Everything Boston College Head Coach Earl Grant Said After Win Over The Citadel
The Boston College Eagles (1-0) men’s basketball team opened its season with a 69-60 win over The Citadel Bulldogs (0-1) on Monday night.
After the game, Eagles head coach Earl Grant spoke about what he saw in his team’s performance.
Below is a transcript of everything Grant said.
Q: Good to see that diverse group come together and play as a team tonight.
GRANT: Yeah. We had scrimmaged a couple times and been practicing, battling, trying to find rhythm and there's so many new guys. We just kind of had some jitters trying to get to the game and play, just needed to get to the game to play. Half of the team hadn't played in this building and so really happy that we were able to win the game, get that under our belt, really defend. You take out the free throws, thought we fouled a little too much, need to be more sound, but you take out the free throws, I thought we played a really good defensive game so we can build on that. Left some opportunities out there on offense, got to be a little bit more sound with our decision making and ball handling and this execution, but that's what I kind of expected for a new group and it was a good start for us.
Q: Coach, with all new personnel, what do you kind of want the identity of this team to be? And you feel like you guys lived up to that?
GRANT: Yeah. I mean, gritty is always going to be a part of it and it is. That's what I believe, in terms of my DNA of coaching, but also that's what BC’s about. They have tough teams that came through here and we team number 92. There’s a lot of teams have been been here before us, right? So just want to be able to two things: be gritty, play tough, really be sound on the defensive end and be smart on offense. Execute, execute, make good decisions with the ball. I thought 14 turnovers tonight was a little too many and then it's the fouling. So that's where we can clean up. Those are correctable things, but it's a pursuit to get to it. Today was the kind of the beginning of the journey and we'll keep pursuing our best and I think we'll get there eventually. But I like this team and really happy we were able to get this first one under our belt.
Q: Coach, 22 points, career high for Donald Hand. How impressed were you with him tonight?
GRANT: I mean, number one I'm happy for him. He’s going into his third year. He's kind of paid his dues. He's kind of been loyal, been around the program, and kind of like an elder statesman at this point, but just really haven't had to, even though he's a third year player, he's only second year on the court, and he's really hadn't had the opportunity to play a ton. He did close out last year. The last 10 games, he averaged about eight points a game, maybe 20 minutes. But now he's in a new role, and he stepped up, played good basketball tonight. Was happy for him, and hopefully we can continue to build on that for him.
Q: On separation…
GRANT: Yeah, that was the middle eight. Obviously, the middle eight of the game is important. The last four minutes you want to establish something going in the locker room. They made that long three at the end, it was contested, and it was long, so hey, pat him on the butt. Good job for him. We contested it, so we wasn't really discouraged by that. I just thought the second half, we got it to 17 points, the momentum was going our way and it was a couple calls, block charge, we had a charge go against us for a layup and then we had another one where we actually thought we took the charge and they got an and-one. So, there's a few things happen in the game, a little bit [of] a lack of soundness by our part on some decisions with some of the shots we took that allowed them to take that game from 17 back down to, like 11 points. But we were on the verge of really opening that game up, and that was good to see. We got to keep working towards it and maybe we'll be able to do that as we continue to grow our team.
Q: Coach, defensively I know that's always been kind of one of your staples and your hallmarks. How much of that going into a season with new guys has to rely on how in depth can you get with them in the start, and then how you execute that?
GRANT: Yeah, been real simple so far because it's like a lot of times when you teach something, you have a lot of people around you who've been returning echoing it. They actually know exactly what you're saying so they coach the new guys. But with this group, we do have returners, right, Chas Kelley and Jayden Hastings and Fred Payne and Donald Hand and those guys, Elijah Strong, but none of them played a ton of minutes, and really had to be like, even at the end of that game, we try to close the game and win it. Well, they haven't really had to do that, so everything's a new learning experience, which is pretty exciting, but we gotta go through it right? And the night was the start.
Q: Kind of simplistic coach, but just winning the opener. What does that mean? Bring that into practice, bring that into the next game.
GRANT: Yeah, I think there's a lot of games on tonight, and half of them 0-1 and half 1-0. So I'm glad we're on the winning side of it. I already can see the plays that I need to watch on film and help these guys understand where we need to be better. So it's like, it's obvious stuff, I can see it playing back in my mind now, and they're correctable. So, we'll get back in there on Wednesday and just get back to work. Try to see if we can get one or two percent better.
Q: Coach, Chad mentioned when he was talking about plays, that was like, what was it? AEBG, it was an acronym. Just how much of that in a game like this do you see out of those plays, the the energy plays that they go out in?
GRANT: A ton. Blocked shots, loose balls, steals, deflections, offensive rebounds. Those guys, they were flying around, I'm proud of their efforts. I know for them, and probably people who watch, they say, ‘Well, how is this team going to be?’ Well, we can't get caught up in that. We got to get caught up in the process of becoming the best team we possibly can be as we go through the season. So tonight was a good start, again we’ll get back in there and clean some things up, and then we'll get ready for the next [one].
Q: I promise I’ll learn the acronyms before the year’s over.
GRANT: Yes, you'll figure it all out. Yeah, you hang around enough. You stay around the barber shop long enough you eventually get a haircut, right? So you'll figure it out.
Q: Chas Kelley, obviously one of the main returners, he was quiet tonight. Zero points in 20 minutes. How do you look to get him more involved in the future?
GRANT: He got in foul trouble so we had other guys kind of stepped in and and kind of took over when he was on the bench with those foul troubles earlier. But, Chas is a good kid, good player. I mean, he'll be fine. We won the game. He went back in at the end of the game. He actually helped us make that run to get it to 17 and then he helped us close it out so he’ll be fine. Didn't score much, but I thought his presence and his leadership was crucial for us.
