Transcript
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : All right, so we are back with episode four. Doing this a day later. We've both been pretty busy, Tim. Everything going all right, though?
Tim Linehan: Yep, we are ready. A lot of daddy duty for the two of us this past weekend, plus with the scrimmage on Sunday. So we're a day late, but we're not really late. This is how we want to do it.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, we've got a lot of stuff to go over. So in our pregame, we want to do our listener feedback session, give some shout outs. Then we'll get into game time where we have a few different things. We're going to talk about the scrimmages, including the MIT scrimmage that we were able to get eyes on.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And also talk about the NIL article that dropped with Matt Norlander. and tie that into a little bit of recruiting, and then in overtime to end the session, we'll do it just a few minutes national landscape, kind of where we see some other teams emerging in the country. So to start here in pregame, I know we had some some great listeners reach out in different ways. You had a picture that came through that was pretty cool.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, we had asked the listeners for their favorite college basketball moment that kind of grabbed them as a kid. And we just got this powerful picture from John Boghossian. uh he was like 11 or 12 years old and it's him amongst a sea of BC fans with Ryan Sidney after they win the Big East tournament.
Tim Linehan: That year is what year again?
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : 2001. That team we haven't given enough love to. So that's the Troy Bell, Ryan Sidney. Kenny Walls, Kenny Harley, Xavier Singletary, John Beerbaum, who's a BC legend, right? So that team, Yuka Agba was on that team too.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : They went 27 -5. They won the Big East tournament. That's the picture that John sent in. Pretty awesome. And they also won the Big East regular season tournament that year. Huge turnaround season that year. That was like the first good year under Skinner. The previous year they were 11 -19. Tough team. Really tough team.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, that photo just moved us both right we were like, oh my gosh, look how excited and happy like unfathomable at this moment in time but that's where the excitement comes from that's where we talked about you know all the family ties and the bonds and like look how happy these people are. This is just such, it's why college basketball is the best. And to see that there and and he called it out. So just kind of why we're doing this, right? Like, can we get even close to this and have this joy again?
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : It was awesome. Love that photo. So thanks for sending it in, John. We got an awesome review that I wanted to share. We both had had a good laugh at this one. So we got a review. This was on Apple Podcasts. So just a shout out on this one. Quote.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : They seem to base their thoughts on well -researched facts. They bring a ton of passion to the subject. Also, it helps that they don't sound like the weebs. So... Well researched. Check.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Passion. Check. Don't sound like dweebs we Debatable, but. Check.
Tim Linehan: Very debatable, I think, depending on if you ask our wives or...
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Friends.
Tim Linehan: new New social circles.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : So, but hey, where we might be well -researched, not tweebs and passionate. We can do that, right? Is this?
Tim Linehan: Yeah, I think. that that's that's
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : We got that.
Tim Linehan: That's the new tagline, maybe.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : That was an outstanding review that we got there on Apple Podcasts. and then Tegan keeps making debuts and moments on this show, my wife. So I got one more doozy of a text there after episode three. This one went to the whole family on the family thread quote.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I am flummoxed. Quite a word, right? Flummoxed as to when Tim has the time. I think she's talking about me. Could be talking about you. Flummoxed as to when Tim has the time to research this info and that he has the brain power to rattle off stats but can't seem to remember what days the kids have activities. That was sent to my entire family text thread.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : my mom responds i feel the same way about vin of course my dad so he's now catching strays uh know the pod seems to be doing very very well but the family's in shambles basically
Tim Linehan: Yeah, lots of activities. It's hard to keep track. We all know that. so Just because we're remembering when... BC played USC at Nassau Coliseum in 2001.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, nothing weird there
Tim Linehan: No. Yeah, we remember the USC cheerleaders. We remember taking the three when they were down you know taking the two when they were down three. And we remember not necessarily.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : You were at that game, that 2001 game?
Tim Linehan: I was there. I was you know just a junior in high school in Long Island with all my buddies and my dad. No BC affiliation. and playing Brian Scalabrini. and just a
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : He was on that USC team, that killer loss. Okay. All right.
Tim Linehan: Yeah.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : yeah
Tim Linehan: So our brain remembers that and we forget what time basketball or karate or volleyball is. Doesn't make us a bad guy.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : It doesn't. I feel like we we overall, we're we're doing we're doing everything. We're multitasking. And then there was one other thing we wanted to get to in pregame here in terms of the date of this podcast debut.
Tim Linehan: Yeah.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : 10 -3, something? we've We've got a few texts, Tim, about the date and sort of what's happened hereafter.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, 10 -4 maybe is when we went public.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : 10 -4 is the first date of the pod, yep.
Tim Linehan: Okay. And since then, the energy around BC has been thriving. And, you know, I want to shout out Anthony Smith over at Eagle Insider, hockey writer.
Tim Linehan: You know, he he gave out a tight flex effect question mark after some of the positive stuff how's football doing since we started
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, so he he tweeted that after a good basketball recruit. Football has not lost. Mason McKenzie has turned into you know Johnny Manziel out there. So they're 2 -0 since the pod started, and good vibes with football. Big recruit they landed, a local stud, Will Wood.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : You had some info on what, say, Flowers is blowing up as well lately?
Tim Linehan: Zay Flowers Monster Sundae. And then you're the baseball guy. So what's going on with baseball?
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And South Relic, huge home run in the World Series. I know our Brewers listeners will love that. so good bc energy And you can draw a direct line to 10 -4, but hey. you know Just saying.
Tim Linehan: It's not us. we got We got text threads from numerous people saying. Maybe maybe ten turn the tide, so we'll see.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : All right. We got to beat Wagner. Keep the good vibes going here. All right.
Tim Linehan: Let's hope.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : So. Should we get into game time here where we... I think the first part of game time is. the scrimmages. right
Tim Linehan: Game time is going to be games right for our first time.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : yeah we finally got some eyes on BC and there's some data or some reports out there about the scrimmages in terms of other opponents that they played so let's get into that you I like your thought on just these...
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : all these closed door scrimmages these exhibitions these open door scrimmages like What's your overall thought? Do they matter? or Do they not matter? I thought you were were on it when we were talking about it.
Tim Linehan: All right, I'm in the camp of... they are not nothing i hate to use a double negative uh Don't overreact. but they're not nothing. and I don't know if that's a tagline or not. I know pat used to call you a flip -flopper on a lot of things so i guess we're playing both sides here but They're not nothing.
Tim Linehan: What did BC do last year? They looked gross and got smacked by UConn, right? Were you there?
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : They played UConn at Mohegan Sun, and the offense looked stagnant. They looked... overmatched and basically that's how they played all year so it was pretty revealing yes
Tim Linehan: yeah But then there's other crazy outliers. Last year, Michigan lost to Cincinnati. who didn't even make the tournament and Michigan. ran through everybody last year. But... Michigan played St. John's at the Garden in a crazy, what felt like an NCAA tournament game, went to overtime, Zuby and Yaxel going back -to -back. and and It felt like these two teams were awesome, even though it was October and didn't count for anything. so I think.
Tim Linehan: The opponents are gonna matter for us what we talked about and I think that there is You don't just, I'm not what somebody's going to tweet. It's a scrimmage. It doesn't matter. And go away. I don't believe that. Now we need to assess.
Tim Linehan: the difference between MIT and Providence and Seton Hall. but We're going to talk about it.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, so... Yeah, I agree with you. i think they don't It's not like they don't matter at all, but you can't read too much into it. They're a data point. They give us some insight, basically. is that That's where we land on on the scrimmages.
Tim Linehan: That's it. They don't. not matter.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Okay.
Tim Linehan: Maybe.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : So, if yeah.
Tim Linehan: Start with the first one Providence closed -door secret scrimmage
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah. you know, BC, for those that don't know, they did two secret scrimmages. We'll get to the MIT game soon. But they did two secret secret scrimmages where no one could had eyes on that. But there was, you know, in the Twitter sphere, there was basically reports and things like that on how those games went. The first one was against Providence. And by all reports, they battled and lost late in the game, 88 to 86.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : high scoring affair. I don't know where you come down on that to me. That. that was a very encouraging score that was about two weeks ago providence is pretty much unanimously viewed unanimously viewed as a top 40 type basketball team. So a two point game there at Providence.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, and Providence's two open scrimmages, they smacked Georgia Tech and Pitt, two of our teams that we want to be ahead of. uh and open in public they destroyed them and 88 86 i love the point total first of all And I love that they're battling. Providence has a good rep. They spent a ton of money with the new coach.
Tim Linehan: So let's not go crazy. It's a closed door scrimmage. but it's not nothing then we got providence news that they're signing a home and home with them
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Love that.
Tim Linehan: which is awesome. This is what they should be doing. This is who they should be playing. Great move by Murray. If you've never been, I'm going to call it the dunk. I think it's the amp now. But. It'll be the dunk forever for me.
Tim Linehan: go whichever year it is. Go. It is. So fun. Go get some golden crust down at Providence. We've had some fun nights down there with our friends and have a good time. We went our junior year.
Tim Linehan: I think you were abroad.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : i was yeah i was abroad so you guys went but it was a great time right
Tim Linehan: Undefeated, 17 -0. Dudley hits a huge three. Sean Williams is blocking like eight shots. They win at the dunk. really fun time. So I'm Opening up the Providence rivalry is great. It's great for them.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : BC should play Providence every year.
Tim Linehan: Yep.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : it's a note it's a no -brainer and honestly you know, any Sour grapes on Providence from a BC fan including me is just jealousy. their their fan base and their home court advantage and the way they're They promote their program and the way they resource their program is everything I wish that BC was.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And it's really cool that Providence. It's kind of like a they don't really have a pro team. so Providence basketball is the game in town there, and it's a great take, a great atmosphere. I love that they're playing that game. So that I think that starts next year, the home and home.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, it's great. I want to shout out John Linehan for Mark. cbb college basketball diehards you remember that name linehan doesn't float around a lot and he
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Great name.
Tim Linehan: was the all -time steel leader. in the NCAA basketball up until a couple years ago, so he's numbered.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : little pesky guard for Providence, right?
Tim Linehan: Number two on the list. Yeah, Providence Guard, but little...
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : He was awesome.
Tim Linehan: little Providence shout out there. All right, I think of about a week later they played Seton Hall. on campus, right, at the Hoag.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, that was at BC. It was the same day that BC was playing Pitt in football. They played Seton Hall in basketball. And. won the game. the reports where they won the game going away by 10 plus points. I do think they were down two at halftime, you know, so it was a, it was a bit of a battle and then they separated in the second half.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : We felt like that's a good sign. be a Beat Seton Hall.
Tim Linehan: Good sign Seton Hall doesn't have the biggest reputation this year, but Holloway is going to coach them to be tough. And we know that defense and rebounding and athleticism are a question mark. So if they truly did win the game going away that. we've been told Those are two.
Tim Linehan: good results those are two we're not going to over read them but like They matter. They happened. It almost seemed like in Luke's presser. those were tighter lineups right and then tighter rotation and that he was more open at MIT.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, he referenced you know in those two game like playing more guys against MIT. and know I think in the Providence and Seton Hall games, just reading the tea leaves. like I think they won with their rotation. They tried to win the game. They got really good experience against two.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Big East teams. Took PC to the wire, beat Seton Hall by about 10 plus points. so Those, to me, give more feedback than the MIT game. Right. I mean, that that. that If you're gonna look into anything, I think you have to look into those two games.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : bit. in terms of, okay, how does this project in the ACC?
Tim Linehan: Yep, we just didn't see it right so now we got to tell the people what we saw
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Okay. So. MIT. Right. I went to the game. Pretty cool. Just a name that I went with my dad and my son. Right. So I was earlier with my five year old son and and my dad, too. So the three of us drove up together like that. Again, back to your point about really why we do the pod and the picture for John Magosian, like.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : it's fun to go and do these things with your family and with your friends and with people you love. I met up with a buddy at the game. He was with his kids. like it It was cool. It was awesome. There was there was a vibe. There was there was positive energy. and And that's what we just keep. That's why we love basketball. That's why we keep promoting this is that they can get pretty good. You get more of those opportunities.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : so i went and watched it the replay right i had to do both you watched it i want to hear if we go first can we go eye test And then we can get inside the numbers. But like, what did you when you were watching the game on ESPN Extra, like what did you or ACC Extra rather? What were some of your takeaways just watching it?
Tim Linehan: Well, the focus is the offense, right? So it's Luke Murray, offensive genius. So eyeballs are on the offense. And the offense is moving and the ball is popping from the jump, right? If you watched it, if you watch the scrimmage. It looks like...
Tim Linehan: a version slight version of UConn there's constant motion going there was one play early that really set me I watched Luke Hunger set four screens in what felt like five seconds.
Tim Linehan: He was on the ball, then he was off the ball, then there was a flare, and he was just involved, involved, involved, and then someone wide open for a shot. so It's... What we wanted to see, it's what we're hoping to see. And now it wasn't exact, but.
Tim Linehan: I just liked that. Yeah, this is he's going to attempt to translate this like we had hoped and like we talked about for the last three weeks.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Right. We'll get into the numbers when we do the inside the box score piece of this, but in terms of watching it. I did think it looked like the Yukon offense. I was surprised just in real time how many three -pointers they took. you know We'll give you the exact number momentarily, but at just watching it, I was like, wow, they're they're taking a lot of threes.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I will say, and we talked about this off air, like. The threes, they were they were all catch and shoot. They were the right shot. they were I don't think there was one dribble up three. It was off an extra pass. It was off of movement. So they were there were good threes.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : It. there were a lot though and watching it felt like a lot now they're going in And. which was nice, but it felt like more threes than I'm used to seeing Murray's. offense take at UConn.
Tim Linehan: Well when you see the starting five for those of you guys that don't know it was money It was Ernest Shelton. Colby Dugan Zach, don't call me Zach, call me Jacques according to the...
Tim Linehan: announcer. and Luke Hunger. So that's five shooters. Benjamin was not out there.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Which was a surprise, yeah.
Tim Linehan: Zakai was not out there.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : i I thought Benjamin would start and he did not.
Tim Linehan: so So that tells you right away they're shooting is shooting is the premium shooting is the model now again i don't want to overreact but that's what we saw so it's there and and they were letting it fly and they were going in and that's what a better way to grab everybody from the jump if someone was throwing it on or somebody went to the game
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Other things that... stood out to me, it did feel like there just wasn't a ton at the rim. watching it like They definitely don't have a big guy that they can. throw the ball into and score the back of the basket like they they don't have that maybe hunger can do that for two points or four points down there but they They don't have a throw it in and get a bucket guy.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And. they didn't have a ton of guys creating their own shot getting to the rim which watching the game i was mildly concerned i was i would have liked to have seen a bit more in the half court getting to the rim.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, I'm worried early fear concern whatever you want to call it is shot creation without the sets And I think that'll be a money thing. And money definitely took a backseat. He only played 20 minutes.
Tim Linehan: He only took four shots. But who can get a shot off when the set gets busted up, when a team is bigger and longer and stronger than you and and the set is blown up and now we got to go get one.
Tim Linehan: I think it's Jacques. I think it's money. I think it's Furphy. And obviously Furphy got injured, which we're all... worried about and worried for him and really stinks for him.
Tim Linehan: And we're waiting to hear about that because he's somebody I think who can open things up, who can penetrate and kick and and create. But yeah, nothing going at the rim was eye -opening and a little worrisome.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, the
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : the three i have the same three guys i wrote down that i felt like can go get a bucket off the dribble and beat somebody it had money williams furphy and then uh smerica as well as jack smerica right all three of those guys can go do it
Tim Linehan: Jacques. You gotta call him Jacques.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : For those that don't know, Furphy got rolled up on his knee. it didn't look great he couldn't put any weight on it coming off the floor and there's no No one asked him Murray about it in postgame, which is kind of disappointing, so we don't know. I really liked Furphy, and he was handling the ball a lot. That would be a big loss. We don't want to speculate, but that looked like an injury that... He's not going to be ready for Wagner. I think we can say that. so in terms of just our our assumption.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : He couldn't put weight on it coming off the floor. That was too bad.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, we're hoping for the best, but we don't know. we I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night but I don't know what happened.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, we It didn't look great. It did not look great. But. We're hoping for the best there, too. Great holiday in line there. I like that. Do they still do those commercials?
Tim Linehan: The... I don't know, but I think six people will get that reference.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : ernie
Tim Linehan: Ben.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Take care. They were good commercials.
Tim Linehan: Benjamin I think people were itching to see. And then he didn't start. And then he got in foul trouble. So there's like no scout from us on Benjamin. He was antsy. He was excited. He was physical. and he Wasn't playing.
Tim Linehan: So that was for for our eye test and for reporting back to you guys.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah.
Tim Linehan: He's a very exciting piece. and we didn't see it so wagner i'm hoping that he gets to come out and and show his X factor piece that we believe he can be.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Because watching it. We didn't feel like athleticism jumped off the page and rebounding jumped off the page in terms of positive attributes watching the team. And Benjamin is. that guy. for those two things that's what he was brought here to do he's an athlete he averaged 10 rebounds a game at fairfield he blocked shots he's active and he played eight minutes in the game we'll get into the exact numbers momentarily but he played eight minutes in the game and followed out so Just to put you at ease though on that, I do have one number there that... i want to get to. I looked it up. A little homework, right?
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : 34 games last year at Fairfield. Did not file out one time.
Tim Linehan: I'm not worried I think he was antsy.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Didn't fall out once.
Tim Linehan: He was antsy and physical and so physical on on these little m MIT guys.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : So. Yeah.
Tim Linehan: And I'm not worried about him, but we wanted to see it. and
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yes.
Tim Linehan: Without him on the court, it became even more glaring. the lack of athleticism and the playing below the rim. No blocks, no rebounds.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : One block. Yeah, one block. We'll get into that. But one block. and You're all over it. Like it it was more pronounced without seeing Benjamin. So he's like an unknown right now. We we just don't know. He would fix a lot of their. issues.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Guys that stood out to you in terms of just individual play, eyeball test?
Tim Linehan: Your boy, your sleeper. He's a winning player, JB Frankel. he He popped. and his i don't know how many minutes he got you i think you might have seen it but He made winning plays. He's just a smart basketball player that I think Luke likes because he was in relatively early. He wasn't in mop -up, just mop -up minutes.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : So he he played really well when he was in the just in terms of rotation things. Interestingly enough, the first. They used Furphy as the sixth man, which I thought was pretty cool. And then Benjamin came in right after Furphy. So that was six and seven.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : i liked that rotation i if furphy can get healthy i like him coming off the bench I thought. Frankel looked awesome passing the ball and being in the right spot in the offense. i don't know about you but watching it A cool moment for me was.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : multiple times i was like wow that was a really good pass that was a really good pass That was a great pass, and it was a different guy every time. They all can pass. each Every guy out there can pass, and that's starting five and on the bench, honestly.
Tim Linehan: Cerebral right like he's recruiting to his system now like His system is this European cut and pass and drive and kick and and shoot. and It looks like he's got.
Tim Linehan: at least the best way he could for his season for Luke to get his guys. I thought. Money looked lean, like they said he would. He looked bigger than I thought he would. like They said 6 '4". I'm like, is he really 6 '4"? He looked big. Now he's going against MIT, so he looked even bigger. But he's a lead guard. So that that was cool to see to just finally see him in action out there.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And his usage was down watching the game. There were times I'm like, where is he? Like, I love the way he played, but he was a facilitator. He was off the ball when he had the ball. He was facilitating, looking for others, not really himself. so And he felt like he was letting the game come to him, which was interesting.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : There were a ton of drives. where they drive into the paint, not all the way to the rim. and then drive and kick. get a ball reversal, make an extra pass. And I said to you, like, it almost felt a little bit like some of the Jay Wright Villanova guard oriented offenses that relied a lot on perimeter shooting.
Tim Linehan: Music to my ears right? pe Pump fake, penetrate, get a paint touch. Play off two feet, kick it out, right? I mean, you used to run their offense, right? Their four out, one in offense when you were coaching.
Tim Linehan: It's so simple.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I love it. It's a great offense. Yeah, it is.
Tim Linehan: And if the spacing is there, and if we have the shooters, which when you start those five guys. One pump fake, you go in and you make a better shot and an extra pass. And there were flashes of that. So, I mean, we're daydreaming here of combining UConn and Villanova offenses.
Tim Linehan: uh in chestnut hill but that would be A sight for sore eyes for sure.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : One more eye test. You called him, when we were owner on AJ Black's podcast, you mentioned this guy could be a fan favorite. What did you think of Ziegler watching him?
Tim Linehan: Number one play on SportsCenter last night, if anybody was paying attention. The dunk was crazy. It was so fun and so cool, but I liked his game. besides the dunk like the dunk is getting the attention but right away he's a He's an important.
Tim Linehan: player on this team you see the pressure he put on the ball you see his offensive versatility And then. I mean, the dunk was nuts, right? That's such a great pub for this team, for Luke Murray.
Tim Linehan: And that was so fun. I was showing my kids the highlights this morning from the...
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, that's all over.
Tim Linehan: BC Scrimmage.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : that All of them are retweeting it and putting it up on Instagram because it is literally the number one play on SportsCenter. So it's just like free pub publicity right away for Murray and BC. It was awesome. And he looked like a fan favorite watching it.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, you got the... Oh yeah. You got the former players. You got Craig and Jared. responding underneath and talking about it like people are people are fired up and that's what We need a buzz, right? There's buzz. We think there's some buzz.
Tim Linehan: And that was big for us.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : You mentioned ball pressure. So let's just talk a little bit. I test still here about what we saw defensively. Like I thought. watching the game live, I'm like, okay, I liked the guards. defensively money williams i thought really looked good defensively as did ziegler and i thought that they basically were really good perimeter defense, the guards, the wings.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I had a little bit of worry watching the Wings play defense and you had the same thought.
Tim Linehan: Oh, yeah. I mean, I was watching it back and I texted you Patino's famous lateral quickness. And I was a little worried at the guard spot of if we're struggling to keep an MIT kid in front of us on a drive from the wing.
Tim Linehan: That was a bit of a red flag. But...
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, what did you you agree with me, though, that it wasn't so much Monty Williams and Ziegler and the guards?
Tim Linehan: No.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I thought it was more the... the the hybrid wings
Tim Linehan: Yeah.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Doug Dugan, Smaricar.
Tim Linehan: Yep.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : you know,
Tim Linehan: Yep.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Watching those guys have to guard perimeter players, smaller players, but were quick for MIT. They were getting driven by a little bit, it felt like.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, that was that was a fear along with the with the rebounding. We. And we're about to get into the numbers. Want want to segue that into the numbers?
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Let's do the numbers because the numbers, when you study it, I think gives some interesting. hey, like what's this going to look like in the ACC? What's this going to look like against Wagner? let's Let's do it. What were some of the numbers when you looked at the... the box score that stood out to you about this basketball game.
Tim Linehan: So what I just cut myself off on. They they had a tie in rebounding with MIT. So that's... a little not more than a little bit concerning. Now, again,
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : 31 -31 on boards. Yep.
Tim Linehan: BC was making more shots. But... Just the eye test of the rebounding. Again, I see three things through the St. John's vein where I'm used to. Zuby going and grabbing everything, and this is like it just felt like rebounding was a struggle. And there was no Benjamin, right? And I think Benjamin's going to be our Zuby. but that was a combo eye test and then you put it to the box score and saw it and Luke wasn't happy about it either.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : We talk about three pointers. Right. This is a wild. stat. They took 31 field goals. In the first half. They took 27 three -pointers.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, I hate that I hate that.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : It was so many. My pushback was because I. It gets so... but I get so annoyed watching the Celtics take so many three -pointers and the analytics. and So I typically am very out on a ton of three -point attempts. I don't love that.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : It just felt like... Maybe it was an anomaly in terms of like the way MIT was just not even guarding hunger out there and the the shots were wide open. They were all rhythm threes. I really honestly.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Look back and like they were rhythm threes. They were not forced threes. They were not off the dribble threes. They were good threes, but boy, 27 threes on 31 shot attempts just to, it felt like they weren't going to the rim and. they were not going to the rim in the first half.
Tim Linehan: No, but they weren't bad shots, right? So no one was chucking bad looks, but it was a lot.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : No.
Tim Linehan: It was too many. And then Luke said as much in the postgame that. Nobody wants to shoot 70 % of their shots from three. So i I think it was going to be an outlier anomaly.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : They've... Yeah.
Tim Linehan: Don't overread the the scrimmage.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : They finished taking 41 of their 59 shots and they were three pointers. They made 18. So that that was a big number. The rebounding is a big number. What about the assists?
Tim Linehan: This is the key. This is the one thing Luke was happy about, right? 21 assists on 31 baskets. And I know whenever I'm late to a game and I'm just checking a box score. I love to see field goal percentage and how many assists. And that just means one team is just playing the game the right way and playing better, and the other team might just be hot. So he said his goal is two -thirds of... their buckets to be.
Tim Linehan: on assists and that's what it was tonight so let's keep that number in mind as we go through the season two -thirds of the baskets now that's a lofty goal but when you play uconn style without a ball dominant guy who just goes and gets his.
Tim Linehan: it makes sense that two -thirds uh for assists on made baskets
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, so 21 assists, that's a lot for BC. 10 turnovers. So there were two to one positive assist to turnover ratio. A couple of guys stood out. Money Williams was really good passing. He had five assists and one turnover. Frankel, your boy and my boy these days.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : You mentioned he looked really good.
Tim Linehan: He's your boy. He's your boy.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : He's my guy.
Tim Linehan: I'm I'm a
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah. He had six assists. No turnovers. And it felt like it. he made a lot of good extra passes and played a really smart basketball game so the assist numbers we like the rebounding numbers we don't love the three point numbers
Tim Linehan: We like the percentage.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Do you think they're gonna shoot?
Tim Linehan: We like the percentage.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : We like the percentage they made them. like they You had great data, though, that marri they shot 24 threes a game.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, and they make like eight and they make like nine of them
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yukon the last bunch of years. What do you think they're going to shoot at BC this year? They're not going to shoot 41, but They're not going to shoot 24 either, I don't think.
Tim Linehan: No, i I think they're probably going to shoot 30, right, based on the roster construction and the lack of interior presence. But like I can't even think of a mid -ranger in replaying the whole game. Maybe Ernest took one or two.
Tim Linehan: But. yeah we're we're We're jumping the gun. We don't know exactly. It could have been just been that MIT was giving them and that's what they took.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Here we go.
Tim Linehan: One.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Couple more numbers. Go ahead. You go.
Tim Linehan: My thing was not a number, sorry, but we got to say. Luke. Having the half court play if anybody watched to end the half like this is how i want my coach i want my coach to be a psycho like
Tim Linehan: This was a meticulous half -court play that got Colby Dugan a wide -open shot. That's why you do a scrimmage. It wasn't like just roll it to half -court, grab it, and throw up a chuck. and i like This guy is a professional, right? This guy is an X and O. this is what he lives for here. He's like, here's my chance. We got to try this in a situation. And it got a super clean look. It didn't go in, but who cares? That's not the point.
Tim Linehan: So I loved seeing that.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : He... Called a timeout, what you're referencing, just the details. I was at the game, right? So I looked at it. They were up 52 to 27 with five seconds left in the first half, and he couldn't wait to call that timeout and call that play.
Tim Linehan: Yeah.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : He was so excited to do that, and he... as you said, he dialed up a. multi -pass maybe one or two dribbles length of the floor good three look for one of your best three -point shooters like i was like That is so refreshing to see.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, it was like a funky design too, and and it was it was great. Going back to how we won our coach, if anybody saw the presser, that went a little viral. He was pissed. And like people are like, oh, well what's he doing? like The score is meaningless, right? This is how you want your coach. You want your coach to be dialed in. Who cares that you doubled up MIT?
Tim Linehan: Like, he's calling out the rebounding. He's calling out the defense and the fouls and all this. like You want your coach to be maniacal and care and hold these guys to a standard. And I love the presser. I thought it was like. everything I hope for in a college coach. These guys are wired differently, and I think we might have one of these guys that that's wired differently.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, the presser he hit on every concern that we just mentioned rebounding. interior baskets, maybe overlying on threes a little bit, energy level on defense, and fouling. That's the other number that I wanted to get to.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : They fouled BC, fouled 15 times in the first half and 27 times overall in the game.
Tim Linehan: The refs were ridiculous, though. and I'm not going to complain about the refs, but it's almost like the refs were told, like, you got to. freedom of motion and all this nonsense stuff. Some of them were ridiculous, but then some of them were that's not a good sign if we're getting mildly beat off the dribble by MIT.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : so One positive thing for me watching it and watching it back, a lot of the fouls were just dumb.
Tim Linehan: Yeah.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : plays i'm not trying to be you know critical individual players but they were like
Tim Linehan: I agree.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : you know scrapping for an offensive rebound when it didn't have to be done reaching for a steal when they were getting a little you didn't have to bailing guys out like so very correctable, but something to watch like 27 fouls was a ton of fouls and it did I would say it disrupted the rhythm of the game. And a few times it was because they were having trouble staying in front of certain players at MIT, which is the concern, especially if you're going to play man defense, which.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I think he's going to play man defense. That's what he's played at UConn his whole time.
Tim Linehan: Yep, he did that one little 1 -2 -2 stalling kind of Villanova used to do that to eat shot clock and I don't ever remember UConn doing that. So I don't wonder if. BC will mix that in a little because we talked about pace of play and maybe they want to have less possessions.
Tim Linehan: and give their defense. If he's worried about the defense, right, it's almost a stall tactic, so they have to play defense less of a time. So keep that 1 -2 -2. three -quarter court press in the back of your head you might see more of that
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : He did throw that early in the game. You're right. Let's do a couple more things in the game then move on. rotation what stood out to you like we we talked the starting five was kind of surprising He played everybody yesterday, and nobody played more than 24 minutes, so I don't think that's going to be indicative of his rotation. Did anything stand out to you about like when he played guys, or or did anyone jump out to you it like, ooh, I'm not sure they're in their rotation, or hey, maybe this guy might give us a little more than we thought?
Tim Linehan: I think Buick was someone who I was hoping to see really flash in this matchup, and I didn't i didn't see. A ton of that. So I think. Luke had a presser where he said he feels good at up to about seven or eight and then he's figuring out. eight nine ten How about Bailey?
Tim Linehan: You kind of were high on Bailey. and
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : So. Yeah, Bailey, so... You can look at this one of two ways.
Tim Linehan: Is the backup big?
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : to Ali Tunkhar barely played, and he's this he's the shot blocker, seven -foot guy that they brought in who was raw. And we thought maybe he'd be the defensive presence and like split time with hunger. That does not. You know, I'm not saying that can't.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Happen over time, but right now he does not appear to be in the rotation Tunkara which is disappointing because he looks like a guy that can block shots. So they only blocked one shot the entire game yesterday. I thought that was enough. They had 13 steals. which speaks to good perimeter defense by the guards, but they only had one block in the whole entire game against MIT.
Tim Linehan: Yep, we know the Luke Hunger block stat, so that's not going to be coming from him.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And it was actually the. Ironically enough, it was from Luke Hunger, who I forgot the exact number, but he had like four in his career, but he did have a block yesterday.
Tim Linehan: Whew!
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : but they
Tim Linehan: 14, 14 in his career. Give him some respect.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : No, no, no no no 14 threes in his career. Which is, so 14 threes last year. is the look is the luke hunger stat which is wild you'll have to fact check me but he had not a lot of blocks less than 14 but what's crazy is you know how many threes luke hunger had last last night in the first half.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, six or something, right?
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : He had six after 14 all of last year, which we shouted out as it was a career high last year. He does shoot the ball pretty well. The shot's a little... unorthodox but he's gonna make threes like if he's open he's definitely gonna make threes
Tim Linehan: Yes. All right, we've overanalyzed, I think. So we gave the people what they wanted. But there's two pieces of the game that are very important. The quarter zip guys. Got to shout out the quarter zip guys. Really cool move by Luke too. Give those quarter zips to the.
Tim Linehan: Kids who went to the scrimmage and then give them prime front row seat right behind the bench. So he's trying, right? Luke's trying. Kids need to come out and support. Those kids are diehards. where're like we want them to experience what we experienced. So it's so cool to see those guys there.
Tim Linehan: And then the second thing is you are a celebrity. Siding. when you were there.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : i did i someone someone legitimately said hey love the pod stopped me and said they love the pod so that was
Tim Linehan: Where were you exactly? Can you set the scene for a minute?
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I was i actually I was getting Carter, my so my son, his first ever Sprite.
Tim Linehan: where you' like
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Big moment there.
Tim Linehan: Whew!
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And I was waiting in line, basically. And a guy actually came over, goes class 99, love the pod, shook my hand. It was pretty awesome. So that was that was cool. That was cool.
Tim Linehan: That's it. your Your work is done. Last episode.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I will. you know i felt wow oh my god this guy recognized me then i was like okay This is our demo. This guy is at the BC -MIT exhibition game on a Sunday.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, he's a sicko. He's a sicko
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : It's kind like, so, you know, I'm not like walking down the street. People know me, but Hey, and in, uh, in that environment, yeah. maybe You know, a couple of looks. Right.
Tim Linehan: That's it.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah. Yeah, I can't feel that good, but hey, yeah a fellow a fellow sicko just recognized one and to another.
Tim Linehan: So.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : That was fun.
Tim Linehan: Yeah.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : the The quarter zip thing is awesome. And it's noticeable. So yeah, he reserved. like 48 seats right behind the bench they were reserved for the quarter zip crew And those they they were there like a half hour before the game.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, he's yucking it up with them. It's cool. It's really like it's a great move
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, it's cool. And it's grassroots. It's small. But they were the kids who were at the scrimmage and got the quarter zips and like. If they win a few games, students are bandwagon, right? Students are gonna be like, I want to be the quarter zip crew, you know, and.
Tim Linehan: Yep.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : You sent me a link, Mike Sidley, who does great work over on a Eagle Insider.
Tim Linehan: He found one. He got his hands on one. He said he's not a poser, but he he's i mean it's it could be a thing, right? So it's really cool by them. So let's win. Let's go 11 -3 in the non -con and get the kids into Conte.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : How much is the quarter zip that Sidley posted in terms of that?
Tim Linehan: i don't I don't know what where even that market was. I don't know. It wasn't that expensive though.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : It was like 23 bucks, but he found ones.
Tim Linehan: Yeah.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : They're out there. So look them up. These quarter zips start wearing them to the game. The the whole staff had them on too.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, and Luke did not like the bald head thing, so. Quoters up, guys. read that Read the tea leaves there.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : He did not like that, did he?
Tim Linehan: Nah, man.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : No, he mentioned it in the press conference.
Tim Linehan: He's not shy either, right? He's a confident guy. so
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I will say the last thing, being in the building, the vibes were awesome. Like, I don't know what the attendance was. I don't know what the announced attendance was, but everyone that was in there. was excited to be there. and you felt it like there was a palpable like feeling of excitement even though of course it wasn't packed or anything there was a cool vibe in there and i got this feeling like This team, the way they shoot.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : There's a likability that like offensively they play so well. If they can be in some games, I think that Conte is going to be pretty fun. if it if it can catch on just a little bit and they don't have to go you know undefeated they just have to win some games and give some quality basketball and i think people enjoy it
Tim Linehan: Yeah, you got the threes you got the highlight dunk You got Luke. So it checked a lot of boxes for people. We still have our fears on defense, on rebounding, and those we'll see through the non -con. All right, we got to pivot.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : All right, so In terms of just... What we want to do the last few minutes of game time is we wanted there was some cool news that came out around nil and the landscape and which teams are spending and then also tie that into a bit of recruiting news for bc so you're the one who actually sent me the matt norlander article would you mind just if people hadn't listened to it or or hadn't seen it could you just give a little primer about that
Tim Linehan: Yeah, Norlander is like the main CBS hoops writer. And he has a great pod, kind of part of the inspiration for for us starting this. And he broke down the whole country power.
Tim Linehan: Power 4, Power 5, 80 teams, they're NIL. Now, you can take everything with a grain of salt. Some people are saying they don't know the exact numbers, but he tiered them all out. And to no one's surprise, BC was in the last tier.
Tim Linehan: I can't remember if he said seven tiers or eight tiers. Whatever it was, it was the last tier. and he's
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : for this current year, right?
Tim Linehan: For this current roster, he said we spent between $5 and $7 million. dollars And if there's new school people out there that are like, whoa, holy cow, but that's nothing, right? that The top tier is Duke and St. John's and Louisville, and they're spending $20 million plus.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And just to jump in. what even even in that yeah they're in a tier Okay. The tier explicitly said that BC is not dead last, right? Again, sad but true that we we need to look for small wins here. And they they said they were able to juice the bank account to the top of that range. So this year's roster is about $7 million, dollars which...
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : you know, actually is a pretty big upgrade from where BC's been. So even that I was like, okay, that's a positive step for sure.
Tim Linehan: Read the next sentence, man. This is what got the people fired up.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, so to get to $7 million this year and... To clarify, it's NIL and RevShare total. right So it's like total roster spend here. And. It said that the plan for the Eagles, direct quote, is to nearly double their funds by next spring.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : That puts you $14, $15 million. dollars that's
Tim Linehan: I don't believe it. I don't believe it, but I'll be happy if it's even close to that. If it's 12, I'll be happy.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, when you go to 1415, all of a sudden, I looked this up in terms of the article, the schools that are spending that are right now are Bama, Baylor, BYU. Marquette, Maryland, Ohio State, Oregon, Providence, like you go into the upper half of the P4.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : at 14.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, well look. Providence, Villanova, Xavier. That's what we're talking. Marquette, that's what we want to be. We're a Catholic institution that... I think cares about basketball. So now we got to spend like those guys do. And Norlander put that and I was like, oh my gosh, this is.
Tim Linehan: Actually, big news. because he didn't do it a little right up for every team. like it's like he did all 80 teams who got a piece. uh norlander's a connecticut guy and i wouldn't be surprised if he has some inroads with fluke or not i'm guessing there for him to just call out the BC commitment. And that goes back to what we said way back when Hurley said Luke took the job.
Tim Linehan: is that BC is making a commitment and now it's... Pretty hard proof right there in the data.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, so it's you know we don't know the exact sources. It wasn't sourced in terms of names to it. but After seeing a football article that came out just a few weeks ago where they're dead last and basically they came away from that article looking horribly, this one came out and you're like, okay.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : they're actually they juiced it to seven million this year which is but basically the best they could do in their tier this year with Mari getting hired when he did, and they have plans to double it. so It does. It speaks to, like you said, that institutional support. you know i I'll believe it when I see it.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : At the same time, you do have to read it as, hey, this is an optimistic sign, right? This is a hopeful thing.
Tim Linehan: It was great. It was in the... in the good news flood that kept coming and then it was an an article and like oh bc's at the bottom and it felt like bad news and you read the whole article you get to the bottom you're like Well, here's yeah a breath of fresh air amidst this. So it was when the good news was rolling in and let's let's keep that good news going on the recruiting front.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, so... BC has two... verbal commitments right now, just so you know, in terms of recruiting, signing day is November 11th. So it actually is just weeks. like two weeks away basically and Right now on 247.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : You know where BC's class is ranked? They have two two verbal commits who need to sign in November, but you know where they're ranked? in terms of the sorry In terms of the team ranking.
Tim Linehan: aye
Tim Linehan: I don't know where they're at.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : 21st. 21st of December.
Tim Linehan: 21st ranking class right now, recruiting class.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : 21st incoming recruiting class with these two kids. Can you talk, you, again, you're my film guy, right? i you're you're You're deep in the weeds on film and you did a little more of it.
Tim Linehan: Teagan, so is he. Teagan, you're listening. He he is tough.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : no No, no, no film for me. So the... Elijah Pius, right, is one guy that just committed. And then Trey Keith was another kid who committed. Could you just give a little primer on each guy? Because pretty exciting so pretty exciting news on the on the recruiting front. and And it reminds us like Murray's building something.
Tim Linehan: So the Pies recruit, well, I'll do it in reverse order because it just happened. The Pies recruit. And that had like. waves People were talking about it right away. 24 -7 Finkelstein, right? Says pies is long and versatile.
Tim Linehan: six five six foot five wing. a wealth of competitive intangibles. I watched the film. He's just a winning guy. He's a guy you want. He's a lanky, wiry, hard -nosed kid on the wing. You wouldn't say his shot is his bread and butter, but he's a slasher. he's He's getting in the passing lanes, and he just looks like he cares. He looked like he really gave up. you know and he was
Tim Linehan: falling and he blew up at the peach jam he was like one of the fastest risers kind of an under underrated guy that all of a sudden went on everybody's radar. He. Sorry. Where was I going?
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Did you know that there's a little story about him too, that he might've been a UConn, UConn was interested in sniffing around on him.
Tim Linehan: Jump.
Tim Linehan: Oh that's right.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And this was in the national story that when he committed to BC, Finkelstein noted this, that. basically pearly got a commitment from you know a huge huge wing in terms of like a top 20 player and so that they moved off payas but may have then given a little basically communication to murray like we like this kid and Murray then scooped him up, essentially.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : So it was kind of a cool little way it came together really fast. He he feels just like a winning basketball player. I was excited about this this get.
Tim Linehan: The comp was Josh Hart, which I loved. like His shot isn't his bread and butter.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Nice.
Tim Linehan: He can make it. He can take it and make it, but he's just a grinder. He's going to defend. He's going to slash. He just looked like a winning player. His highlights just looked like a kid who cared and who was giving it. so it was it was a It was actually a nice scout to watch.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And he's like a composite. ranked 94 so he's a top 100 kid at the right at the bottom of that but right there
Tim Linehan: And rising, right?
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And it seems like. Seems like an awesome kid. that like he's all over so the socials and the media and stuff, excited about BC. And so that seemed like an awesome get. And then Trey Keith.
Tim Linehan: Trey Keith 6 -2 guard, kind of a combo one or two, right? Lead guard out it from Georgia. Top 50 on one site. And then that.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : 247 has him atop 50. They're higher on him than most, but that that's a reputable site. Yep.
Tim Linehan: And then this this was like making waves when this came out like a month ago. The highest rated men's basketball recruit in the modern recruiting rankings era.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yep, on 247 he is.
Tim Linehan: And I was like, Wait, what? what
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : yes Yeah.
Tim Linehan: Right. And then I looked up, I was like, okay, let me see who's you being compared to. Who are some of the old guys? Do you know who was the highest rated before that?
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Uh...
Tim Linehan: Some interesting names.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Was it? a Jerry's Hamilton, it has to be.
Tim Linehan: Jarius Hamilton was a four star.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : when we time
Tim Linehan: And then Prince. I loved Prince. I was so excited when they signed Prince. He passed the eye test. I loved Prince.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : He did. Just didn't seem to work.
Tim Linehan: No.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : That's too bad. He was yeah he he looked good early on, but didn't didn't come to fruition.
Tim Linehan: Yep. So Trey Keith on the film, he feels. He seems small on the film I'm watching on you know on YouTube or whatever. But he's scoring at three levels. He's attacking the basket, finishing with both hands. a pure jumper with a quick release which was that was the most Eye popping coming off. Not a lot of passing on the tape. I think he's a bucket getter is what it feels like, that kind of combo lead guard.
Tim Linehan: He dropped 42 % from three on the AAU circuit. So Luke. prioritizing shooting a lead guard money is old right This is money's fourth year. We think money hopefully back with five for five.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, quick note there on the BC roster. Every single guy besides Luke Hunger could have more eligibility at BC next year. Now retention and who knows what happens. But just interesting as you're building out this roster that everyone other than Hunger does have eligibility left with the five year and five.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : you know playing five and five rule that's now been Basically stated by the NCAA.
Tim Linehan: Yep. other Other schools looking out for him were Mississippi State, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Notre Dame, St. Louis. So another nice get.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah. So those are two really good verbal commitments. Hopefully they sign in November. TCU was also after Pius. So like high majors were after these guys. They're both composite top hundred kids. And.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I think the biggest thing with recruiting that sticks out to me is I went back and looked at this. They took. BC had seven top 100 players that took official visits this fall. seven Now they closed two of them. Great.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : They are swimming in the deep end of the pool with these high school recruits. they They lost two really... top targets to Michigan State and Florida. And I'm like, I can live with that. Like, you know, you're you're going to lose when when you're going against Tom Izzo, when you're going against Golden at Florida, you're going to lose guys. BC wanted Pemberton. He went to Michigan State. They wanted this kid Ian Condon. He went to Florida. But Murray is getting these guys on campus.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And it feels like he's closing with a few of them. They're swimming in the deep end. Like I said, I think it speaks to that. They do a little bit of money to throw around. You did have an interesting point though about... Like. building the roster moving forward he's talked about wanting to prioritize high school recruiting it Why do you think that might be?
Tim Linehan: You got it. You got to get these high school kids. it it People care. People love to see the high school recruiting rankings. I think and... Norlander and Parrish talked about this.
Tim Linehan: Schools like Wake, like BC. uh in that you know that next tier They need to do well with these top 100 kids because the Blue Bloods are are skipping it. The Blue Bloods are just...
Tim Linehan: poaching the stud from Richmond or St. Louis and then going going and getting a guy from Europe, right?
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, they're going heavy heavy portal
Tim Linehan: So you got a European guy. going to Kentucky, and then you've got the best player from Iowa State going to Kentucky. So so now everything gets pushed down the ladder a little bit, right? so so these schools that hadn't done that well in the recruiting numbers, they need to dive in and they need to start hitting.
Tim Linehan: which makes sense now the problem is that that does that put you behind the eight ball because then you're playing against 22 year olds. at the blue buds but we're not really worried about the blue buds right we're worried about the mid -tier and getting into that bubble conversation but it does make sense that
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah.
Tim Linehan: BC would have a bit more success with that trickle down.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : You might be there might be this opportunity for a school like BC to land some of these higher rated high school recruits. And that's what seems to be what we're seeing by the caliber of visits that took. basically. were able to come to campus and you start winning some games, you might land some more of these guys, but two, two are in the fold so far.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And. The roster.
Tim Linehan: Money talks, right? Money talks too.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : yeah money talks and
Tim Linehan: So let's get in the mix, right?
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And the roster, let's see who plays well this year and then who you can retain if you're starting to think about, okay, what does the team look like next year? so Yeah, pretty exciting stuff and good momentum across the board.
Tim Linehan: So if you go big picture.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Okay.
Tim Linehan: We light the scrimmage. All three. If you mush them all three together, right? way more positives than negatives. We really love the results of Seton Hall. and Providence. We love the and NIL article from Norlander and then we love the recruits. So it was.
Tim Linehan: A positive week, a lot of content, a lot of stuff coming out.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And we just hope Furphy's okay with the injury. That really is the only downside right now that we're we're just hoping in on that. he I liked Furphy a lot, and I think he'd be a big cog in this thing. so
Tim Linehan: Yeah, rooting hard that they can just say something like he'll be back for ACC play or something like that, but we don't know.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : All right, so moving to overtime. We wanted to try something a little bit different and just do it just a couple minutes. You know, this is a BC pod, but we're're we're hoopers. We love basketball overall. So just a couple minutes on the national landscape.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And you gave me a little homework to do. Can you? Tell the listeners what we had to do here.
Tim Linehan: All right, we want to talk national landscape, guys. So I told Tim he has to pick an underrated team, in his opinion. Someone who's ranked in the top 25 but underrated.
Tim Linehan: a sleeper team outside the top 25. and an overrated team from the top 25. So we're going to each give three, an underrated, a sleeper, and an overrated. Before we get into that.
Tim Linehan: really big picture stuff. On paper, for anybody that's following, it's Duke and Florida and everybody else. Florida brings back nearly their entire team. That was a one seed and awesome.
Tim Linehan: and Duke. has Duke is Duke and brought in blackwell from wisconsin and then has an insane recruiting class and then retained Boozer and Gangba and dame sar they're just they're in a those two teams are even on a separate sphere sphere from Yukon as of right now. So if you're paying attention at all, you're going to see Florida, you're going to see Duke, you're going to see the usuals up there.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Seeing Duke in person is going to be awesome at Conti.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : that That's pretty cool.
Tim Linehan: Yes, for sure. So I'm gonna tell you how I did my research I looked at two things. I looked at front courts. Because if you paid attention to the last few Final Fours, all the best teams are enormous.
Tim Linehan: Last year, Arizona, Michigan, Illinois, and UConn were enormous teams. The year before that, Florida won it all. Huge front court. year before that. Klingon versus Zach Eadie.
Tim Linehan: So front courts are what advance in March. The cliche is guards win in March. And yes, you have to have a guard who's playing well. Cadeau was doing awesome for Michigan last year. But I kind of zoomed in on front courts because.
Tim Linehan: we talked nil right like people are spending for the bigs because of that So I'm looking at front courts.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, it it costs a ton of money on in the market to get bigs.
Tim Linehan: Yep. And even these mediocre bigs people want, you know, they want their size up front. And then my other thing I dove into was... retention. And this is a wild stat. 16 of the last 20.
Tim Linehan: one seeds. returned and retained more than half their minutes. Let me say that again.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Love that stat, though.
Tim Linehan: 16 of the last 21 seeds. in the tournament. So that's the last five tournaments. have brought back more than half their minutes. So.
Tim Linehan: Florida checks both of those boxes again, guys, and Duke checks both of those boxes. So we're just going to move on from them. All right, you want my underrated? It's a little bit of a cop -out.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : So this is a top 25 team that's underrated, though, that you think could be better. Yeah, please.
Tim Linehan: Yeah. It's Virginia. Now I know technically they're number nine. So it's a little bit of a cop -out, but the computer's having that 15 and I think if they had a different name on them.
Tim Linehan: they would be higher up. Uh, Their coach is awesome. Ryan Odom is the guy who went was at UMBC who beat Virginia, the team he now coaches. He went to Utah State, then he went to VCU. He's just... an awesome coach, has a great system. They bring back.
Tim Linehan: a ton, more than half of their scoring and more than half their minutes. They bring back the ACC preseason player of the year with the Ritter. This guy named Chance Mallory is going to be a bust out. I think if their name said North Carolina, they would be preseason.
Tim Linehan: three or four. And I think.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I think they won 30 games last year.
Tim Linehan: They did so it's a little bit of a cop -out because they are ranked in the top 10, but I think If their name was Kentucky, they'd be number three behind Duke. and and for them.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And interestingly enough, they're in that survive January mode. BC goes to Virginia in the midst of that. that treacherous january i think they'll be excellent as well okay
Tim Linehan: Yeah.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I went a little bit different than you. I didn't go like. Super super super into the weeds on the rosters. I went coaches.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, coaches matter coaches matter
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : So... So my underrated I saw them ranked. preseason 10 and then I saw them as low as preseason 17. Houston. Kelvin Sampson.
Tim Linehan: Nobody talking about them.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : So... I looked it up. They would have won 30 plus games. five years in a row.
Tim Linehan: Ha ha.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : What a stat there.
Tim Linehan: And that's it used to be in a week conference.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah.
Tim Linehan: and it's not they're in a legit conference now
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : So 30 games in a row, five years, you know, 30 plus games, five years in a row. I know that Samson has some haters out there, but man, he can coach and their system's awesome. The issue is. They lost their top four scorers, and that's why people are a little bit down on them. But I'm just going with... history And.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : the fact that they're always good and that is such a tried and true system i think they'll outperform being like a ranked 10 or 12 team i think they'll be in like the top eight and and just no one's talking about them. So Houston.
Tim Linehan: Yeah, I actually don't know. I know Tuggler's back in the frontcourt, but I don't even know their guards right now.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : A lot of new players, but I'm...
Tim Linehan: Great, great pull. Yeah.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Banking on the system.
Tim Linehan: Good call. All right. Why don't you go? Sleeper.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Okay, so my sleeper. is A little bit of a BC connection. New Mexico. So.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I fell in love. with Eric Olin. like uh there's a sentence you get don't get every day but i uh i loved eric gold
Tim Linehan: Wait a second. Oh, yeah.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah.
Tim Linehan: Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : people like they'll be listeners that reference get that reference but they'll be you know anyway
Tim Linehan: Yeah, when you're in the market for a new coach and you've hired Earl Grant and Jim Christian and Steve Donahue, then you fall in love with a guy named Eric Olin.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yeah, that was I was like Genuinely excited about Eric Olin and in like on like a February Thursday. like The PC was interested in Eric Olin. I did some homework on him, and he was he seems like an awesome coach. He took his previous school to the NCAA tournament, and he's building it at New Mexico. He was. a finalist for the BC job, but he re -upped at New Mexico. They brought their whole roster back. They have this kid named Jake Hall.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : who just feels like a kid who's going to blow up in the NCAA tournament. like He's a three -point shooter. He's a guard. Everyone wanted him in terms of transferring, and he stayed at New Mexico. Pretty proud program.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : So I'm going New Mexico as my out of right field like maybe make the sweet 16.
Tim Linehan: Wow
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : There you go.
Tim Linehan: Love it.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Yep.
Tim Linehan: Alright, I am going with... Big East connection, Marquette.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : oh oh my gosh i was gonna you dump on marquette all the time and now you like them huh
Tim Linehan: Well, they checked a big box for me. They brought back 60 % of their minutes and 60 % of their scoring. Not the front court, but they have maybe the player of the year in the Big East, this guy named Nidal James. if you guys are new to college hoops or not new, but.
Tim Linehan: He is phenomenal. He has an all -time highlight last year against St. John's. just a stud alpha lead guard. I love Shaka. we thought St. John's, not St. John's, we thought BC had a... maybe an outside shot at Chaka a long time ago.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : A couple of sources. We're not going to source that too much, but Chaka Smart was in the running when BC hired Earl Grant and he. He went. Long story, but it didn't work out, but he was. being bandied about for the BC job. There was some smoke there.
Tim Linehan: You gotta like Shaka, right? There's nothing to dislike about him. Marquette had a down year last year. He was refused to hit the portal. So he's like this noble guy. and God.
Tim Linehan: smoked for it. But I think they are going to be a very good team. I think it's a bounce back year for Shaka and Marquette.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Love.
Tim Linehan: Do I hate on Marquette? I hate on... Chris Wojo.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I love Marquette and I feel like you're always like, they're not, they're not that good. They're not that good. You know, so I I think there are I love. Shaka smart and I love that he feels to me like a guy that does it the right way so I'll be rooting for Marquette I like that pick
Tim Linehan: All right, I have a prediction that we both have the same overrated theme.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I hate my overrated team. like meaning.
Tim Linehan: Oh.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : like i like the pick i just hate the team and i hate the coach and i'm rooting
Tim Linehan: Oh then we we don't have the same one. Do it.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Okay. you go You go first.
Tim Linehan: Mine's Texas. And I had Texas before St. John's rolled them yesterday in the exhibition. They're darlings. People love Texas right now.
Tim Linehan: and i just i'm not a sean miller guy i think sean miller has underachieved with massive talent a lot. They bring back the one starter, the big guy, Volkat Titus, who had a great NCAA tournament. But then it's a team of mercenaries, which I'm a St. John's fan. so I can't judge them, but I just don't love the pieces. I don't love Miller.
Tim Linehan: And. someone has to flame out and you got to pick one and there's. Too much buzz, and I'm picking them to flame out. And then I swear I had this written down before St. John's worked them yesterday.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I thought about Texas. I'm going USC. for most overrated
Tim Linehan: oh Perfect pick.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : They are everywhere in terms of in my face.
Tim Linehan: Rothstein loves them.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I've been reading the most
Tim Linehan: Rothstein loves them.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : They're the most talented roster. They're the biggest team in the country. They're top 20 everywhere I look, okay? eric musselman is their coach i am out on eric musselman he's been at usc two years i looked it up He's 17 and 18 his first year. He's 18 and 14 last year.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And he brought in a guy named Chad Baker. I'm Zara.
Tim Linehan: Well, he's gone. I think he got kicked off.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Right, but he brought him on the team last year. He was 25 years old. He sent he sued meaning... you know basically he talked about a mercenary like musclemen will just bring in any collection of people to try to put them together.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : It worked at Arkansas for a few years. I am out on Musselman and I think USC, like he sold his soul. They will not be a top 20 basketball team this year.
Tim Linehan: You hating musclemen is just - Perfect on brand, right?
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : He takes his shirt off when they win like
Tim Linehan: He's a clown.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : It's kind of... Yeah. not I'm not a huge fan.
Tim Linehan: Alright. Well, that's like we said, it's Duke in Florida. And then we hit you with our sleepers. We're Marquette and New Mexico and your boy, Eric Olin. Our underrated was Virginia, and I'm forgetting you're underrated.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And then I had Houston.
Tim Linehan: Houston Great Pole, an overrated
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : So.
Tim Linehan: Sweaty shirt, Sean Miller. and Your boy, No Shirt.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : No shirt, Eric Musselman.
Tim Linehan: Eric Musselman.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : There we go. There we go. So this was fun. I like doing the little national landscape thing. We'll kind of, you know, just change it up in overtime. so That was fun talking about it. We are pumped for the Wagner game. we We feel good. There are some concerns, but we we want to go live after Wagner. Is that what we're doing for the next pod?
Tim Linehan: I think the plan is a short ha -ha. quick emergency pod. I guess you can't call it emergency pod if we're planning it, but the night of right after the game. Is the game seven o 'clock tip? Hopefully.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Seven o 'clock tip. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm going to go to that game. So we're going to figure out when we do that pod, but we'll try to do an emergency pod or, you know, a day of pod. And then we'll get on a schedule. I think we're thinking Wednesdays during the season. So like middle of the week. So get on a rhythm there of they'll play a couple of games. I'll be able to do a pod and and talk about it. That's our hope.
Tim Linehan: Yep, that's the plan. We will. Hope for a beautiful 1 -0. Hope for good news on Furphy. And then have Benjamin with a bounce -back game and Money playing 33 minutes and and tearing up Wagner.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : And just remember, everyone is a blessing. don't don't overlook wagner like
Tim Linehan: even Even Wagner is a blessing.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Don't overlook anybody. Let's just go one at a time and have fun this season. Go Eagles, right?
Tim Linehan: you told you are You already told me to be worried about UMass too, right? You sent me one.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : I'm terrified of UMass a few days later in the garden. Terrifying.
Tim Linehan: don't Don't overlook Wagner, but we're already scared of UMass.
Timothy Quealy and Timothy Linehan : Alright, thanks for listening.
Tim Linehan: All right. Two Safe Tims signing out. Go Eagles.
