CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – In Saturday’s 81-76 win by Boston College over Providence, neither team gave a tremendous account of itself. But the team that had the more concerning play was, without doubt, the team on the losing end of the score. Providence’s flaws were all right there on display as a reason why they lost the game, and this hasn’t been an isolated case.
For the second game in a row, the Friars came out flat and played a poor first half, digging themselves a hole in so doing. They were clearly out-played by Boston College, with the Eagles getting every loose ball and a number of deflections on the defensive end. They were the more physical team, as if it was another Big East battle between the two old rivals, and it showed as the Eagles led by as many as 11 and by nine at the break.
The Friars had a spirited effort in the second half, but it was too little, too late. They charged back and had a chance in the final minutes, but bad game management and a continuing struggle offensively held them back from completing the comeback.
“We’re going to have to play like our backs’ against the wall for 40 minutes instead of just three or four minutes when we’re down ten,” said senior guard Jeff Xavier.
“Once again, we came out and we were playing as aggressive as we needed to be,” said Friars guard Weyinmi Efejuku. “We just didn’t match their intensity.”
That message was echoed several times in the post-game press conference. They know what they need to do; in fact, they spoke about it Wednesday after they struggled in the first half. But it didn’t happen.
As concerning as that is, though, the perspective of their coach might tell the story better.
“It’s kind of been the story of our team this year that sometimes it takes us to get down for us to really play loose and play hard and not worry so much about each play and just do it with some intensity,” said head coach Keno Davis.
That’s not something to take lightly, especially considering the circumstances. This is not a young team, one that might not yet grasp the necessary effort to win at the college level. This team has five seniors who play significant minutes, along with a redshirt junior and a true junior. They’re 11 games into the season – it didn’t begin last week. A pattern has emerged, and it’s not a good one.
It’s easy to say that the lack of effort in the first half of each of the last two games can be explained in some part by a long layoff for final exams, but that can’t be all. These young men are living a dream by getting a free education to play basketball and at a high level to boot. They play on national television, in front of big crowds and NBA scouts. It would be one thing if they just looked rusty, but that wasn’t the case Wednesday night or on Saturday.
Efejuku’s play on Saturday epitomized that of the team and really his whole career. The senior guard, who seems perpetually on the verge of being an All-America-caliber player, was basically invisible in the first half, but came alive in the second. He scored consecutive baskets nearing the under-12 media timeout to give the team some momentum, but then he was taken out in a questionable move. The move might have been an attempt to give him a brief rest to go along with the upcoming media timeout, as he came right back in at the timeout. But after a player just scored consecutive baskets less than 20 seconds apart isn’t the time to take him out, media timeout or not.
Late in the game, there was more questionable game management. The Friars were down by six with 1:46 left to play. At that point, there’s no need to foul since there is plenty of time to get two defensive stops and still have a long enough possession to get a good shot to try to tie the game. Head coach Keno Davis said after the game he didn’t want his players to foul at that point, only to be aggressive. But the Friars looked like they were trying to foul, which means they may not have gotten the message or realized that they had plenty of time to recover.
As if that’s not enough, there is a continuing struggle that showed up again: long range shooting. The Friars were 3-17 from behind the arc, including 1-9 in the second half, and it looked very much like the same story. Only twice this season have the Friars had a better mark than one out of every three (33.3 percent) from behind the arc, and after 11 games they are shooting 27.6 percent from long range. The 17 attempts tied a season low, which can be a good sign, but it’s the quality of shots that is an issue.
“Shot selection definitely has something to do with it,” said Xavier, who went 2-8 from long range on Saturday.
“We need to create for our teammates a little bit better,” said Davis. “Then when the shots aren’t going, we’re going to have to not shoot as much.”
It’s clear that this team lives and dies by the three-pointer. That wouldn’t be quite so bad if not for the issue of shot selection, and if you watch this team enough the flaw is apparent. All too often, the Friars settle for three-point shots that aren’t in the flow of the offense, sometimes coming on the first pass of a possession or even on a fast break. Symbolic was one time in the second half when Xavier got a loose ball and had a fast break opportunity, but pulled up for a three-pointer. In light of that, the team’s shooting numbers are no accident.
Davis has given this team the green light, but with that comes the responsibility of being judicious with it. Having the green light doesn’t mean to fire away at any opportunity, it simply puts trust in players to take a good shot when it’s there. Through the first 11 games, it’s not clear that the Friars have grasped that yet. While the Friars lack an inside scoring threat, even the most guard-oriented team needs to move the ball inside, if only to get the defense moving and lead to a better look from outside.
The Friars have one game left before Big East play. They won’t correct all of their issues in that one game or over practices during the Christmas break, but they can take some steps forward in areas like effort and shot selection. Failing that, it could be a long conference season starting on December 31.
