A place in infamy: Offensive ineptitude dooms Seawolves, raises serious doubts about title contention
December 13th, 2011 by Sam Perkins(Newton, MA) — With 11:21 left, Stony Brook guard Bryan Dougher drove the lane and released a floater. The shot fell short, and the ball wound up stuck between the side of the rim and the backboard.
There’s a metaphor in there for the Seawolves’ 66-51 loss to Boston College and their season to date.
There is offensive ineptitude, and then there is being unable to hit water if you fell out of a canoe. Then, there is fifty feet of crap. Then, there is the Seawolves’ first half offense from Sunday evening.
With 11:50 left in the first half, sophomore guard Anthony Jackson knocked down a 3 to put Stony Brook up 11-6. The Seawolves did not score another point for the entire half, while as Boston College rattled off 22 straight before the intermission.
Stony Brook went 5-of-33 (15.2 percent) from the floor and 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from behind the arc. But numbers don’t sum up how bad the Seawolves were from the floor – words don’t do justice to Stony Brook’s offensive futility. The Seawolves first-half ineptitude earned them an infamous place in the Conte Forum record books: their 11 points were the fewest ever scored in a single half at the venue by any team, home or away.
Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell was quick to point to the 40 second half points – 21 by senior guard Bryan Dougher – against an ACC opponent, as well as the Seawolves offense on the season, as positives.
“We got plenty of scoring in the second half,” he said. “We came into this game averaging 69 points a game, which is ten up from last year. We’ve been scoring plenty of points.”
But make no mistake; this was a bad loss for a team predicted by many to compete for an America East title.
The Seawolves second half, and their offensive output on the season, are more paper tiger than dynamic scoring. The Seawolves connected on eight 3’s after the break, and save for a handful of Dave Coley and Dougher drives, the offense remained stagnant.
Relying solely on long bombs has never been a game plan for sustained success on the court, and the Seawolves strength has never been efficiency behind the arc: only one of Pikiell’s six previous Stony Brook squads shot better than 35 percent from long distance. This year is no different, as against Division-I opponents, Stony Brook is shooting 29 percent (48 for 163) from downtown.
The Seawolves’ offense needs dribble penetration to free up its outside shooters – like it had in Muhammad El-Amin in 2010 and Chris Martin last season – and, as of now, Stony Brook is getting almost none, which leads to little more than working the ball around the perimeter before an end of the shot-clock heave. The lack of dribble penetration also means Stony Brook’s chances at the free throw line are few and far between. Stony Brook is shooting fewer than 20 free throws per 100 field goal attempts, ranking 344th out of 345 Division-I teams.
Excluding a 93-39 curb-stomping of Mount Ida (a very bad division III school), Stony Brook has scored 444 points against Division-I opponents while giving up 470, an average of 63.4 points per game while giving up 67.1.
“If you can’t score, you can’t win,” conceded Pikiell.
As for Sunday night, Boston College is an ACC team in name only: The Eagles stand at 3-7, and have been blown out by the likes of Holy Cross (22 point loss), New Mexico (18 point loss) and fellow America East member Boston University (14 points in a game no where near as close as the final score).
Of the Eagles’ two prior wins, one was a three-point victory over New Hampshire in a game the Wildcats fumbled away, and the other was a four-point squeaker over a bad UC Riverside team. The Eagles are a team that doesn’t blow out anyone – not even the dregs of Division-I.
And for all the talk of the Seawolves’ second half, despite scoring 40 points after the intermission, Stony Brook only made up two points from their 17-point halftime deficit, allowing 38 second-half points to a punchless Boston College offense.
Center Dallis Joyner and forward Al Rapier combined to go 2-of-12 in the game.
“They bigged up on us in the post, and Dallis couldn’t finish and neither could Al,” said Pikiell.
The duo also lost their composure down the stretch, as Rapier picked up a technical foul in the game’s waning minutes, and another tech was assessed to the bench and appeared directed at Joyner.
Dougher’s second half could be seen as a silver lining. After battling hand injuries that robbed him of much of his accuracy from behind the arc, his release and accuracy appeared much improved.
But even at his best, Dougher is not a player who can carry the Seawolves on his own. Stony Brook will need to get more production from Coley, a sophomore who has shown flashes, as well as Ron Bracey, a 6’4” 240 pound JuCo transfer who was expected to be an offensive creator, but who has spent much of the season on the bench.
“He’s where most of these junior college players are. One game you really like him, and the next game [he’s] not quite ready. Defense is his biggest struggle, where he’s trying to figure it out,” said Pikiell of Bracey.
Most concerning for Stony Brook, was the play of red-shirt junior Tommy Brenton, who didn’t score a point and pulled down a mere three rebounds in 27 minutes of action. During his first two seasons, Brenton was a defensive tornado, the best rebounder in the league, and a high-flying athlete.
“I think Tommy Brenton is still not himself. I think as he comes back from the ACL, he’s going to be a much better player – that isn’t the player he is capable of being,” said Boston College head coach Steve Donahue.
A gruesome knee-dislocation and multiple ligament tears required two surgeries to repair last year, and have left him a shell of his former self athletically. He has also appeared tentative on the court.
“It’s part physical and part mental,” said Pikiell of Brenton’s struggles. “He’s doesn’t have that same pop in his legs, he’s not in great shape… he’s not where he needs to be.”
Brenton’s aggressiveness will likely return in time, and his court vision, passing, and intangibles will still make an impact for the Seawolves. But his athleticism following two major knee surgeries in a one-year span remains in doubt.
“Tommy is the smartest player on the court,” said one member of the Seawolves staff. “But he used to be the smartest player on the court who could jump higher than everyone else, get to the ball quicker than everyone else, get off the ground quicker than everyone else, and beat everyone else down the floor.”
Can Brenton return to his pre-injury form?
“I don’t know what to tell you,” said Pikiell regarding Brenton’s return to pre-injury form.
Right now regarding Brenton, and the Seawolves season, there are no answers – only more questions.
Tags: Al Rapier, Boston College, Bryan Dougher, Dallis Joyner, Dave Coley, Ron Bracey, Seawolves, Steve Pikiell, Stony Brook, Tommy Brenton