Syracuse 101 Boston College 63: Five Takeaways
Boston College was crushed on Saturday by Syracuse, 101-63 in their ACC opening matchup at Conte Forum. With the loss the Eagles are now 1-5, while the Orange improved to 4-1. Here are some of the takeaways from today's game.
This game was over quickly. It only took seven minutes for Syracuse's lead to jump to double digits. By the ten minute mark the lead never dropped below double digits again for the remainder of the game.
More defensive woes. There is no way to sugar coat it, Boston College's defense was inexcusably bad on Saturday. The struggles were universal as the Orange shot 58.7% overall and 51% from three point range. Way too many easy buckets underneath, and what was maddening was the frequency in which Syracuse found wide open shots. With the loss, BC now allows an average of 85.5 points a game, a number that is not going to win them any games moving forward. BC podcast 4th and Dude brought up stats to support that these problems are not just this year, they have been a major problem under Jim Christian.
Karnik, the one positive. You had to really dig deep to find a positive in this game. James Karnik played a good game, scoring 20 points and grabbing eight rebounds. He still had a -23 on the +/-, but a good game overall from the center. As he continues to grow in this system, he could continue to improve and that is certainly a positive. Tabbs had a good first half, but Jim Christian took him out, which was wise. Save the minutes and wear on his knee.
BC got nothing from Mitchell and Felder. They were one of my keys to the game, and the pair combined for two points and six turnovers. Mitchell's play has been disappointing so far this season, as he has averaged around six points a game, but his defense is not living up to the expectations many had before the season. Felder, who has had his moments this year, had an off game, and has struggled with turnovers all year.
The writing is on the wall. This was an embarrassing performance overall, as the Eagles looked woefully underprepared on both ends of the court. The defense continues to be a huge liability, while the offense couldn't keep pace against the 2-3 zone. Worst of all, they looked like they gave up at halftime (the energy and hustle was completely gone). BC is now up to five losses, and if they continue to play like they have over the past two weeks, these losses are going to pile up. This is the second game in a week that falls in the "unwatchable" category, the other being the UF game. If BC continues to play like this, this truly will become a lost season, and the Eagles are going to need to move on from Jim Christian.
