This weekend, the Boston College Eagles will head to the sunny Cayman Islands to participate in the Cayman Islands Classic tournament. The field features eight teams, of which three participated in last year’s March Madness tournament.
Although Boston College is the only Power 5 team in the tournament, they actually come in as the third-highest ranked team at the tournament (per KenPom rankings). There’s no question that although there aren’t many flashy names in the field, it will be an important opportunity for Grant to continue to mold his roster and rotation as ACC play approaches.
In this article, I’m going to break down BC’s opening matchup against Old Dominion (shoutout Emmett Morehead) as well as looking at some potential future matchups and some general things I’ll be looking at for BC:
First-Round Breakdown:
Matchup: ODU (KenPom #308)
PF/PA Per Contest: 69.0/79.6
Leading Scorer: G Devin Ceaser, 15.2 ppg
Breakdown:
Old Dominion dropped three straight to begin the year (including a 60-point drubbing at the hands of Arizona) before stringing two straight wins together heading into the Cayman Islands. They are led by the backcourt trio of guards Ceaser, Robert Davis Jr. (14.3 points, 2.0 assists) and Sean Durugordon (12.8 points, 7.0 rebounds). They are the only three players averaging double-digit points, and the offense clearly revolved around them. Ceaser is an effective driver, finishing well at the rim, although he is a streaky 3-point shooter. Davis is the sharpshooter on the team, as the only rostered player shooting above 33.3% — he’s connecting at a 40.5% clip on over seven(!) attempts per game. Durugordon is more of wing at 6’5, 215 but he brings an all-around game — he can stretch the floor a little bit, attacks the glass, and can fill it up. The Monarchs are a decent rebounding team, pulling down 38.6 per game, and they are paced in the frontcourt by Stephaun Walker (6.2 points, 5.4 rebounds) and Caelum Swanton-Rodger (4.2 points, 7 rebounds). This is a game BC should win. They have superior athletes in the backcourt, and Chad Venning looked like he was finding a bit of rhythm last time out.
Possible Second-Round Opponents:
Matchup #1: High Point (KenPom #110)
PF/PA Per Contest: 79.4/64.0
Leading Scorer: G D’Maurian Williams, 18.2 ppg
Breakdown:
Led by an extremely efficient and high-powered offense, High Point has raced out to a 5-0 start to the season. They feature four players averaging double-digit points per game. Williams leads the pack, but G Kezza Gift (16.8 points, 3.3 rebounds), F Kimani Hamilton (14.2 points, 4.2 rebounds), and G Abdoulaye Thiam (11.0 points, 2.4 rebounds) can all fill it up as well. Big man Justin Bodo Bodo brings 9.6 boards and 1.6 blocks to the table, anchoring the defense. As a team, HPU shoots 40% from 3. This is a tough matchup for the Eagles — their perimeter defense has been…not great to start the year, and shooting allows teams to stay in games (just look at Loyola MD).
Matchup #2: Missouri St. (KenPom #182)
PF/PA Per Contest: 86.0/76.8
Leading Scorer: G Dez White, 17.2 ppg
Breakdown:
What stands out about Missouri St. is their depth: a full six players are averaging double figures. White leads the group, but he’s more of a volume gunner (only shooting 34.5% from the floor). Guards Zaxton King (14.3 points, 47.6% from 3) and Vincent Brady II (12.5 points, 42.9% from 3) concern me just as much, if not more, because of their ability to stretch the floor and open up the offense for the rest of the team. Of those six double-digit scorers, only one is listed as a forward: 6’4, 280 lb Michael Osei-Bonsu. That bodes well for BC — we know by now that they want to be getting the ball down low early and often to run their offense. A size advantage could mean big nights for Venning and/or Strong.
What I want to see from BC this weekend:
I did not do a Corner Three column this week, partly because the Eagles only played once and partly because I wanted to save my thoughts for here. There are a couple trends that have begun to stick out to me early in the season that I want to highlight:
1. I can see the offensive vision. The goal is clear. BC wants to get the ball down low. Nearly everything the Eagles do on offense either is with that in mind or plays off of it. The action is fairly easy, too: a ton of high ball screens to give the guard some space, some backdoor screening and cutting to free up a big down low, and then let Venning and Strong go to work. Venning has shown at least respectable chops and footwork down low; in particular, his ability to catch the ball 10+ feet from the basket and still drive past his man has been a pleasant surprise. I want to see him finish more routinely at the rack. Meanwhile, as BC forces the ball low, it opens up cutting opportunities and open 3s on the wing — especially when Venning and Strong are able to draw double teams. The one key to this offense, which — to BC’s credit — has been relatively strong so far, is entry passes. I know I am not alone in saying that Grant’s teams have tended to commit some pretty ugly TOs attempting to force entry passes. For the most part, that has not been the case so far this year.
2. Perimeter defense is worrying. I feel like I’ve seen enough to where it is reasonable to raise the concern. In my first article, I pointed out BC’s seeming lack of plan on guarding ball screens. That has continued. What is arguably more concerning is the seeming lack of ability to just stick with a man in 1-on-1 situations. I know Dion Brown has struggled with injuries to start the season and is adjusting to a new level of play, but he has really, really, struggled to guard so far this year. It’s not an effort issue — I love his work ethic in hunting for offensive boards and backtracking for steals — but man, he was getting absolutely cooked trying to guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. That does not bode well for his ability to play defense in the ACC. And to Brown’s credit, he is definitely not the only one — the number of defensive miscommunications and poor attempts at fighting through screens has been very, very high. It needs to get cleaned up, because this team is not winning any shootouts in the ACC.
3. Is Donald Hand making the leap? I wasn’t convinced until the win over Loyola MD. I know he was putting up big numbers, especially against the Citadel and Temple, but I didn’t really see all that major a difference in his game besides playing time. He’s always been a gunner — so of course with a minutes increase he was going to put up more numbers. He’s now gone over 15 points in all four contests this year, though, and he’s looked more and more comfortable as he grows into this scoring role. That second half against Loyola was excellent. I was particularly encouraged by his quick release when shooting the 3 — he looked confident and comfortable. If he can continue to knock down 3s consistently, it will do wonders for this offense. The next step: finishing at the rim. He is fearless; we all know that (and if you don’t, go watch him try to end a Citadel defender’s career with a vicious poster). He’s also been excellent at the free throw line, connecting at a 93.1% clip. But I want to see more finishes at the rim. He’s only shooting 35.7% from the floor; that needs to go up. I think it will come with time.
Further potential matchups:
Should BC advance further into the tournament, they could face the likes of: South Dakota St. (KenPom #160), Hampton (306), Boise St. (35), or Duquesne (224). Go Eagles.