Umass at the Garden

[commavegarage]

love people saying give clifford time now that he's actually on the court because he's been hurt since 1996 yet he was supposed to immediately step in at any point and save any of the last 3 seasons

[Bender]

This game was hard to watch, they played great in the first half, only to have the refs keep UMass in it. Lalanne should have fouled out before half-time, but they refused to believe that his offensive elbows and grabs with his off hand on defense should be called on a star player of his magnitude.

Hanlan ran out of gas after carrying the team for the first half and being the only guy who could create anything.

I feel good for Clifford being able to play after his hard work, but he's not an elite big man and is only serviceable at this point.

Heckmann for all his flaws is the second best player on this team right now, and that is why this team will struggle against high D-1 teams.

UMass exposes BC's weaknesses very well, they have all the length and athleticism that BC doesn't, especially a guy like Esho who can tie his shoes without bending over and jumps out of the gym. I still think that BC could've beat them because UMass is going nowhere this year. Refs really looked for excuses as to why to make some call in UMass favor, my favorite was when the guy Hinds fell over trying to dive into Odio who had moved out of the way and he was rewarded with two free throws. My second favorite was whatever they called to give UMass the ball when Brown was mugged from behind then collided with UMass' back-up center.

[Iggle]

love people saying give clifford time now that he's actually on the court because he's been hurt since 1996 yet he was supposed to immediately step in at any point and save any of the last 3 seasons

if clifford had been on the court and healthy last season, then he would not have been away from actual basketball for so long, so that's not really all that inconsistent. And Anderson was on the team last year - he would've been able to play his natural position. He would've helped. Clifford doesn't look great and is not going to become some monster but if he has something to show (and that's a BIG IF) it makes sense that it will take more than 50 minutes of game time before he's back to speed (I don't expect very much from Clifford at all, for the record)

[talon]

UMass with a lot of rebounds and a win by 8. 71-63.

nice prediction

[claver2010]

“@GoodmanESPN: Nice to see BC big man Dennis Clifford back on the court. If he'd been healthy, there's a chance Steve Donahue would still be Eagles coach.”

[Iggle]

“@GoodmanESPN: Nice to see BC big man Dennis Clifford back on the court. If he'd been healthy, there's a chance Steve Donahue would still be Eagles coach.”

okay, that's silly.

[Reverend Mike]

Hey, have you thought about this: we're tanking the season on purpose for a high draft pick.

[eepstein0]

1. The officiating was as bad as I've ever seen. It significantly altered the game. They took Clifford and Brown completely out of the game. It was so bad that I think Bates really needs to call someone at the ACC or NCAA to figure out what happened. Numerous plays with foul calls and zero contact.
2. Clifford was fine, not sure what everyone expected. Magerity was good also. Overall a nice job on the boards. Did well against Lalane.
3. I hope they stopped by Logan on the way home and put Heckmann on a plane back to Gemany. I see why Donahue didn't like him.
4. Good for Cain Carney. Good screens and rebounding. I'm fine with him getting a few minutes.
5. The guards were embarassing. BC is going nowhere with Hanlan and Brown playing like that. Terrible decision making. Brown chucking NBA 3s? Aside from the refs, this is why they lost.
6. Where did the D go? Great in half 1, awful in half 2. UMass getting to the rim at will in the second half.
7. Diallo with his size and athleticism wouldve helped.
8. Owens and Odio, although good athletes, have no idea how to play basketball.

I really do hate this current group of players. I like them less than Al's final teams with Sanders and Southern. As soon as something goes wrong the players fold like a house of cards. I'm not even sure how to evaluate JC with this current train wreck of a roster.

[eepstein0]

This game was hard to watch, they played great in the first half, only to have the refs keep UMass in it. Lalanne should have fouled out before half-time, but they refused to believe that his offensive elbows and grabs with his off hand on defense should be called on a star player of his magnitude.

Hanlan ran out of gas after carrying the team for the first half and being the only guy who could create anything.

I feel good for Clifford being able to play after his hard work, but he's not an elite big man and is only serviceable at this point.

Heckmann for all his flaws is the second best player on this team right now, and that is why this team will struggle against high D-1 teams.

UMass exposes BC's weaknesses very well, they have all the length and athleticism that BC doesn't, especially a guy like Esho who can tie his shoes without bending over and jumps out of the gym. I still think that BC could've beat them because UMass is going nowhere this year. Refs really looked for excuses as to why to make some call in UMass favor, my favorite was when the guy Hinds fell over trying to dive into Odio who had moved out of the way and he was rewarded with two free throws. My second favorite was whatever they called to give UMass the ball when Brown was mugged from behind then collided with UMass' back-up center.

This analysis is spot on except for the Heckmann observation. He was worse than Cain Carney and Dragevich.

My favorite call was foul #2 on Clifford, where he made 0 contact with the UMass player.

[Eaglekeeper]

BC played most of the 1st half without Clifford and most of the 2nd half with Clifford, enough said.

[2014 Eagle]

Maybe it was just me, but did anyone else get the impression that the NBA line on the floor was tricking our guards into chucking 3s from extra deep? I feel like in a normal game there are very few shots taken from NBA 3 range, but yesterday it seemed like there was an abnormally high number of them

[eepstein0]

BC played most of the 1st half without Clifford and most of the 2nd half with Clifford, enough said.

I was unaware Clifford played guard last night.

[DavidGordonsFoot]

I've been as down on Christian as anyone, but I'm surprised by all the animosity after yesterday's game. I thought it was going to go much worse than it did.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

I've been as down on Christian as anyone, but I'm surprised by all the animosity after yesterday's game. I thought it was going to go much worse than it did.

agreed. i thought flattop did okay. hell, the first half was like some sort of alternate universe.

my prediction is that umass will prove throughout the year that they are actually quite bad and this loss will grow weaker and weaker as the season progresses

[commavegarage]

love people saying give clifford time now that he's actually on the court because he's been hurt since 1996 yet he was supposed to immediately step in at any point and save any of the last 3 seasons

if clifford had been on the court and healthy last season, then he would not have been away from actual basketball for so long, so that's not really all that inconsistent. And Anderson was on the team last year - he would've been able to play his natural position. He would've helped. Clifford doesn't look great and is not going to become some monster but if he has something to show (and that's a BIG IF) it makes sense that it will take more than 50 minutes of game time before he's back to speed (I don't expect very much from Clifford at all, for the record)

that 50 minutes sounds an awful like donahue's 50 games

[commavegarage]

love people saying give clifford time now that he's actually on the court because he's been hurt since 1996 yet he was supposed to immediately step in at any point and save any of the last 3 seasons

if clifford had been on the court and healthy last season, then he would not have been away from actual basketball for so long, so that's not really all that inconsistent. And Anderson was on the team last year - he would've been able to play his natural position. He would've helped. Clifford doesn't look great and is not going to become some monster but if he has something to show (and that's a BIG IF) it makes sense that it will take more than 50 minutes of game time before he's back to speed (I don't expect very much from Clifford at all, for the record)

These are my thoughts exactly. I never said he was a world beater and think he will improve as he gets more run

Comm, how are you not able to understand that it takes some time in game play to actually get back into the swing of things? Also, saying he will improve, which I think anyone who comprehends sports should understand why, and that he will be an all star are two vastly different things.

because i see comments like this:

"@GoodmanESPN: Nice to see BC big man Dennis Clifford back on the court. If he'd been healthy, there's a chance Steve Donahue would still be Eagles coach."

[eagle9903]

my prediction is that umass will prove throughout the year that they are actually quite bad and this loss will grow weaker and weaker as the season progresses

Then the LORD Shockdoct made an Eepstein0 from the weiner he had taken off of TobaccoRoadEagle, and he brought it to Conte Forum.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

my prediction is that umass will prove throughout the year that they are actually quite bad and this loss will grow weaker and weaker as the season progresses

Then the LORD Shockdoct made an Eepstein0 from the weiner he had taken off of TobaccoRoadEagle, and he brought it to Conte Forum.

this scared me so i checked. my weener is still attached and appears to be doing just fine.

[eagle9903]

my prediction is that umass will prove throughout the year that they are actually quite bad and this loss will grow weaker and weaker as the season progresses

Then the LORD Shockdoct made an Eepstein0 from the weiner he had taken off of TobaccoRoadEagle, and he brought it to Conte Forum.

this scared me so i checked. my weener is still attached and appears to be doing just fine.

Eepstein0 is in your pants?

[twballgame9]

That team can't afford any of the top 6 guys to get hurt or get in foul trouble. If they are going to play defense like that (which I like) you are going to see a lot of games like last night.

Also, the team has zero point guards. That is a problem. As a PG, Hanlan is a great SG, and he's the only option. Pressing teams will beat BC all year.

[eepstein0]

That team can't afford any of the top 6 guys to get hurt or get in foul trouble. If they are going to play defense like that (which I like) you are going to see a lot of games like last night.

Also, the team has zero point guards. That is a problem. As a PG, Hanlan is a great SG, and he's the only option. Pressing teams will beat BC all year.

We didn't actually commit fouls last night, which was my problem. Clifford and Brown committed 0 real fouls in the first half.

[MaroonNGold]

Oh Ye of Little Faith:

R E L A X!

Put this in perspective:

1. A one-loss season still puts us high in the NCAAs.

2. If JC wants to move up the coaching ladder when the Mount Ida job comes open, he'll have to do better than giving us too little JCC , no KC, and no Perp.

3. Think of the good news, though: this was a one-game event for us. Imagine if we had to play the other 4 teams. Who'd want to come out 1 and 5?

4. Since we are now Transfer U, the recruiters best start scouring the police blotters in college basketball's cow towns.

Enough for now. Think I'll walk over to Devlin to watch the Fed Ex delivery of those re-admission applications from AZ and CA.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

...Think I'll walk over to Devlin to watch the Fed Ex delivery of those re-admission applications from AZ and CA.

that's a long walk from ed cooley's office

[twballgame9]

That team can't afford any of the top 6 guys to get hurt or get in foul trouble. If they are going to play defense like that (which I like) you are going to see a lot of games like last night.

Also, the team has zero point guards. That is a problem. As a PG, Hanlan is a great SG, and he's the only option. Pressing teams will beat BC all year.

We didn't actually commit fouls last night, which was my problem. Clifford and Brown committed 0 real fouls in the first half.

They fouled a lot. I agree that the refs were terrible, particularly since they refused to call any fouls on the "blocks" of UMass' overrated big, but BC fouled a lot.

[eepstein0]

That team can't afford any of the top 6 guys to get hurt or get in foul trouble. If they are going to play defense like that (which I like) you are going to see a lot of games like last night.

Also, the team has zero point guards. That is a problem. As a PG, Hanlan is a great SG, and he's the only option. Pressing teams will beat BC all year.

We didn't actually commit fouls last night, which was my problem. Clifford and Brown committed 0 real fouls in the first half.

They fouled a lot. I agree that the refs were terrible, particularly since they refused to call any fouls on the "blocks" of UMass' overrated big, but BC fouled a lot.

Neither of Clifford's fouls had any contact whatsoever, nor Brown's.

Laline also literally should've fouled out twice. It had a huge effect on the game

[twballgame9]

That team can't afford any of the top 6 guys to get hurt or get in foul trouble. If they are going to play defense like that (which I like) you are going to see a lot of games like last night.

Also, the team has zero point guards. That is a problem. As a PG, Hanlan is a great SG, and he's the only option. Pressing teams will beat BC all year.

We didn't actually commit fouls last night, which was my problem. Clifford and Brown committed 0 real fouls in the first half.

They fouled a lot. I agree that the refs were terrible, particularly since they refused to call any fouls on the "blocks" of UMass' overrated big, but BC fouled a lot.

Neither of Clifford's fouls had any contact whatsoever, nor Brown's.

Laline also literally should've fouled out twice. It had a huge effect on the game

I' m not really arguing with you, but Clifford had 5, Magarity 5, Odio 4, Heckman 4 - 31 fouls total. You can nitpick the 4 that got Brown and Clifford in trouble all you want, but they fouled too much.

[BCEagles25]

fouls were the difference last night. we dominated in rebounds, had the same amount of made FG's, BC had more 3's... I'd like to see how good this team would be without the new fouling rules.

[TobaccoRoadEagle]

fouls were the difference last night. we dominated in rebounds, had the same amount of made FG's, BC had more 3's... I'd like to see how good this team would be without the new fouling rules.

this is very beekerian. "this team would be better if only the coach could better coach them on how to not foul" was the bullshit that coach 50 games inspired last year

[twballgame9]

The difference last night is that UMass is 1000x more athletic than BC and considering that BC has ZERO point guards, eventually the press was going to work.

[MaroonNGold]

UPDATE:

Even on this dank Chestnut Hill evening, it can be reliably reported that as of close of business this day, no Fed Ex truck was spotted near Admissions.

Perhaps that means that Ryan and Joe have, on reflection, concluded that it is better to remain at schools not suffering from tyrannical, ethically-challenged leadership, schools which have longstanding hoops excellence, schools which are not coaching graveyards, schools which draw more than 100 fans per home game, schools which don't waste millions paying coaches fired without cause, and - in Joe's case - a school which is not Catholic in name only.

Oh, well

De gustibus....