Boston College Basketball: Good, Average & Poor After Seven Games

A look at the play of the Eagles so far through the first quarter of the season

Boston College basketball sits at 2-5, and has completed roughly 25% of their games this season. There certainly have been ups and downs, let's take a look at where they have succeeded, and haven't so far this year. 

Good

James Karnik: I'll be the first to admit, when the "Free Karnik" movement started I thought BC folks were getting ahead of themselves and expecting too much from the Lehigh transfer. But he has been a revelation. Easily the best interior player on the team, Karnik is averaging 11 points and seven rebounds and has been providing some consistency even through some of the worst moments of the season. But there are tougher times ahead, if Boston College is going to win some ACC games this season, he is going to have to be a big factor. 

CJ Felder: When you want to look at player development there is no better poster boy then Felder. The difference between this year and last is like night and day. He looks physically bigger and is shooting the ball with more confidence. His field goal percentage has sky rocketed from 43.3% to 56% this season, and he has become one of the more consistent players on offense. The next step in his evolution has to be turnovers. He still struggles, and makes some careless errors, but that is fixable. 

Wynston Tabbs: It has been great to see the guard return to form after missing 600 days with a knee injury. On the offensive side he has been everything Boston College probably was hoping for averaging 15.3 points per game. He seemingly looks to be full speed on the court, which is a huge plus. 

Average

Jay Heath: It certainly has been an up and down season so far from the sophomore shooting guard. On one hand he has shown really strong offensive games, like he did against Villanova when he led BC with 16 points. But he also struggled mightily, like against Syracuse where he shot 2-12 from the field, and like most of the team gave questionable efforts on defense. He needs to work on consistency, the talent is there, it just needs to show up more.

Steffon Mitchell: During Tuesday's game against Maine, play by play analyst Jon Meterparel referred to Mitchell as "outstanding". I disagree. Like always he has been solid on the boards, but for someone who should be the glue of the defense he has been giving up too many easy buckets in transition and in the paint. As we continue to await the evolution of his offensive game, he isn't giving much in that regard, averaging just six points a game. 

Langford Brothers: This isn't a knock on either, they just haven't been consistent this year. Makai has been a spark plug at times, but his energy has gotten him in foul and turnover troubles at times. He has been good on the defensive side though, leading the team with 14 steals. Demarr is young, and learning the speed of the college game, you can see it coming to him, but he's a true freshman it has been a learning curve so far. 

Rich Kelly: The definition of up and down. In one moment he is hitting a beautiful three pointer, the other a careless turnover. Also worried about what he will look like guarding athletic guards during ACC play. 

Poor 

For poor I am going to point to specific things the team has done or not done and address those areas.

Three point shooting: One of the major issues last year has crept into the 2020-21 season, as the Eagles are shooting 31% from the three point line good for 224th in the country. With guards as talented as Heath and Tabbs, and with a sharp shooter like Rich Kelly they should be shooting much better from beyond the arc. This has to get better if they are going to win some games in the ACC

Ball Movement: The numbers play out what is happening on the court. BC is 250th in assists per game, with 12.6. They don't have a true point guard, but this is a huge area of concern. They struggle getting the ball inside consistently, and instead settle on poor percentage perimeter shots. 

Free throw shooting: 65% from the line this year, the Eagles are just giving away points, something they can ill afford to do. 

Team Defense: When Boston College plays athletic teams that can push the tempo they struggle. Currently the Eagles have allowed 82 points per game, which is not going to win them many games, because there is no way their offense can keep up with those numbers. Giving up too many easy buckets in the paint, in transition, Boston College is going to need to up their defensive tenacity, or the rest of the season could get very ugly. 

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