Rice a leading man, win or lose
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Call it selective amnesia. Wipe out the bad stuff, the stretch at the end of the regular season when Boston College was losing 12 of 13 games and plummeting to 11th place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Forget the defensive lapses, when the Eagles were overtaken game after game; and forget that at 13-16, the Eagles' season is very likely to end at the ACC tournament, perhaps as soon as tonight, when they face sixth-seeded Maryland at Bobcats Arena.
But remember early in the season, when the young Eagles soared to wins in 12 of their first 16 games.
Tyrese Rice says that's what he is going to do, and what his teammates must do.
What Rice says, does, and thinks are important to BC. And the 6-foot-1-inch junior guard knows that, and is comfortable with his role as a leader on a roster that includes 10 freshmen and sophomores, who have shown skill and immaturity during a season that produced BC's first sub-.500 record since 1999-2000.
"You just have to put the year behind you now," said Rice yesterday morning before what could be the Eagles' final practice. "The regular season doesn't matter, the seeds in the tournament don't matter. Now it comes down to who wants it more. They [opponents] know everything about you. You know everything about them."
So, what do we know about Tyrese Rice? We know he was a first-team All-ACC selection, a few votes short of joining North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough as a unanimous selection. We know he averaged 21.3 points per game, second to Hansbrough's 23.1 in the conference, we know he averaged 38 minutes per game, and has scored 20 or more points in 16 of 28 games, and we know that when he's on his game, nobody can handle him.
Just ask North Carolina, which could only watch in amazement as Rice scored 34 of his career-high 46 points in the first half March 1 - the most points scored by a player against Carolina in 38 years. North Carolina's talent and experience wore down the Eagles, however, in the Tar Heels' 90-80 victory.
We also know that Rice, who came out of L.C. Bird High School in Richmond as the co-player of the year in Virginia, will play in the NBA someday.
"I haven't thought about it all," said Rice of jumping to the pros a year early. "I will talk to Coach [Al Skinner] about it at the end of the year. But I'm planning to come back next year."
Rice can play in the NBA, but it's not a slam dunk he will be a star. Although he is listed at 6-1, which might be an embellishment by a few inches, and as good as his offensive skills are, his defense will have to be kicked up a notch to succeed at the next level.
Besides, there is work to be done at BC. Rice says the role he has played this season has drained him, as he plays his game while getting teammates to play theirs.
"I always felt in order for us to be a success, everybody has to bring some things to the table," said Rice. "It's hard for young guys to realize that not scoring is not the end of the world. It shouldn't affect your all-around game. You can do other things to help, to contribute."
Rice has tried to do everything - score, dish the ball to emerging stars such as freshman Corey Raji, give pep talks on the court.
"He's had to play different roles," said assistant coach Pat Duquette. "And sometimes he keeps getting turned around trying to do everything. It's been tough."
Against North Carolina, Rice was simply The Man every time BC had the ball in the first half. Everyone else was a role player, including the Tar Heels, who didn't play that badly, yet trailed, 54-40, at intermission.
"I was just out there playing," said Rice. "I don't know what was going through my mind. I was just in a zone, but I was trying to do anything I could do to win the game."
To win tonight against a Maryland team that split two regular-season meetings with the Eagles, Rice knows he will have to score and lead again.
But he knows he must be more than a one-man band, and the Eagles need to play for 40 minutes - not 35 or 30.
"There haven't been many, if any, games where we didn't have a chance to win," said Rice. "Maybe the Carolina game the first time [a 91-69 Tar Heel victory]. But maybe a minor thing set us back and it kind of elevated from there. That can't happen. Every possession becomes so valuable.
"During the season, we started out so well and then when we had to deal with adversity, we found that it was difficult to worry about what we were doing wrong instead of going out and simply playing our game. When we lost, we had to say it was over and not look back and concentrate on the next game. It's a mental toughness kind of thing."
Rice says that with young players, the adjustment to not winning all the time can be difficult. "The first year in college most of the kids come from winning environments," he said. "They are not used to going through stretches of things like we went through when we hit the wall."
While Rice is not predicting upsets, he thinks the Eagles can make a statement this weekend.
"Look at what N.C. State did last year," he said, referring to a Wolfpack team that was a No. 10 seed in the ACC tournament and made it to the championship game before losing to North Carolina.
The Eagles won at Maryland Dec. 9, then lost to the Terrapins Feb. 6 at Chestnut Hill. Although Rice scored below his season average in both games - 19 points in a 81-78 win in College Park and 13 in a 70-65 loss in Conte Forum - there is little question he will be a threat tonight.
"He's difficult to handle," said Maryland coach Gary Williams after yesterday's shootaround. "He can be a 3-point shooter, he can finish at the rim, he's difficult to guard, and he's lefthanded. There's a lot of ways he can get you."
Skinner says he has watched Rice change this season. "His role has been big because this is such a young team," said Skinner. "He's doing some scoring. He's directing things out there. But there's no way we are going to have any success without him doing all of those things."
