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Boston College Basketball versus the Maine Black Bears: Four Up, Four Down

A lot of things went right for BC against Maine. But there is always room for improvement.

By Arthur Bailin
Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston College Eagles got a much needed win against the Maine Black Bears Sunday afternoon. Let's break it down.

The Good

  1. The Offensive Effort: There is a lot to like here. The Eagles shot 53.7% from the field, garnered 24 assists, were 44.4% from behind the arc, and they only missed two free throw. Oh, and they scored 91 points. Is that good? I think that's good.
  2. Eli Carter: Look, a lot of people on here don't like Eli Carter. I get it. I don't necessarily agree with some of the sentiments, but I get it. With that said, there isn't a whole lot that you can critique about Carter's game on Sunday. He flirted with a triple-double, led the team with 16 points, and he fed his teammates nine times. I'll take that effort any time.
  3. Scoring Off The Bench: I've been concerned with BC's production off the bench as of late, but they responded with 35 off the bench against Maine. A scoring effort like that from the bench gives the Eagles a ton of depth, which is always useful.
  4. Steve Perpiglia, Gordon Gehan, Aser Ghebremichael and Jordan Barros Saw Game Time: It is always great to see the whole bench get playing time. Those guys don't get a ton of playing time, so it is nice to see them get some time on the court, given the hard work they put in at practice.

The Bad

  1. Perpiglia, Gehan, Ghebremichael and Barros Only Combining For Seven Points: Slackers.
  2. Distorting Facts To Fit Agendas: I tweeted out that some of the bench guys were getting playing time on Sunday, and moments later, I got this response:

Look, I know BC doesn't get a lot of respect from the ACC, particularly in basketball. And yes, BC has justified the flack. But this comment is dumb. Those guys got into the game in garbage time when the result was obvious. This guy is a Virginia basketball fan, and the University of Virginia never, ever, ever, ever, ever, does this. But there are teams out there, as surprising as it may be, that put guys on the end of the bench to give them some playing time. Something about not wanting starters to risk injury in meaningless parts of a game (I know right? That's dumb). So before you tweet something that is uninformed, just remember that ACC basketball coaches make a lot of money coaching basketball, so my guess is that they have a semi-competent grasp on the super-complex process of substitutions.

Enjoy losing to Villanova Saturday.

3.  Foul Trouble: I called for BC to play an aggressive game due to Maine's difficulties from the stripe. I didn't imagine Dennis Clifford and Idy Diallo taking two fouls each in the span of four minutes. This forced Jim Christian to play a smaller lineup. Being forced to play small against Maine was ok, but I'm sure Christian is going to want additional flexibility for his lineup in more competitive games.

4. Johncarlos Reyes Hurt: Reyes has a stress fracture. That's going to hurt BC's depth a little bit. I also enjoyed watching him play. With a little bit more muscle he's going to be a really good player down the road.

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