/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/877004/Clifford.jpg)
We just lost to Clifford the Big Red Dog and his merry band of freshmen.
7 of the 10 BC players that saw the court are freshmen.
And now I'm pissed. The losses to Charleston, Coastal, USC, UTEP, and Hawaii were bad, but they didn't come immediately following a dominating win over an upper-level ACC team that (at the time) made me think that this Tiger team could actually be competitive in the conference. And this BC team is bad. Really, really, really bad.
What did we do wrong in this game?Just about everything.
We couldn't shoot the 3 (5 of 19). We couldn't defend the 3 (BC shot 8 of 18). We couldn't make free throws down the stretch (missed 5 of our last 8). Tanner, Milton, and Devin all missed key free throws down the stretch.
And we turned the ball over way too many times: we had 9 turnovers in the 2nd half alone, and Tanner had another 5 turnover game. Yes, another one. As in, he does this frequently.
Devin couldn't stay out of foul trouble. He also couldn't score a basket unless the entire BC defense failed to box out after a Clemson player missed a shot and he was able to get an easy dunk.
Milton can't shoot.. Rod Hall can't shoot. Devin Coleman can't shoot (just how awful was that 3 attempt that barely hit the backboard. Wasn't he supposed to be a great shooter? What the hell happened there?).
Tanner, you had a chance to make up for your missed free throw late against USC, but when the refs graciously gave you 3 foul shots, you miss the first one so badly that it barely connects with the front iron. Milton, you had a chance to tie the game with 10 seconds to go. And Devin, you had a chance to tie it up as well, but you can't connect on free throws either. And then, just to make things even worse, when we're in desperation mode, you commit a lane violation. A lane violation?! A lane violation with the game on the line?! Are you kidding me?!
Brownell told Pete Yanity in the post-game interview that one of the big problems for this team was the lack of a go-to guy. The guy that gets the ball in his hands at the end of the game. Tonight, on that last inbounds play, the guy with the ball in his hands was Milton. Brownell, I implore you: please do not ever again give the ball to Milton Jennings in a late-game situation. He's just not good enough of a shooter. You may not think you have a leader that you can count on as the clock winds down, but that doesn't mean you have to give the ball to Milton.
Why not give someone else the ball? They sure as hell couldn't do any worse than Milton or Devin did at the end of the game tonight.
Tanner turns it over too much to be the go-to guy in the closing moments, and Andre is too short, but I'd like to see Brownell give Sapp the ball next time we're down 2 with 5 seconds left. He has the hottest hand on the team right now. Why draw up a play that gives the ball to Milton when you can draw up a play that gives the ball to T.J.?