CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Richard Pitino said he wasn’t really surprised by anything he saw in his debut as a college head coach. He knew what his team was capable of, and a lot of it showed up in Florida International’s 84-70 loss at Boston College on Sunday. And in the end, he comes away like most coaches do from a season opener, knowing his team has a lot to work on but also some potential.
Florida International managed to stay with BC for a while in the first half, largely on the strength of a few early three-pointers. After the game was tied at 18, the Panthers wouldn’t get close or tie it until they tied at 65 with less than nine minutes to play. From that point on, it was all BC as the Panthers seemed to run out of gas as problems like rebounding and foul trouble caught up to them.
“I thought we had a real chance to win the game if we stayed out of foul trouble,” said Pitino. “That was one of the keys, and certainly we did not do that. We fouled three guys out of the game – three of our better players. The other thing is that if we rebounded the basketball, we would have a legitimate chance. We were out-rebounded 46-28.”
BC shot over 47 percent in the first half to put together a 49-33 lead at the break. But the Panthers came out stronger in the second half, forcing more turnovers and getting baskets at the offensive end. It was a steady rally that got the game to the tie at 65.
A lot of that rally came from freshman Jerome Frink, who looks like he’ll be one player Pitino can hang his hat on. Frink played his high school basketball at St. Anthony’s in New Jersey, so he’s well-coached and knows about winning. In his collegiate debut, he had a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds, with 18 of those points coming in the second half.
“Jerome is what we expected him to be,” said Pitino. “I thought he would be a tough kid, junkyard dog. I love the way he competed.”
There is a lot of newness to this team, and it’s not just on the coaching staff. Only five players return from last season’s team. Those players combined for 1,184 minutes last season. Nearly a third of those minutes were played by senior guard Cameron Bell, who is out indefinitely with an injury, which added to that factor in Sunday’s opener.
Talent doesn’t appear to be something this team is lacking. Besides Frink, senior forward Tola Akomolafe, another holdover from last season, had some good moments in the first half before he went silent in the second half and fouled out. Boston native Malik Smith showed that he still has the shooting stroke that was often on display in the city, as he scored 16 points on 4-10 shooting from long range. Sophomore Deric Hill looks to be talented and classmate Joey De La Rosa gives them a serviceable big body off the bench.
The big thing this team needs is game experience, including with how Pitino wants them to play. Pitino said he was concerned about the team’s depth and it showed on Sunday, in part because of foul trouble as that ate into what little depth they had.
“These guys are trying hard, they’ve just got to clean up a lot of things,” said Pitino.
The good thing for Pitino is that he will have a lot of time to practice with this team, as they play just four games in November. Their next game is on Saturday, then they don’t play for another week, so they have time to correct things. The down side is not having more chances to show their improvement. That will come in December, then Sun Belt play, when they hope to be moving towards their potential.
