By Steve DiMiceli
From the alleged theft of an I-Pod at a Waterbury party to the errant New Year's Eve beer bottle, BJ Monteiro's career at Duquesne has been riddled with misfortune and wrong place at the wrong time type scenarios. While he'll be remembered for the unfortunate and bizarre incidents, we should also make mental notes that this is a guy who grew as a player during his time at Duquesne and was an example of someone who got better every year on both sides of the ball. He went from playing less than 300 minutes his freshman year to being the 23rd highest scoring player in school history all while becoming a more responsible teammate and defender.
What We will Miss
BJ was a real competitor for the Dukes. He played with fire and confidence and by his senior year, he was a very responsible player. He defended as well as a 6'5'' guard is going to defend the post and he was our most consistent defensive rebounder. Of course, BJ will be missed most on the other side of the court. No one on next years team can create their own shot off the dribble the way BJ can. His body control and athleticism helped him to make something out of nothing several times in most games. He made difficult shots look easy at times and when he would miss them, he may have gotten more blame than he deserves. Because he was such a unique player to the 2011-2012 Dukes, I think he will be missed more than a lot of people anticipate.
What we won't miss
Over his career, BJ appeared to force the play and rush shots rather than waiting for a better opportunity. He is not as patient as a lot of the players that have returning. There were also times where he could have finished stronger than he did. While he made difficult lay ups look easy, he missed a lot of easy ones too. Of course, the first thing most Dukes fans would've changed about BJ was free throw shooting. This was his best year from the stripe and he still hit under .600.
What's next?
I suspect BJ will be able to catch on at a middle tier European club and with time may even get a shot in one of the bigger leagues. The way he's improved, I don't think it's out of the question that he could end up in the D-League. However, his shooting and perimeter defense will need to get much better.
