CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – For much of the first half on Saturday, Holy Cross stayed with Boston College and led at times. The Crusaders had something to do with Boston College’s offense not looking good for most of the first ten minutes, although BC also looked like a team that had not played in a week and had a few days off from practice. But in the second half, Boston College was the more aggressive team and also shut down the Crusader offense for a big stretch, and in the 70-60 loss to the Eagles, some of Holy Cross’ offensive issues were there to see along with some hope.
Holy Cross isn’t without room for improvement defensively, and that was where Milan Brown got started after the game. In particular, the Crusader mentor noted that they knew how Boston College plays but didn’t defend quite according to the game plan, which was to make sure that BC would shoot more than drive to the basket and create. The Eagles were able to do that, however, and it was a key component of the win.
“They shoot threes, that’s what they do,” said Brown. “We were a little more concerned about them driving the basketball to the rim, and that’s why we saw 15 assists on 22 baskets.”
The offensive end looks to be where Holy Cross has the biggest issues right now, and mostly on the perimeter. Guard play is big in college basketball, and for Holy Cross it hasn’t been good despite their record, which makes one wonder just how good the Crusaders would be if the guard play was better. While Milan Brown can hang his hat on Dave Dudzinski, Phil Beans and reserve Eric Obeysekere (and primarily the first two from an offensive standpoint), the same can’t be said for the perimeter players.
There were high expectations for Justin Burrell after he was the league’s Rookie of the Year last year, and while he showed signs of getting there early he has plateaued at the moment. The engine of this offense, Burrell has more turnovers than assists. Part of that comes from teammates not making shots, as that would raise his assist numbers, but it starts with him as the leader of the offense.
It doesn’t end there, as production on the wing has been hard to come by despite the talent this team has at those positions. Jordan Stevens and Malcolm Miller are both struggling shooting and finding ways to score, even though for the latter that should not happen. Stevens’ woes continued on Saturday as he went 0-5 from long range. For that matter, Cullen Hamilton, who was billed as a shooter, has struggled in his inaugural campaign and was 0-7 from the field, including 0-5 from long range, on Saturday.
The culprit hasn’t been just shot selection or what they have been able to get. Brown feels like they are, for the most part, getting good shots.
“It’s been tough to see the guys not be able to shoot the ball from three,” said Brown. “We were 2-19, and we’re going to watch the film, and I can think of five of them right now where there wasn’t a guy within ten feet of us. It’s not that we’re not getting some open looks, we just need to make them.”
Miller has so much length and athleticism, especially for the Patriot League, that he should be the kind of scorer that a short stretch in the second half would indicate. One time, he drove and found a seam near the basket for a dunk, then a couple of possessions later drove on the right side and made a layup while getting fouled. He had 13 points on 5-7 shooting, the kind of game he should have more often. They hope this gives him the confidence to be more aggressive.
“That’s something we addressed over the Christmas break,” said Brown. “We told him that we want him to be more aggressive, it’s something that we needed him to do.”
The perimeter players also benefit when the post players take advantage of the attention they draw, and right now they are drawing plenty since that’s where most of the production has come. Brown noted that Dudzinski has to find shooters when he draws lots of attention, as he will do since he’s been their most productive player, and that goes for the others in the post. There’s no reason the wings shouldn’t continue to get good opportunities, which means the only other concern might be confidence since that can be a concern with prolonged shooting difficulties.
“We all have faith in them,” said Obeysekere, who had 17 points on 7-8 shooting on Saturday. “I hope they have faith in themselves, and I know our coaching staff will always let good shooters shoot. They’re good shooters, all three of them.”
Holy Cross has two games left before Patriot League play commences, and it will get tough right away as they open at Lehigh and then head to Annapolis to play improving Navy. That means time is running short for them to take care of the offensive issues and develop more consistency at the defensive end. They can contend in the Patriot League just from personnel, although Bucknell and Lehigh will be tough to beat. But if offensive woes continue, that will be an even more difficult task.
