CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – With just one non-conference game left after Wednesday night’s game at Boston College, Dave Bike wanted to get a point across to his team and his best player. The long-time Sacred Heart mentor has a team with some offensive ability, and a few players in particular, but in the losing effort, they made a big rally without their best player on the floor.
In the first half of the Pioneers’ 83-73 loss, Gibson could hardly miss. He was 6-7 from the field, including 3-4 from long range, en route to 17 points. There was some buzz among those on press row about his shooting, especially since a couple of his three-pointers were not just barely behind the arc.
The second half was Gibson’s, and the team’s, undoing. Gibson was subbed out of the game with 14:26 left and Boston College up by nine after consecutive layups, one of which saw BC’s Gabe Moton go in for a layup with no Pioneer within about 15 feet of the basket. It wasn’t foul trouble that landed Gibson on the bench, as he had not committed one in the game, and he wasn’t hurt.
“He’s got to give us more,” said Bike. “He took himself out of the game and kept himself out of the game. That hurts not only him, but it hurts us. There’s more to the game than just making some baskets. He wasn’t involved in the game in other parts besides making baskets, so that’s why he sat for a long time.”
With their best player on the bench, the Pioneers fell behind 61-48, then rallied, scoring 12 unanswered points. Bike noted that he wasn’t going to take out players from the group that made the run, as the combination was clearly working, and one could understand that. Plus, Gibson’s body language on the bench wasn’t always positive.
Gibson later came back in with 6:05 left and the Eagles up by five. While he scored eight more points, the Pioneers couldn’t get any closer. He didn’t look like the same player.
Bike said defense was a concern heading into the season, and thus far it remains one. The Eagles came into the game shooting under 40 percent on the season, but shot over 55 percent on Wednesday night. They came in shooting under 33 percent from long range, and went 11-22 from behind the arc. They came in averaging over 60 points per game but scored 83. And for just the fourth time in 12 games, they had more assists than turnovers.
“The defense is not as good as we would like it to be,” said Bike.
The Pioneer backcourt is clearly where the strength lies on this team. Gibson and sophomore Evan Kelley are two nice scorers, with Kelley starting to move towards his potential and scoring 12 on Wednesday night. Chris Evans is a solid complement, and freshman Phil Gaetano has made an immediate impact that was even noticeable on Wednesday night. Gaetano had seven assists off the bench and has the best assist-to-turnover ratio on the team by a good margin at 1.7.
“I think (Gaetano has) helped in a number of areas,” Bike said. “His chemistry that he adds – I think guys like playing with him, he tries to rally the troops, he’s got a good assist-to-turnover ratio.”
The unit that has left a little to be desired is the frontcourt, although talent doesn’t seem to be a question mark. Justin Swidowski and Femi Akinpetide were largely ineffective against Boston College, with the latter fouling out in just nine minutes of play. Senior co-captains Nick Greenbacker and Stan Dulaire didn’t give them as much as they’re capable of, with Dulaire going 4-10 from the free throw line.
The offense has a concern as well: taking care of the ball. The Pioneers average 15.6 turnovers per game, and have had a few games with a high total in that are that they have lost. They had 22 in a loss at Rutgers, 18 in a loss at Richmond in the following game, and 20 in an overtime loss at Central Connecticut. Even more troubling is that Gibson leads the team in that category.
Sacred Heart goes to New Hampshire next Thursday for its final non-conference game. They went 1-1 in early Northeast Conference games at the beginning of the month, but could get into pretty good shape with six of the next eight at home once the calendar turns over to 2012. There are some issues to flesh out, namely at the defensive end, but there is certainly talent there to address them with. If Bike succeeded in getting across the message that scoring isn’t all that matters in winning, the Pioneers could be in good shape when February and its road tests roll around.
