. This BC team looked like a significant upgrade over the previous iterations we’ve played in recent years.

 

[Section9.RowD]

I remain excited about this season and optimistic we think will be notably higher in A10 final standings than last year. Like others have said, I shake my head why we don't just attempt to stop runs with taking the targeted timeout - not saying the TO will always stop the run but might as well try especially in the 1st half. While not calling TOs during runs is a of course a pattern, the lack of fouling to force one-and-ones was a new one for me last night but crazy odd down 5.

 

[wbritt01]

Tough loss. This BC team looked like a significant upgrade over the previous iterations we’ve played in recent years.

BC fan here - stalking you guys out of genuine interest. Spiders offense looked so good in the first 10 minutes. If you can bottle that you will have a great year.

Your big is legit. The strategy was to keep with the guards and leave Post on an island. Post was pretty embarrassed at how he was dominated on the defensive end. Quinn looked gassed a lot - not sure if was used to having to work that hard against a seven footer on both ends.

Have a great year - have had a warm spot for Richmond ever since you beat the Cuse in the tourney a million years ago (1991?).

 

[BOSRIC]

BC fan here - stalking you guys out of genuine interest. Spiders offense looked so good in the first 10 minutes. If you can bottle that you will have a great year.

Your big is legit. The strategy was to keep with the guards and leave Post on an island. Post was pretty embarrassed at how he was dominated on the defensive end. Quinn looked gassed a lot - not sure if was used to having to work that hard against a seven footer on both ends.

Have a great year - have had a warm spot for Richmond ever since you beat the Cuse in the tourney a million years ago (1991?).

Wbritt01, 1991 it was and it still gives me the warm and fuzzies too. BC looks good, hope you can get a lot of dubs in conference play and that we can play with that first 10 minute intensity for more full games. I’m about 20 minutes from Newton and would have made the short trip to watch the game in person if not for recent shoulder surgery.

 

[kneepadmckinney]

BC fan here looking to see what type of win this might look like down the road. Tough to tell with the portal these days. I would add I think you guys are undervaluing this BC team when judging the loss. I will be the first to admit we've been wandering the earth since we fired Skinner with some absolutely gross teams so I get why you place BC as a bottom dweller. But, they were 9-11 in the ACC last year (#10) with a bunch of injuries and frosh/deep bench guys getting way too many minutes. If Post stays healthy, BC is at least in the bubble conversation late in the year.

I'll take that bet.

 

[Sandbridge Spider]

Who said “ Play fast but don’t hurry “
I think we got hurried.