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Message: [QUOTE="Niastri, post: 5641651, member: 722"] I kind of know what it must feel like to be a beat reporter for the Jets now... Watching games and analyzing them is way less fun when you're following a team that can't seem to get right. BC is a game many of us were treating like an easy victory. With good cause. They are far and away the worst team in the ACC. They can't score, averaging 68 points a game (mostly because of pace) on the 354th best shooting percentage in the nation. They play good defense, physical and work hard to limit open shots. BC is good at limiting high opponents shooting percentages (top50 in both), but they don't get steals, turn you over, or rebound especially well. They do block shots, 25th in the country. They give up a lot of rebounds in their defensive end. In some ways they look like us, but with the added benefit of trying to slow down the pace of the game. Even with the ball in BC hands the last minute, up 3, I had few doubts. Even after they made the shot, I had few doubts in OT. I didn't have doubt until a little more than 2 minutes into overtime BC had recorded 2 dunks and a layup, and it seemed like we weren't interested any more. We gave up their second highest point total of the season. BC normally shots .298 from three on the season, we let them shoot .400. BC normally forces 10.8 TOs per game, only 302nd in the country, we gave them 18, mostly unforced, though they were credited with 11 steals. After a few games of "Good George" we got "Turnover George" with a 2:7 A:TO ratio. It's hard to blame a guy who went 19pt,14r, 7-14 from the field, and 5-6 from the line for a loss, but Freeman getting 7 turnovers certainly didn't help. He also had a key missed front end of a 1 and 1 that might have sealed the game with 18 seconds left. Kyle started out hot, scoring the first 4 points of the game in the first two minutes, and only took 2 shots after that. How do they keep going away from what is working so consistently. He still got 3 blocks, but was mostly ineffective this game. At the end of the game, 2:55 remaining, Freeman made a great drive from the top of the key to put us up 7, 62-55. Syracuse didn't score again except for a Kingz layup. We have by far the best offensive player on the court, yet Freeman didn't get another shot after that layup. How do you forget your best player in a close game where you are struggling to score? On the final basket of regulation, when we gave up the 3 to go to OT, Starling's man scored, coming off a simple backpick Starling didn't fight through but both George and Kyle made lackluster efforts at challenging the three. Kyle actually drops back like he wants to prevent the drive. Giving up a 2 when you are up 3 with 12 seconds left is half a victory. Giving up a three there costs your team a victory. Did the coaches remember to remind him of the situation? Did instincts take over? Did anybody from our media ask him why he didn't challenge the shot? George failing to contest was even worse. He went from a defensive menace early in the season to a guy who doesn't challenge threes well at all. The net result is three players watching the open three to tie the game, on a simple back pick. It felt like the coaches were trying to make up for their mistake with Freeman to end regulation. Freeman had the ball over and over in the OT. He posted up 6'11, 255 Boden Kapke and abused him with speed, making an easy layup. They went back to it, and Freeman got blocked by Kapke on the exact same play. This time, BC got out on the break and got a layup the other way. 4 point swing. Syracuse went to the other offensive star of the game, Kingz for the next two possessions, making an "and 1" layup and drawing a foul, to narrow the lead to 3 at 1:20 remaining. The last minute of the game, we missed shots, turned it over, and BC made their free throws. Game over. We can't seem to put teams away, ever. We got up 9 in the first half and everything was downhill from there. The next few minutes was a slow motion BC "run" that took us from 17-8 to 18-19 in five minutes of game time against a team that can't score. We always have letdowns that let teams back in, or worse, let good teams take a close game to a blowout. We managed to avoid that letdown for a few games, but here it is costing us a victory against the worst team we will play the rest of the season. [/QUOTE]

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