Angry Eagle

Deacon Beating

2008-01-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

Well, yesterday may have been the best 40 minutes of BC basketball against a league opponent this decade. The Eagles absolutely positively destroyed Wake Forest at Conte, 112-73, in a game where everyone came to play, and I mean everyone. You could tell the Robert Morris loss must have stuck in their craw all week, because they jumped all over the Deacs from the opening tap, racing to an 11-0 lead and never really looking back. Ty Rice was spectacular, registering a 32 point, 8 assist, 2 steal command performance, but the role players chipped in steller performances as well, particularly John Oates, Rakim Sanders, Biko Paris and Corey Raji. Even whipping boy Tyler Roche woke up to bury three straight treys in the decisive stretch of the second half. This was just a great, great game for BC, one I hope they can build on as surprising Miami comes to town Tuesday night. As I have said in prior posts, if BC can finish 9-7 in conference play and win a game in the ACC tourney, they would be 19-12, and probably on the right side of the Bubble. That means they just have to go .500 the rest of the way, very much doable in a top heavy conference this year.

Looking ahead, BC catches a break with this year's ACC scheduling. At this stage, there appears to be only three elite teams in the league, UNC, Duke and Clemson, but fortunately the Eagles only have to play those three teams four times combined. And if you're going to lose, you might as well lose to the best team in the country, as your Strength of Schedule/RPI skyrockets just by showing up, another factor the NCAA committee looks at closely. So watch BC climb the RPI charts when they play the Tar Heels home and away, win or lose.

Who is Robert Morris?

2008-01-08T06:47:00.001-08:00

Well, I was hoping BC would finish their out-of-conference slate relatively unscathed. There is no shame in losing in overtime to a solid Big East team (Providence), losing by three to one of the better teams in the up-and-coming A-10 Conference (UMass), or even getting blown out at home by a Top 5 squad (Kansas), but stubbing your toe against unknown Robert Morris hurts, notwithstanding the fact that the Colonials are actually a pretty decent team (11-5 overall). As I said in my prior post, this game had letdown written all over it coming just two days after playing before a capacity crowd on national television against one of the most storied schools in the land, and letdown the Eagles did.

What's wrong with BC? They have a disjointed and clumsy offense that depends far too much on one player (Ty Rice), they have major, major rebounding problems with a 7'2"center with no hands and an undersigned "power forward," and they are very young, which translates into turnovers. All three of these flaws bit the Eagles in the ass yesterday, and the result was one of the ugliest games in memory. BC just could not get any flow to their offense, with baskets coming by accident more than design, and the ball ending up in the front row more times than the hoop.

What needs to be done? Some changes in the rotation for starters. Al has traditionally had 7-man rotations over the years, and that seems to be the number he is most comfortable managing. I think Al needs to identify those 7 players and tighten his rotation, giving the vast majority of minutes to his best guys. These players, in my view and in order of importance, are the following: (1) Ty Rice, (2) Cory Raji, (3) Rakim Sanders, (4) Shamari Spears, (5) Tyrell Blair, (6) Biko Paris, and (7) John Oates. I would be happy to see any combination of those guys on the floor at one time, though I do not want to see too much of Oates, especially on defense. Note that I have left Tyler Roche out of the discussion, and that's for a reason. As I have said in prior posts, Roche absolutely cannot play at this level, I've seen enough evidence (about 30 starts dating back to last year). He is averaging just 5 points and 2 rebounds in 30 minutes a game this year. That's not gonna do it against the likes of Mercer and Longwood, let alone Duke and UNC. I know I sound like a broken record with him, but enough is enough - he doesn't pass, score, rebound or defend. What else is there? Get him out of there and let the best guys play, the sooner Al does that, the better. However, I am not optimistic. Al has exhibited a penchant over the years for playing good kids, good practice soldiers, talent be damned. I don't expect him to change here.

Circling back to the Robert Morris game, with a young team I expected at least one loss like that this year, maybe two, so I can't say I'm overly surprised or gravely disappointed. I hope that a week to stew about it will mean they come out fired up against a very beatable Wake squad at home this Saturday.

Kansas Clunker

2008-01-06T06:40:00.000-08:00

Well, as everyone in Eagle Nation (and the entire Nation) could see, BC is not ready for the prime time when it comes to playing the elite. While yesterday's 85-60 blowout loss to Kansas yesterday was not surprising, it was a disappointment nonetheless. Disappointing in the sense that the Eagles looked passive and intimidated. They laid down.

The thing that really struck me was that the only guy who came to play was Tyrese Rice, the one BC guy who had both the mindset and the ability to run with the Jayhawks. Rice was on fire early and single-handedly kept BC in the game for a while, canning 18 first half points. But he simply could not carry the load alone, and when Kansas clamped down on him midway through the first half, the Jayhawks went on a 27-7 run while everyone on the BC side stood around waiting for Rice to make a play. The big culptis here were Tyler Roche, Shamari Spears and Rakim Sanders - these guys looked scared to death to take a shot or drive to the hoop. When Rice went to the pine with foul trouble early in the second half, I turned to my companion and said this might be just what they need to force someone to step up. Sure enough, Sanders started taking it to the hole, sparking a little BC run and ending up with 21 points.

These are the growing pains for Sanders. He might be the most talented guy on the roster, and absolutely, positively needs to be more assertive, particularly when the offense stalls. It's no secret that Rice has a bullseye on his back, he is one of the best guards in the country. Everyone will be designing their defenses around stopping him, and guys like Sanders have to step in and pick up the offense when they do. If that doesn't happen, BC is gonna get killed, and yesterday was Exhibit A.

Heroes:

1. Rice. I felt sorry for the guy, there was one occasion when the Jayhawks swarmed him with THREE guys at the top of the key, and no teammate made a cut to the basket. Unbelievable. His 20 points were all him, he was hot with the threeball and had a couple of spectacular drives, slicing through double coverage for his signature teardrop.

2. Oates. I run Oates down a lot, but he was absolutely a contributor yesterday, and I applaud him for it. He played with fire, grabbed some boards and chipped in some points (4-4 from the field). If Oates gives this kind of effort every game, he could be a big help in ACC play.

Villains.

1. Tyler Roche. I should just cut and paste my comments from prior posts, because this is becoming a tired, recurring theme. NOTHING. The guy adds NOTHING to this team. He stands around and watches the offense, then runs down the floor and stands around and watches the defense. Another invisible line from Roche - no field goals, no points, no assists in 20 minutes. OK, he had 2 boards. Hooray. I think the rebounds bounced into his stomach as he was picking his nose at the top of the key. I'm getting angrier and angrier about having to watch this guy play so much. Al, 10 minutes a game, tops, off the bench to give someone else a breather, that's it for this stiff.

2. Tyrelle Blair. Kansas has 10 guards on their roster and only 2 big men, yet Blair had 0 field goals and only 5 rebounds. In contrast, the Jayhawks frontline (Arthur, Jackson) went a combined 19-25 from the floor with 16 rebounds. C'mon. I like Blair, but the inconsistency is infuriating sometimes.

3. Cory Raji and Biko Paris. I love Raji, but he looked scared and intimidated. Same goes for Paris. These guys have to realize they can play with the elite teams, cuz more are surely coming (Duke, UNC).

4. Rebounding. I played the game, and I know rebounding is all effort. Getting creamed on the glass to the tune of 33-21 says it all.

5. Free throw shooting. BC was 9-17 (53%), with guys not named Rice going 5-12. Horrible. Sanders was particulary bad, going 2-6. This is something Sanders really needs to work on if he's going to be a bigtime player, he's shooting under 50% on the season for crissakes. He has a nice stroke, so it's all repetition and concentration for him to improve.

6. Al Skinner. Kansas was killing BC with give and goes, and there were no defensive adjustments that I could see. I would have also gone with some kind of press to wake BC up a little, or packed it in with a tight zone to make them shoot from downtown. Also, I thought Al needed to play Paris with Rice more when Kansas went on it's big run, to give Rice a little break bringing up the ball if for nothing else. Al looked as asleep as his team.

All in all, not a good show for the Eagles, especially since it was a nationally televised game. I don't know what gives here, but it seems like BC gets clobbered every time the national cameras roll into town. Bad for PR and bad for self-esteem.

Going forward, BC has to regroup quickly with solid mid-major Robert Morris coming to Conte Monday. This thing has letdown/trap written all over it, coming off Kansas and right before ACC play resumes. Let's hope the Eagles have the maturity to put this ugly affair behind them and focus on a good rebound.

Kansas Preview

2008-01-04T19:49:00.000-08:00

I didn't watch the Longwood game, but I listened to it, and I think it was the perfect tuneup for tomorrow's tilt against Kansas. BC got a little mojo back by thumping a mid-major, just what the doctor ordered heading into their joust with the talented Jayhawks. The only way they knock off KU is if they beeeeelieve they can win, and with a rocking Conte Forum behind them, I think they'll at least have the vibe coming off such a strong showing Wednesday night. That's why I have a weird feeling about this game, a good one, I really think we're in for a pleasant surprise. Moreover, Kansas has played a bunch of creampuffs at home (the exception being an OT win over Arizona), and their 2 road games resulted in a close win at USC and a 5 point survival against average GTech. So the 12-0 Kansas record is a little bloated, which is great for BC. With the Jayhawks traveling some 1500 miles to Boston in the dead of winter, reading their press clippings along the way, I suspect a distracted Kansas squad might start slow. The key is whether the Eagles can jump on them. If BC gets up early and controls the tempo, we could be in for a great game, and maybe even a big upset.

What would a win do for BC? Everything. Looking at the schedule, the Eagles will probably win their last out-of-conference game (Robert Morris) barring a major stumble, and end up 7-9, 8-8 or 9-7 in the ACC. That means 18, 19 or 20 wins (assuming 1 win in the ACC tourney), which puts them squarely on the NCAA Bubble (hey Jay Bilas in his ACC preview is with me there). If you throw in a win over No. 3 Kansas, BC moves from Bubble to Lock in my view. So this game could make or break their bid for the NCAAs. For a season in which few of us had great expectations, that would be incredible. What an opportunity for the Eagles tomorrow.

Go BC!

Sacred Heart Game

2007-12-29T11:26:00.000-08:00

I attended the Sacred Heart game last night and I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout, a pretty lively half-full Conte Forum. Considering it conflicted with the bowl game, and took place during school break on a Friday night when plenty of other things are going on in Greater Boston, that's a pretty good showing. Hats off to the fans. As for the game itself, it was pretty uneventful. Sacred Heart came out hot and took an early lead, then BC went on a 22-5 run about midway through the first half to take control (not surprisingly, that took place with Cory Raji on the floor and Tyler Roche on the pine). The Eagles stretched the lead to 17 in the second half on a number of occasions before losing focus. Sacred Heart stroked a few threes and out-hustled BC for some loose balls, and suddenly the lead was down to 3 in the waning moments. But Ty Rice and Shamari Spears stepped up at the stripe to seal the deal, canning 10 of 10 in the final 4 minutes.

All in all, though I criticize BC's effort and inability to put a lesser team away, I was pretty happy with the game. Sacred Heart's late charge made this young team step up in the face of a major choke job, and BC stepped up. I think the more they face game situations like that the better, as more are surely coming down the road, especially in conference play.

A few observation:

1. John Oates had a pretty big game offensively for him, with 12 points on a few follow up dunks and a couple of threes. His big weakness (defense) was a non-factor in this one, as Sacred Heart had no one that presented even a semblance of an offensive challenge in the post. Tyrelle Blair chipped in 12 as well, for the same reason.

2. Speaking of Blair, I've said it before, but he must have the weakest hands in college basketball. Sacred Heart's tiny front line stripped him over and over again as he tried to go up for dunks. Amazing. I'd like to dine with him just to see how many times he drops his fork during a meal.

3. Tyler Roche. The box score says he went 3-4, but again no rebounds and two ugly, very ugly, turnovers that turned into layups the other way. For some reason, Roche seems to have major problems with that tiny bounce pass at the top of the flex, and I'm tired of seeing defenders jump his pass for the steal and easy bucket. I think Al is sick of it too, as he jettisoned Roche to the bench right after the second one, where he remained for most of the night (Roche played only 15 minutes). As for his rebounding - or lack thereof - Roche now has a whopping 2 boards in his last three games (spanning 67 game minutes). What's up with that? The guy is 6'7" for crissakes.

4. Tyrese Rice had a decent game (16 points), though he seemed a little bored. Nevertheless, I love the ball in his hands with the game on the line and the other team needing to foul. He is automatic with the free throws, and was in this one.

NBA Non-Sequitur - old friend Sean Williams submitted a killer line in the Nets' 109-106 win last night over Washington - 14 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks. I still find myself daydreaming about what might have been had Williams kept his head down at the Heights.

Turning to football quickly, as is well documented BC won it's best-in-the-nation 8th straight bowl game last night against middling Michigan State. While I applaud BC's preparation and congratulate them on the win, with all due respect I think the streak has a lot more to do with BC going to a lesser bowl and playing an inferior opponent every year than anything else (cue the tired travel rep debate). I think BC has been favored (and in some instances heavily favored) in all these bowl games, with the notable exception of the Music City Bowl tilt against Georgia a number of years ago, which goes down as the only big win in the streak in my view. Until the bowl system is either junked completely or changed to a merit-based one, I fully expect BC's unimpressive streak to continue, replete with more Muffler and Tire Bowl appearances against 6-6 and 7-5 opponents. Hooray.

Skinner and the NBA

2007-12-23T21:09:00.000-08:00

With nearly two more years to perfect his play at the point, Ty Rice is looking more and more like an NBA player in my view. If he gets drafted (and I think he will, in the 2nd round next year), that means Al Skinner will have had a future NBA draftee in four straight recruiting classes - Craig Smith, Jared Dudley, Sean Williams (should be a senior this year) and Rice. Going back two classes further, and Troy Bell makes it 5 out of 7. Throw in the fact that a BC player has been Conference Player of the Year in 3 of the last 6 years (Bell in '01 and '03, Dudley in '07), and that's not a bad track record, one I'll bet compares pretty favorably with some of the big programs. I hear a lot of guys bash Al's recruiting, but I think the success these guys have enjoyed at BC and in the pros speaks to Al's ability to develop players. Regardless, it has to be a big selling point on the recruiting trail going forward.

Speaking of the NBA guys, Smith, Dudley and Williams all started for their NBA teams this month, with Smith (36 points against Washinton, 30 points against Milwaukee) and Williams (8 blocks against Sacramento) in particular registering some eye-popping stats.

Narrow Escape

2007-12-22T20:00:00.000-08:00

BC pulled out a win against pesky Northeastern, in a game the Huskies controlled most of the way before the Eagles closed with a 13-5 run to steal the game. This one was all about the freshmen, notably Cory Raji (12 points, 6 boards) and Rakim Sanders (20 points), as former BC assistant coach Bill Coen clearly decided Tyrese Rice was NOT going to beat them, throwing a junk box and one D at the proflic guard. In the end though, Rice did beat them, dropping a tear drop with 2.2 seconds left to seal the deal.

The positives I take out of this game are the continued improvement and assertiveness of Sanders and Raji, easily the gems of the freshman class. One big gripe: the confounding minutes Al keeps giving stiffs Tyler Roche and John Oates. Newsflash: these guys just can't play. I'm sure they are good soldiers and nice practice players, but Roche (20 minutes, 1-6, o rebounds) and Oates (20 minutes, 0-2, 2 rebounds) are virtually invisible out there. You have to play Raji and Sanders as much as possible. The plus/minus when they are on the floor together is astounding.

Bowl Thoughts

2007-12-20T19:40:00.000-08:00

All this hand-wringing over our travel rep is, in my view, just that. We don't travel well because we don't have a huge following, you either went to BC or you hate BC. However, fortunately for BC (and unfortunately for college football fans in general), the BCS has ruined the bowl system. I am old enough to remember when New Year's Day mattered, when there were 8 games or so and every one of them had some kind of national championship implication. No more. Now the only game that counts is the championship game, and to a lesser extent the other three BCS bowls. The rest of the games are ESPN filler. Let's face it, there really is not much of a difference in interest between the Gator Bowl and the Poinsetta Bowl, and I'll bet the ratings back that up. Hey that's a good thing for BC - the watering down of importance means it's all or nothing for everyone, not just BC. Either you play yourself into a BCS bowl or you go to one of the countless Who Cares Bowls. The only people watching those games are the fans in the stands and their followers back home. I guarantee you that no one outside of Auburn and Clemson circles will be watching the Chick-Fil-A Bowl with more than passing (or gambling) interest. Same goes for the Champs.

Man Crush on Rice

2007-12-13T08:43:00.000-08:00

Everytime I watch Tyrese Rice, I marvel. During the game last night I was thinking he was having an off night, but when all was said and done, he had 26 points, a bunch of clutch shots, and a great headfake to shake two defenders for a clean look at a trey to tie the game at the buzzer. Had he hit it, Rice would have almost single-handledy brought BC back from a double-digit deficit with 7 minutes to play. And have you thought about his free throw shooting? The guy is drilling 90% and hitting all the big ones.

I think we should all appreciate what we are watching here. Rice came to the program an undersized, underrecruited (sound familiar?) hotdogging tweener. But he has learned his craft and developed to the point where he may finish this year as one of the Top 5 point guards in the country. Think about it: who is measurably better? At the end of the season, I'll bet it will be a battle between him and Ty Lawson for First Team All-ACC (and I think most would agree Lawson has a little more talent filling the lanes around him). Who would've thunk it two years ago?

And to put it in historical perspective, I have been watching BC for over 20 years and I cannot think of a BC point guard a whole helluva lot better than him. Howard Eisley? Nice player, but not nearly as explosive. Duane Woodard? C'mon. Troy Bell and Dana Barros? Both were more scorers than point guards. John Bagley and Michael Adams? Close, but I'd take the whole Rice package over them any day. What do you think?

Sleepwalking

2007-12-12T20:06:00.000-08:00

The young Eagles mailed it in a little tonight and got caught by a game UMass squad, 83-80. If you were concerned about freshman mistakes coming into the season, this was your Exhibit A. BC had a litany of lazy passes, turnovers and forced shots. Tough time with the press, little hustle on loose balls. Not a good game, and you wonder how much of it was attributable to a victory hangover following BC's big ACC road win over Maryland Sunday. In any event, the Eagles lost this game early in the second half, when they frittered away a 3 point lead at the break and fell behind 15 points.

Heroes:

Ty Rice. Not the greatest game for Ty. He was rattled a little by UMass' full court press, but in fairness he really didn't get much help. Backcourt mate Tyler Roche was moving like Frankenstein and the Minutemen exploited that, double-teaming and trapping Rice at every opportunity. Ty still finished with 26 points, his turnovers (4) were not that bad given the pressure, and he had a clear look at a 3 to tie the game at the buzzer (clanked it off the back of the rim).

Corey Raji. Again a solid game, but in limited minutes. When he was on the floor, BC made some big runs. I really don't know why Al is not giving this kid 30-35 minutes a game (more on that below). Raji did not enter the game until the 11 minute mark of the 1st half, and did not re-enter until the 12 minute mark of the 2nd half. Why?

John Oates. Had his most meaningful offensive game in memory with a couple of big threes, some key free throws and a couple of big boards. But his defense was again atrocious - I will have images of Gary Forbes blowing by him for weeks.

Biko Paris. Generally handled the ball well in the face of tight pressure, with a few unsightly exceptions. Had a few big hoops and made some nice passes. But Biko again showed his age, committing some ugly turnovers (especially on entry passes to Blair).

Villains:

Tyer Roche. I don't know what it is with this guy, but he looked half asleep out there. He hit a couple of shots, but sucked on defense and looked lost on the press. Al has to sit him down and give Raji some more time.

Al Skinner. I love Skinner, but the Roche over Raji thing is getting as head-scratching as Oates over Williams and Doornekamp over anybody. I know Al is still searching for a rotation, but it is clear that guys like Raji and Paris have to get a lot more time.

Free Throw Shooting: The stats may be OK (inflated by Rice), but it says here BC lost this game at the line when Roche and Blair went 1-6 early in the second half, right when UMass was going on its 21-6 run to takecontrol. Raji also clanged two freebies late in the first half when BC was looking to push the lead to 8.

MIA:

Shamari Spears and Tyrelle Blair. these guys were pretty invisible against a mostly smaller UMass lineup. Spears in particular had a ton of shots blocked. But my big beef with these two was that they played with no fire, and it showed in their work on the boards.

Rakim Sanders: Had no presence whatsoever tonight. I'm giving Sanders a pass here, the announcers said he did not practice this week and was nursing a pretty sore hip after injuring it in the Maryland game.

That's it. All in all, a sucky game that BC let get away from them in the second half. But these are young kids. Most of the mistakes I'll chalk up to inexperience, and I did like the way they fought back (like the Providence loss). I just wish they could have escaped with a win, and learned the lesson without the L.

Buckle Your Seatbelts...

2007-12-09T18:57:00.000-08:00

...we could be in for a ride. I've reserved judgment on this year's edition until today, but I've seen enough. Al Skinner has done it again, assembled another group of young'uns for a possible run at an NCAA tourney birth in a so-called rebuilding year. The Eagles took it to Maryland tonight in their house, coming away with a gutsy 3 point win which wasn't really that close (BC led by 10 with a couple of minutes left before the Terps threw them a minor scare).

Every year I get more and more impressed with Skinner, and this year is no exception. It's amazing. He loses 2 guys to the NBA plus a 4-year starter and they don't miss a beat. Right now, they're 7-1 overall, 1-0 in the ACC, with wins over Michigan, Maryland and surprising Rhode Island (check out their RPI). The only loss being to a strong Providence team (RPI 11) in overtime on a neutral floor. If BC can get by Massachusetts and hold serve against the remaining mid-majors on their out-of-conference slate, they could be 12-2 (assuming a loss to Kansas) when conference play resumes in January. If that's the case, I say 7 more ACC wins (doable with FSU, Wake, Virginia, VTech and GTech all losing big players) plus one in the ACC tourney gets them into the Big Dance. Whatta year that would be.

At the de facto quarterpole, here are my evaluations:

Ty Rice: appears to have elevated his game even more. He always had talent, but in the past, especially two seasons ago, he tried to do too much, he forced shots, committed ugly turnovers, was guilty of the occasional hotdogging. No more, he rarely, rarely makes a bad decision. This is one of the premier point guards in the country, and he is starting to look like a possible 2nd round NBA pick.

Shamari Spears: not a big leap in his game from his freshman year, but he is physical and gets tough rebounds. His free-throw shooting looks better and he has a nice touch on the fadeaway. I expect him to be a productive player against everybody except the elite frontcourts. In other words, look for him to be a factor most of the season, but disappear against the likes of UNC, Duke and Kansas.

Rakim Sanders: don't be discouraged, you can tell this kid is the real deal with an NBA-type body and good hops. But he seems to be pressing a little with silly charges and forced shots. That's to be expected with a freshman. I think once he realizes he can't just blow by, through or over people like he did in HS, he will settle down and develop into an ACC star.

Corey Raji: this kid is awesome, the surpise of the year so far. He reminds me of Kenny Walls with the lefty stroke, but has much, much more game than Walls ever did, with rebounding and passing polish. He brings amazing energy off the bench and seems to have a really high BBall IQ. 17 crucial points tonight, and he almost single-handedly beat Providence last weekend. Looks fearless with the treys.

Biko Paris: another solid player in the making who will commit his share of freshman mistakes (a few dumb turnovers tonight). But I think he is an ACC caliber player who will make his mark in the league by the time he's done. I'm hoping he continues to progress to the point where he and Rice are getting the bulk of the backcourt minutes together. If that happens, teams will press us at their peril.

Tyler Roche: he can't play, unfortunately. I said last year that we would know everything we need to know about Roche early this year, and unfortunately it's bad news. He is limited to spot-up shooting wide open threes (and not effectively thus far). Other than that, he is totally useless on the floor. More to the point, when he's on the court, Raji isn't, which is a very bad thing. Al has to send him to the pine and soon.

Tyrelle Blair: Blair may be the best defensive player in the league, and perhaps one of the best in the country. 11 blocks tonight, 8 last game. You could see how fearful the Terps were of him when they went into the lane in the second half, and we all watched their shooting percentage plummet. Sean Williams he is certainly not, but the dropoff isn't as far as you'd think. He also appears to have worked on a couple of offensive moves, which is bonus. Still kind of weak in the rebounding area for a 7-2 guy.

John Oates: same as last year, no defense, but 5 fouls a game and the occasional offensive lift. One area of improvement I've noticed - less crazy threes. Oates is limited and I'm not a big fan (especially defensively), but if he can come off the bench and throw his fouls around judiciously, he can be an asset, albeit a minor one. If he plays more than 10 minutes a game we are in trouble.

Here's what I would like to see: more of Rice, Paris, Sanders and Raji on the floor at the same time, with Blair or Spears filling out the lineup, depending on the size of the opposition. When BC has that combo, they take off.

Hats off to Al - this looks like a great recruiting class already, and once again he has a really nice blend of young talent and accomplished vets.

Haynes Gone

2007-03-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

Marquez Haynes announced today that he is transferring. While I'm not surprised, I'm a little disappointed. I was hoping more minutes for Haynes next year would mean more production. After all, he was a pretty solid defender, probably the most athletic member of the team, and showed flashes of offense, especially on drives, alley-oops and the occasional trey. On the other hand, he was a career tease, and could not handle the point, a fact made painfully obvious in the Wake game this year when he commited 34 turnovers in 8 minutes.

The optimist in me thinks that Al Skinner encouraging Haynes to transfer (and I'm sure that's what happened) means he must be pretty confident that some of the incoming freshmen have the ability to come in and play right away in the backcourt.

More Rumors

2007-03-19T15:34:00.000-07:00

On top of the Shamari Spears tansfer rumors, I heard today that ESPN Radio is reporting Al Skinner was approached by the Charlotte Bobcats about their top job. Al, by the way, has said in many print and electronic media that he prefers the NBA to the college game.

Thoughts on Next Year

2007-03-18T12:21:00.000-07:00

I heard from a decent (but not a great) source that Shamari Spears is transferring after getting into Al's doghouse at the end of the season. The only public evidence of that is the 1 game suspension back in January and his dwindling minutes culminating in a DNP-CD yesterday. I remember there were reports that he had a sore back, so I thought that was the reason (it couldn't have been Tyler Roche beating him out). That would be disappointing to me if true. While I don't think Spears will ever be a great ACC player, he has some skills, especially rebounding and a decent shooting touch, and could be a career contributor. In fact, I was hoping he would work on getting his shot off in the offseason (like fellow undersized forward Danya Abrams did after his freshman year), and come back as a scorer. We'll see if the rumor is true.

Another guy who could use some work is Roche. Maybe he can't play at this level (and those are the indications right now), but my instincts tell me he was thrown into the fray too early and wasn't ready for it upstairs. In other words, I saw a guy with a major confidence problem. I'm hoping that's his issue, not talent. We'll see about him as well.

On the plus side, BC has it's most talented recruiting class coming in next year. From what I read, swingman Rakim Sanders from RI is the real deal (ask anyone), as is big man Joshua Southern. Corey Raji also reportedly has some game. The other two are projects. But if two of these five can step in and really play, BC will be all right in a transition year. Rice, after all, is a star, and may even improve.

I'm feeling a little better today about the loss to Georgetown, and the season in general. Stating the obvious, the Dope Dismissals were devastating. But BC essentially went .500 in the ACC and the NCAA tournament after those guys got kicked off, which is pretty remarkable. If you take 2 big men out of any team's rotation, even the elite programs, they'd be hard-pressed to go .500 in a top conference like the ACC. The undermanned Eagles should get a lot of credit for what they achieved.

Woulda Coulda Shoulda

2007-03-17T17:22:00.000-07:00

BC went down to Georgetown today in a hard fought battle to close out the Jared Dudley era. If you had told me at the beginning of the game that it would be a 1 point affair with 4 minutes to play, I woud've taken it, but I really hated the way BC fell apart after the last TV timeout. I'm talking about the muffed Dudley to Marshall handoff that led to a breakaway layup, the missed rebounds, the bad defense, the poor shot selection, etc. It was just a total collapse. Inexcusable.

I thought coming in that BC had to get big games out of at least two of their three scorers, and probably all three to win. Rice and Dudley delivered, Sean Marshall did not. Marshall was terrible. It was a microcosm of his entire career, a couple of buckets early, and then nothing. He was 4-16, missed his last 9 shots, and grabbed only 1 rebound. If he had even a decent game today, BC wins this one, and I think easily the way the Hoyas played.

The little things killed me, especially the loose ball on the floor with 3 BC players standing over it, watching Roy Hibbert pick it up for a dunk to push GTown's lead to 48-44. Also, allowing Georgetown to grab a rebound off a missed free throw and score to shave BC's 8 point lead to 5 with 12 minutes left. No boxing out, no hustle.

On the plus side, the Eagles played great for about 30 minutes, and were in a position to steal it. The first half was BC's best half of basketball since the home blowout of VTech a month ago. Rice was on fire, Dudley was hitting his shots, and Blair was playing great defense.

It was a great year, and like I said in my prior post, this game was gravy. If they had gotten by the Hoyas, it would have been a major, major accomplishment for a very flawed team. They deserve a lot of credit for getting this far with all the adversity they faced. But right now, things feel pretty hollow. The Sweet Sixteen was right there for the taking. In a few days, I'll feel a lot better about it. Right now, all I can say is "this sucks."

Big Win Over Texas Tech

2007-03-15T13:07:00.000-07:00

What a nice win today over the Red Raiders. I know it was uncomfortable from a BC perspective (no lead is big enough), but if you were a neutral observer, you would come away thinking BC had the upper hand through most of the game, and was the better team.

This game shows you what BC can do when they play well. They got big production from their big three scorers, Marshall, Rice and Dudley (66 points combined), 11 bonus points and some key three-point shooting from Oates, and some solid interior defense from Blair. The rest of the guys didn't contribute much, but we didn't need them.

The thing I really like about this win is that all the pressure is off, and they're in a great position to steal a Sweet Sixteen berth against a very good, but beatable, Georgetown team. If BC gets the same production out of the likes of Marshall and Oates, I like our chances.

Great week so far for the ACC as well. In addition to the BC win, Maryland won today over a dogged Davidson squad, and Clemson and NC State won their opening round NIT games.

I like the fact that Georgetown is smoking their 1st round opponent. History dictates that when high seeds win easy in the opening round, they come out slow in the 2nd game. I hope BC can take advantage.

PS: For all the "In Game" Al Skinner bashers out there, Hall of Famer Bobby Knight made him look like a genius. Letting 20 seconds tick off down by 7 with 90 seconds left before you start fouling? And then realizing the Red Raiders had 3 fouls to give? Hilarious!

We're In

2007-03-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

BC got the predictable 7 seed in the NCAA tourney, which is realistically all we could ask for. That means the Selection Committee ranked the Eagles between 25-28 among the field. Not bad given the tailspin to close the season, and a testament to the respect afforded the conference.

But the real good news is that we got the right matchup, in the right region, at the right site. All I really wanted was a flawed team from a big conference, and Texas Tech fits the billl perfectly. BC will not take them lightly given their Big 12 status (and victories over Kansas and Texas A&M), but the Red Raiders are not that good, as evidenced by a 5 game losing streak last month and losses to the likes of Baylor and Nebraska. A more dangerous opponent would have been some rock solid mid major on the rise, like Virginia Commonwealth, Creighton or Old Dominion. The added bonus is that we get to play in the East Regional a short flight away in a city the Eagles know well, Winston-Salem. I like playing on Thursday too, before the players get too caught up in all the hoop-la. A good day across the board.

I expect BC to beat Texas Tech and then give a good fight against Georgetown. The Hoyas are a very good team, but probably the caliber of Virginia Tech or Maryland. In other words, BC is battle-tested for this matchup, assuming both teams make it to the second round. And if BC manages to get past GTown and make it to the Sweet Sixteen, it will be a fantastic accomplishment for BC in one of the weirdest years in memory.

I did not blog after the BC-UNC game mostly for family reasons, but there really wasn't much to say. I didn't give the Eagles much of a chance coming into the game, and they showed me why. When BC plays an elite team, they need big games from at least two of their three big scorers, and probably all three. They also need step-up games from their role players. BC only got production out of maligned Sean Marshall (and only with scoring). The Tar Heels did a great job on Ty Rice, Dudley had an off day (despite 20, mostly late points), and the Blair-Spears-Oates-Roche group brought very little to the table. That's just not gonna do it, especially against a team as good as UNC. I really would have loved to see how BC could have fared with Sean Williams and Akida McLean patrolling the paint...

If memory serves, BC has beaten Bobby Knight teams two times in a row, first during the famed 1994 run to the Elite Eight (77-68), and next in the opening round of the 1996 tournament (54-51).

Looking forward to Thursday.

Big Relief

2007-03-10T08:16:00.001-08:00

Whhheeew. Yesterday’s Miracle in Miami relieved Eagle Nation of the anxiety of sitting through CBS’ tired selection show on Sunday wondering whether a fading 19-11 BC squad with a 40 RPI and losses in 5 of its last 6 games could lean on a 10-6 conference record and get into the NCAA tourney. For a while there, though, it looked like we would be squirming in our seats. All I could think was N-I-T with BC staring at a 14 point second half deficit to the last-place Hurricanes. As I have said in prior posts, despite the conventional wisdom thinking BC was a lock, I maintain that a blowout loss to Miami was our one ticket out. But that’s all academic now; once BC pushed the game to overtime, the Eagles were in the Big Dance, especially with all the other upsets showing the country why the ACC is the toughest conference, top-to-bottom, in the land.

This was the statement game of a statement season for Ty Rice. I plan on writing a testimonial to Rice later on, but the abridged version here is that he is undoubtedly BC’s Most Valuable Player. Without Rice stepping up his game bigtime this year, the Eagles would be maybe 14-15, and out of both postseason tournaments. If you disagree, I point to the few occasions this year when Rice was in foul trouble and had to be spelled by Marquez Haynes. Case closed.

Heroes:

1. Ty Rice. Nothing more to say, an incredible game for a rising star.

2. John Oates. I have bashed Oates in the past, but this was probably the best game of his career. The 14 points were huge on a day that Marshall sucked again and Dudley was quiet. He had that huge noooooooooooooyyyeeeesssssssssss three-pointer to tie it in OT, but his biggest play was a monster rebound that he ripped away from some Canes in the waning moments.

3. Tyrelle Blair. A nice line for Blair, some big boards and one really important block.

3. Al Skinner. When BC fell down, he was cool and he made BC run their offense, and not rush it. They worked their way back and that had a lot to do with the man in charge. Also, playing Oates and Blair together was a key adjustment. We saw this first in the UNC game a while back, it was effective then and it was effective yesterday. I expect to see it a little more today against the big frontline of the Tar Heels.

Villains:

1. Sean Marshall. He had a dunk on a picture perfect fastbreak orchestrated by Rice and Dudley. Other than that, he was 1-9 with one assist (in fairness, his one other field goal was a big three). The thing that really pissed me off was his defense though, he was atrocious. Typical Marshall - when his shot isn’t falling, he lets it affect the rest of his game.

2. The role players. Roche, Spears and Haynes. Fellas, you gotta contribute something, anything. Rice and Dudley can't be expected to carry the whole load.

This was a very satisfying win for BC because it’s all gravy from here. They are not expected to beat UNC, so there is no pressure. But BC can nail down maybe a 6 seed with a good showing against the Tar Heels. And if they pull the upset, they’re a 4. House money in other words.

Miami Up Next

2007-03-08T14:06:00.000-08:00

I didn't see the game, but Miami upset Maryland 67-62 this afternoon, meaning BC has the easiest (by seed) 2nd round opponent of all the top seeds. I have mixed feelings about this. Miami definitely is a softer foe and a better matchup for the Eagles, but playing them is dangerous. If BC loses, the credibility knock is tremendous.

Maryland is obviously the better team, but playing on back-to-back days against a rested BC squad would have been tough sledding for the Terps. Had BC played and beaten Maryland, the Eagles would've gotten a much bigger seeding boost. The upside just isn't there with the 'Canes, so BC really, really has to take care of business tomorrow afternoon.

Embarrassing

2007-03-04T15:04:00.000-08:00

Well folks, half of what I feared become reality today, an embarrassing, embarassing loss to GTech in the ACC regular season finale. If BC gets trounced in the first round of the ACC tourney, especially by one of the lesser teams like NC State, Miami or Wake, mark my words, there will be some squirming come Selection Sunday. We're probably a lock for the NCAA given the high team and conference RPI, but who would you seed higher, a reeling BC squad or rising GTech or Maryland? I think BC's looking at an 8 seed right now.

BC lost this game before they got off the bus. Despicable play by everyone, and I mean everyone, including usual stalwarts Jared Dudley and Ty Rice. I'm harboring some pointed ire for Sean Marshall and Tyler Roche, who conspired to put BC in the big first half hole with a bevy of bonehead plays and sloppy turnovers. As is well-documented, I just can't stand Marshall, the guy has the mental fortitude of a jellyfish. He continues to disappear in big games. John Oates also sucked down low, but thankfully Skinner had (kind of) a quick hook with him. But it's hard to really single out anyone for this crapshow, it was an utter disaster, a mail-it-in-what region-are we going-to failure from the top of the roster on down. I can't believe how passionless they were, especially with first place on the line.

I don't feel good at all about this team's prospects in either the ACC tourney or the NCAA tourney. I am troubled by how many times BC jas gotten absolutely thumped since the Dope Dismissals. I mean, take a look, Duke killed them twice, Clemson buried them, VTech embarrassed them, and now GTech. They struggled against Clemson at home and Miami on the road, and only had one legitimate win down the strech, at home against VTech. If it weren't for a couple of save-our-ass wins that BC stole against Florida State, we'd be looking at 17-12, 8-8 and the NIT.

Last Night's Developments

2007-03-02T07:55:00.000-08:00

I'm still not sure whether GTech upsetting UNC last night is good or bad for BC, as the Yellow Jackets will have everything to play for against the Eagles this weekend, but they might have a tough time getting up for BC after such a big win over the Tar Heels. In any event, The UNC loss coupled with the Virginia win over VTech has BC a few steps closer to an improbable No. 1 seed in the ACC tourney. As a practical matter, it doesn't mean a whole helluva lot given the parity in the ACC this year, but it would be good to have the bragging rights associated with the Eagles being regular season champs. There's still a long way to go though, and here's what has to happen:

1. BC has to beat GTech;

2. Duke has to beat UNC at UNC: and

3. Wake has to beat Virginia at home.

I could easily see none of the above happening, and #3 looks the most unlikely.

ACC Seeding

2007-03-01T08:45:00.001-08:00

With Maryland beating Duke last night, BC locked up a first round bye in the ACC tourney next week. Maryland can tie BC if they beat UNC Saturday and GTech knocks off BC, but the Eagles have the head-to-head edge over the Terps because they beat Maryland in their only meeting.

This is pretty big for BC. The seeding from 1-4 is not that big a deal this year because the conference is so strong top to bottom that there's not much difference between playing Florida State, Duke, Maryland, and GTech in the second round, the likely opponents for the bye teams if seeding holds true. However, playing a tired team on back-to-back days is huuuuge. Just look at last year when BC got the bye and played Maryland, a team that beat BC in the regular season. What happened? The Eagles absolutely buried them, and BC was on their way to the ACC Semifinals.

The one thing that worries me heading into the GTech game is that suddenly, given the above, BC has nothing to play for, especially if the players are reading the press clippings that say they're a lock for the NCAA Tourney. That spells F-L-A-T, which could mean T-R-O-U-B-L-E. There is one scenario in which BC gets boxed out of the tourney, and that's if they get embarrassed by GTech on Saturday, and then again by Maryland or Duke in the 2nd round of the ACCs, and there are an inordinate number of upsets in conference tourneys by teams that otherwise wouldn't make March Madness.

Thoughts on Tech

2007-02-28T13:16:00.000-08:00

I can't decide whether BC should root for GTech over UNC tomorrow, or the other way around. On the one hand, if GTech pulls the upset, BC would have a decent chance of catching UNC for first place in the ACC, provided the Tar Heels went on to lose at home to Duke this weekend. But BC would also have to beat GTech in Atlanta, and a GTech win over UNC would mean BC would be facing a hungry Yellow Jacket squad with everything on the line for them -- a win gets them in and a loss sends them to the NIT. The arena would undoubtedly be packed with loud, screaming students, it would be one tough road game.

On the other hand, a loss would really take the wind out of GTech's sails. They'd be looking at the NIT no matter what they did against the Eagles. The arena would be about half full, and the GTech players would probably be playing letdown hoop.

This is Why I'm Still Worried...

2007-02-26T15:00:00.000-08:00

The new polls came out a few hours ago, and BC got zero votes in the Coaches poll. ZERO! I know just about everyone thinks BC's 10 ACC wins are their ticket to the Big Dance, but I am still not convinced. After all, there were 47 other teams that got votes, and just 34 get at-large bids. So the fact that there is not a single coach among the 31 coaches in the Coaches Poll who thinks BC merits a vote over those other 47 is troubling indeed, especially given this is the final week of the season. I think those woodshed beatings by VTech and Duke on national TV have hurt BC's image more than people realize.

I know I've said it before, but I really think that if BC falls to GTech on Sunday, especially if they are soundly beaten, and then go down in the 1st round of the ACC tourney, they could very well be on the outside looking in. That would mean they lost 5 of 6 to close the season. BC has to beat the Yellow Jackets to lock it up.

Can BC Finish 1st in the ACC?

2007-02-25T16:54:00.000-08:00

With Maryland upsetting UNC tonight, there is a chance -- albeit a sliver of one -- for BC to win the ACC regular season championship on tiebreakers. BC can't win it outright because Virginia and VTech play each other this week, meaning one will get to 11 wins. However, if BC gets by GTech next week, there is a scenario where BC wins and gets the No. 1 seed in the ACC tourney.

The first ACC tiebreaker, where two teams are involved, is head-to-head play. If the two teams split their meetings, then you compare their records against the top team in the league. If those records are equal, you move down the standings (against the second place team, third, fourth, etc.) until one team has an advantage. If there are more than two teams in a tie, you create a "mini-conference" and compare the head-to-head records of the schools involved. If there is a tie within the mini-conference, compare each team's records against the top team in the league and work down the standings until an advantage is gained.

The only way BC has a chance is if the Eagles are tied with Virginia and only Virginia, who they beat last month at Conte. If BC is involved in a tie with UNC, alone or with other teams, the Tar Heels have the edge by virtue of their victory over BC in their lone meeting. If BC is tied with VTech, although the teams split the home-and-home series, the Hokies get the nod because VTech swept UNC and at least split with Virgnina.

So to get Virginia alone in a tiebreaker, we have to root for Virginia to first beat VTech and then lose to Wake. Then we have to root for UNC to lose to GTech on the road and Duke at home, AND for VTech to lose to Clemson at home after the loss to the Cavaliers. Pretty unrealistic, I know, but fun to think about.

Clemson Game

2007-02-24T12:44:00.000-08:00

Big win, though I don't think either team played well. But getting that 10th conference win is kinda like heading to the stripe down by one and making the first of 2 free throws. There'll be no pressure to win next week at GTech, and if BC can come out of Atlanta with a W, they'll coast into the NCAA tourney, and have a very good chance at tying for 2nd in the conference (Virginia and VTech play each other this week).

Also, this win pretty much locks up a bye in the ACC tourney. The only way BC could miss out on the bye is if Duke beats both Maryland and UNC, and the Eagles fall to GTech.

Dudley played great (23 points, 10 boards), and Rice was solid (14 points, but 4 TOs). Blair (5 boards, 6 blocks) was huge in the defensive paint - it was a completely different game down low when he was there instead of Mr. Soft.

On the negative side, Shamari Spears had another invisible game, and it sure looks like he's hit the rookie wall. In fairness, he reportedly had back problems, which is why Tyler Roche got the start. Roche was also invisible. So was Marquez Haynes, though he played some decent straight up D. Oates was bad again, but thanks to Blair not so bad he cost them.

Marshall had a weird game. A huge first half, but what the hell was up with him in the 2nd? It looked like he dropped a wager on the Tigers at the break. I counted 4 turnovers, and 2 shoulda couldas. When BC went up 44-38, he almost single-handledly let Clemson back in with 2 bricks and 3 turnovers in 5 straight trips down the floor. Then he missed the front end of a one-and-one with the Tigers clawing back. Aaaargh, he is such a frustrating player.

But enough bad stuff. I liked the effort today, I saw stretches of intense defense and passion that I didn't see at all in the Duke and VTech games. They need to keep it up next week and they need to again get big games out of at least two of the big three. GTech will be hungry, as they need a loud win to burnish their NCAA credentials.

I really, really, really want a win at GTech to make me feel comfortable. I know with 10 wins in conference and a Top 30 RPI, BC should be a lock even if they go down next week. But losing 4 of 5, losing ugly to Duke and VTech on national TV, losing Williams, and losing to Vermont and Duquesne earlier in the year, I'd be nervous at 19-10. I want to see BC play themselves in so there is no squirming come Selection Sunday.

Doug Gottleib = A-Hole

2007-02-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

Did anybody hear that little weasel Doug Gottleib's comments about BC after the game? I know it's easy to bash a team after a thumping like last night, but BC did NOT pad their ACC resume with bottom feeder wins, contrary to what that little prick said.

First of all, of the 4 conference leaders, BC is the ONLY team without a home-and-home series against at least two of the conference also-rans (Wake, Miami and NC State). The Eagles played the Hurricanes twice, but got State and Wake just once, and both on the road. Compare this to the rest of the heavyweights: Virginia played Miami and Wake twice each (and lost to Miami), VTech played NC State and Miami twice each (and got swept by NC State), and UNC got Wake and State twice each (and lost to State).

With a league that is widely acclaimed to be the toughest in the country top-to-bottom, where teams like Miami upset Virginia and NC State knocks off UNC, it's outrageous to discredit BC for taking care of business against good, solid conference foes. Whatta fool. Furthermore, Gottleib seems to forget that BC beat Virginia and split with VTech. So with the loss to UNC last weekend, they are 2-2 against the ACC elite, more than holding their own. I'll stack their nine wins up against those of anyone else. If any team is a fraud up top, It's Virginia - they're 0-3 against BC, VTech and UNC.

One other thing got on my nerves in the postgame show, and that's the continued reference to the Vermont and Duquesne setbacks as "horrible" losses. Yes, historically those are weak teams, but college basketball is not a history course. Vermont is a damn good team THIS YEAR, Doug, they're 22-6 with an RPI of 84 and coasting to their conference championship. Duquesne is a middle-of-the-pack A-10 squad that has beaten the likes of 20-7 Xavier (RPI 43) and 16-10 St. Louis (RPI 72). Should BC have beaten them? Certainly, but look around the country, and there are very few teams without a loss or two of that ilk. And remember, BC was without Sean Williams for the Vermont game, and without Dudley and Oates for the Duquesne loss.

What's the deal with Gottleib? I don't hear him talking about VTech losing to Marshall or Western Michigan. I don't hear him talking about Virginia losing to Appalachian State or Utah. I wanted to reach through my TV last night and straggle that little pussy.

By the way, I looked up Gottleib on Wikipedia, and was interested to learn that he transferred from Notre Dame to Oklahoma State after being kicked off the team for and eventually convicted of credit card fraud. So who's the real fraud here, Dougie?

Crap Down In Blacksburg

2007-02-22T10:15:00.001-08:00

That performance last night sucked. It sucked because it was BC’s 2nd atrocious, flat performance in a week. It sucked because it was on national TV for all to see the warts. It sucked because it was BC’s third straight loss on ESPN. It sucked because national broadcasters (again) spent more time questioning BC’s heart and NCAA worthiness than analyzing the game. It sucked because, coupled with the Duke and UNC losses, it looks like BC can’t run with the ACC heavyweights. It sucked because it was a colossal missed opportunity to seize 2nd place in the ACC, with Miami upsetting Virginia last night. It sucked because a win would have put enough distance between BC and VTech and Duke to all but assure BC a 1st round bye in the ACC tourney. It sucked, it sucked, it sucked.

The perception now is that BC is reeling. So much so that I think they really need to win both the Clemson and GTech games to put the NCAA bid to bed. If they split, the naysayers will point to the fact that they lost 4 of 5 down the stretch. And with Maryland and Duke with more wins and closing fast on the Eagles in the ACC standings, BC could get leapfrogged if it’s a close call, even if they have a conference win or two more.

The reality is that I gave BC little chance to win in this game, so I can’t say I’m devastated. In fact, I would have been shocked if they won. VTech has always given the Eagles fits down in Blacksburg, it’s a tough place to play even when the Hokies are bad. Indeed, last year BC needed a miracle and won by a bucket. The year before they lost. This season, the Hokies have by far their best team in ages, one that should glide into the tourney. Compound that with a “must win” element following the Hokies ugly loss to NC State, as well as payback motivation for the shellacking at Conte, and you knew VTech was going to come out fired up. BC really only had a chance if everyone had a stellar game. That didn’t happen obviously.

So this was a pretty predictable loss. In fact, on January 24, I posted “Forecast and the Bubble,” and this is what I said then:

“The remaining 9 ACC games consist of exactly 1 game they should win (Miami away), 3 games they should lose (Duke away, UNC home, VTech away), and 5 "swing" games (VTech home, FSU away, Duke home, Clemson home, GTech away).”

It was my belief then that BC needed to win 4 of the 5 “swing games” to lock down a bid and probably 3 of 5 to be on the right side of the bubble. That’s still the case. They are 2-1 in those "swing" games, with two to go. The remaining two against Clemson and GTech are winnable, but both will be very tough.

What’s troubling to me is the effort, or lack of effort in these games recently. BC came to play against UNC, but didn’t show up in the Duke and VTech games. Not at all, and that's inexcusable. Looking ahead, Clemson and GTech are very talented, and anything but an A game, especially from Dudley, Rice and Marshall, will mean an L. After all, these games are pretty meaningful to Clemson and GTech as well, both of whom are clearly on the wrong side of the bubble and desperately need some conference wins. They will bring it against the Eagles.

Heroes:

There were no heroes last night. No one came to play. The late run at the end of the game was window dressing, when the Hokies were in the hoop equivalent of the prevent defense. This was a 30 point blowout, make no mistake about it. Tyler Roche played OK, he didn’t look like the scared freshman of the UNC game, and he hustled for some boards and drained a few shots. Ty Rice had a mildly decent game (15 points, 6 assists, 0 turnovers), but a lot of that came late. That’s about it.

Villains:

1. Jared Dudley. 2nd stinker in a week, and that’s leaving alone the three missed free throws against UNC. 6 turnovers, and all his points came late. In a mere 7 days he lost the firm grip he had on ACC POY.

2. Shamari Spears (0 fgs, 1 rebound). Another disappearing act on offense and the glass. Spears looks like he has absolutely no confidence right now.

3. Sean Marshall (2-11 fgs, 3 rebounds). Folks, this guy is moving into the Nate Doornecamp category of players that can’t graduate fast enough for me. He puts up all his big numbers against the mid-majors and conference bottom feeders, and doesn’t show up against the big boys.

4. John Oates and Tyrelle Blair (combined 4 rebounds and 0 blocks). Terrible, terrible interior defense. Between the Duke, UNC and VTech games, I think BC’s post defense set a national record for dunks against. No doubt.

I hope the team reads this blog and gets good and mad. The Eagles need to play with a fury against Clemson this weekend. Most importantly, they need to play defense. That’s where it begins and ends with this team, effort on D. They didn’t have it against VTech last night, and they got drilled for it.

BC's Schedule and Other Thoughts

2007-02-20T22:17:00.000-08:00

The number of people that find this post interesting might fit in a phone booth, but I have a friend of mine who was whining the other day about BC dropping Holy Cross from its schedule and ending a long series rivalry, a topic covered by Bob Ryan in the Boston Globe last year. My friend took the position that BC is "afraid" to schedule the Crusaders because they are a solid mid-major team that could give the Eagles trouble. In support, he pointed to their RPI, which is around 60.

As a threshold matter, HC's RPI has been elevated principally by playing (and losing) to the likes of Duke, Syracuse and Providence, that's how the RPI works. But RPI really has nothing to do with it. Schedules are pretty formulaic. Big time programs play their conference schedule, plus 2-3 big time programs out of conference, and then fill in the balance with area schools of lesser caliber, i.e. mid-majors. Everyone does that. This year, BC plays their 16 conference games, plus Kansas, Michigan State and Providence. After that, three A-10 programs (UMass, URI, Duquesne) requiring home-and-home contracts, plus 7 mid-majors. Holy Cross is one of the mid-majors. As a practical matter, I make no distinction between them and the other 6. That was my point in response to his. The fact that the two schools have played for a long time does not mean that there is a "rivalry," it just means that there was a rivalry once upon a time, the last vestiges of which were in the 1970s. There is no rivalry now; as is well-documented, BC and HC went in very different directions when HC declined a bid to the Big East in 1981. They continued the series as a matter of geographical convenience.

The notion that BC is "scared" of Holy Cross is laughable. Playing HC is fraught with the same risk of playing any other schedule-filling mid-major: the occasional upset is very damaging to BC (see Vermont), whereas it does nothing for the mid-major (no resume boost b/c only the conference winner gets the NCAA bid). Accordingly, HC poses no greater or lesser danger to BC than the rest of the mid-majors on BC's slate. Indeed, if BC dropped HC out of fear, why would they use the slot to pick up a home and home series against Kansas? And why would BC schedule three local A-10 teams who come from a much better conference and are far more dangerous? If it were just about the Ws, I'd rather have BC drop URI than HC for instance.

Furthermore, if you look at BC's schedules over the past few years, they are clearly just rotating the local schools in and out of those 6-7 available mid-major slots. For example, they played Holy Cross, Maine, Yale, New Hampshire, Harvard and BU in 2005. Then they played Holy Cross, Sacred Heart, Harvard and Dartmouth in 2006 (the schedule was truncated by the Las Vegas tourney). This year they played Yale, New Hampshire, Vermont, Sacred Heart, Hartford, Northeastern, & Fairfield (I'm sure scheduling Northeastern and Fairfield over HC had something to do with Skinner's old assistants being first year head coaches at those schools). As for some of those other teams' competitiveness, Northeastern memorably knocked off BC a few years ago, Harvard beat them in 2000, and Yale took BC to double-overtime in 2005. BC hasn't hesitated putting them back on the schedule for "fear" of losing to them.

If the real reason is not just rotation but that the HC games had gotten increasingly chippy over the past few years (Ryan's theory), can you blame BC for dropping the game? There are probably 20 mid-major D-1 programs in New England eager to play the Eagles, and all BC needs to fill its schedule is take 6-7 of them. Programs like HC are, in other words, a dime a dozen. So all things being equal, if the BC-HC games were indeed devolving into heated affairs (and that is my recollection), it made sense to take a break, especially in a year that Skinner wanted to schedule his former assistants Bill Coen and Ed Cooley.

Parenthetically, I think this year's non-conference schedule has proven to be the toughest in memory for BC. Kansas is Kansas, Providence is 17-9 and in the hunt for a tourney bid after beating No. 18 West Virginia tonight , Michigan State just upset No. 2 Wisconsin, UMass and URI are battling for the A-10 lead, Vermont is in the RPI Top 100 and leading the America East Conference, and even Duquesne is respectable, sitting in the middle of the pack of the A-10. In fact, right now, 15 of BC's 24 opponents have a very good chance at either an automatic bid or an at-large bid to the NCAA tourney. I know it's been a topsy turvy year for BC, but if you take a good hard look at who they've played, you gotta feel pretty good about 18-8. Let's hope the Selection Committee feels the same way.

Tar Heel Loss

2007-02-19T10:52:00.000-08:00

I'm sure everyone saw the game on Saturday (I attended), so I won't go into detailed analysis. I think the reason the Eagles lost was pretty simple, UNC was far more talented. There's probably 6 or 7 guys on that team that will play in the NBA, and their frontcourt (with Hansbrough and Wright) is absolutely sick. Going into the game, all I realistically hoped for was a chance to steal it at the end, and in that sense, BC came up big. They just didn't seize the opportunity when they got there.

What's disappointing is that BC blew their chance at the stripe, where the obstacles are the same as when they're playing Sacred Heart. You just cannot shoot 50% from the line at home and expect to beat a team the caliber of UNC. And the free throw shooting down the stretch was godawful, especially from the seniors. First, Sean Marshall clanged 2 freebies (no surprise there), and then Jared Dudley missed all three free throws with a chance to tie in the waning moments (huge surprise there). Dudley in particular looked like he rushed his FTs, especially the first one, and then lost confidence.

Marshall had a good game for him, but in my view he was involved in the one sequence that really hurt BC when he bricked those free throws, because he fouled Reyshawn Terry on the ensuing fast break for a potential 3 point play. Terry missed the free throw, but BC was down 70-65 instead of 68-67 with 5 minutes to go, and it was tough sledding the rest of the way.

A little credit to John Oates. He's been getting blasted here and elsewhere, but he submitted probably his best game of the season against the best competition. I wouldn't say it was a command performance, but he was a factor on the glass (6 boards), chipped in some points (7) and played with fire. And when Skinner played him with Blair, the tandem was surprisingly effective on defense. Ty Rice had a great offensive game (20 points, 5 assists), and Dudley and Marshall, other than the free throws, delivered. So all in all, a pretty good showing against a loaded team. I'm not really into moral victories, but if BC were to lose, they really needed to acquit themselves on national TV after the disgusting Duke debacle, and at least they did that.

Looking ahead, the Eagles have a very very tough game at Blacksburg Wednesday night against VTech. The Hokies I'm sure will come out doubly angry after BC smoked them a while back, and NC State embarrassed them on Sunday. If BC can take this game, it will be huge, and make an NCAA bid a certainty.

Soliciting Feedback

2007-02-16T22:50:00.000-08:00

Musing about the guys on the team, just curious what people in blogosphere think are BC's:

1. Most Improved Player

2. Most Disappointing Player

3. Most Consistent Player

4. Most Inconsistent Player

5. Most Valuable Player (you will be surprised at my answer here)

6. Key to the Rest of the Season

Skinner Referendum

2007-02-16T06:06:00.000-08:00

This post defends Al Skinner. I agree that Al might not be the best in-game coach in the world, but the guy has done a phenomenal job at the Heights, and anyone who questions that is an absolute moron. People forget just how bad his predecessor, Jim O'Brien, was because O'Brien had a great last season at BC and then went on to Ohio State where they made the Final Four (I maintain that that had more to do with BC transfer Scoonie Penn than OB, but that's a story for another day). Make no mistake about it, a thousand years from now, O'Brien will still hold the record for worst winning percentage of any BC coach who stayed over 10 years. No doubt. My buddy Doug did some research on this topic recently and here's what he found out:

In his 11 years, O'Brien finished in the top half of the Big East (or the division within the conference) exactly 3 times. He finished dead last 5 times in those eleven years and won the division only once (his last year, which he parlayed into a big contract at OSU). In fact, his winning percentage in the Big East was .357 (74 - 133), a total disaster by any measure. His winning percentage is the lowest in Big East history for any coach that has coached more than 5 years. Underscoring how bad his BC teams were, going into this season the only Big East coach to have lost more Big East games was Jim Boeheim. It took Boeheim 26 years to lose 166 games, whereas it only took OB 11 years to lose his 133. Truly eye-popping statistics.

Compare this to Al Skinner, who has finished in the top half of his league in 6 of his nine years (including finishing 1st three times), which will be 7 of 10 after this year even if he loses the remaining 4 ACC games. The only years Skinner finished in the lower half of his conference were the three immediately following OB's departure, when all the OB recruits went elsewhere and Penn followed OB to Ohio State. Here's the breakdown:

O'Brien

86-87 - 9th out of 9
87-88 - 7th out of 9
88-89 - 9th out of 9
89-90 - 9th out of 9
90-91 - 9th out of 9
91-92 - 7th out of 9
92-93 - 7th out of 10 (Miami joins conference)
93-94 - 3rd out of 10
94-95 - 10th out of 10
95-96 - 3rd out of 6 (1st year of split divisions)
96-97 - 1st (tied) out of 6

Skinner
97-98 - 6th out of 6
98-99 - 13th out of 13 (back to one division)
99-00 - 13th out of 13
00-01 - 1st out 6(back to split divisions)
01-02 - 4th out of 7
02-03 - 1st out of 7
03-04 - 5th out of 14 (back to one division)
04-05 - 1st out of 12 (Miami and VTech defect)
05-06 - 3rd out of 12 (1st year in ACC)
06-07 - 1st (currently) out of 12

Furthermore, since Skinner turned the corner with his recruits in 00-01, BC has finished in the Top 25 five times (including two Top 10 finishes) and has been to 5 NCAA tourneys in 6 years (soon to be 6 of 7), all while playing in 2 of the top conferences in the land. Moreover, in the past 5 years, BC has played 6 of the decade's 7 national champions (Michigan State, Maryland, UConn, Syracuse, Duke & North Carolina, but not Florida), and beaten everyone of them except Duke, with whom they've had a couple of memorable near misses. Significantly, they are 13-16 against those opponents -- a pretty broad sampling that indicates they have more than held their own. So like it or not Skinner bashers, BC is a power, definitely a Top 25 program, and probably a Top 15 one. No one is perfect, but you can't argue with the fact that he has taken a perrennial also-ran under O'Brien (if not a doormat) and turned BC into a team that is very much on the national radar. Do you think the ACC schools look forward to playing BC? Case closed!

Well That Sucked

2007-02-14T21:11:00.000-08:00

There is only one thing in the world that I hate more than terrorism, SUVs. Robin Williams, copy machine jams, Drew Bledsoe and Rosie O'Donnell, and that's Duke and their annoying fanbase. So this was particularly painful for me to watch. About midway through the 2nd half, I started getting flashbacks to the mother of all Boston College losses, the senior day football flattening by Syracuse in 2004 with the Fiesta Bowl on the line. This wasn't that bad, and toward the end I was thinking it was more like when West Virginia was waxing the Eagles 2 years ago in the opening round of the Big East tourney, and then BC made a gallant comeback. The late run in this one, and especially the effort involved in it, did make me feel a little better. A little. But I'm still pissed. I don't know how anyone can come out so flat at home against a marquee opponent on a national stage. And people around here wonder why BC doesn't get any respect.

The heroes (no real ones, just the kinda sorta variety):

1. Ty Rice. More evidence that he's become a big time player, I take solace in that, and at the beginning of the game it looked like he was going to run roughshod over crappy white boy Greg Paulus. Good scoring night (22 points), but he had way too many sloppy turnovers (6) for this to be an A game for him.

2. Sean Marshall. Yes, he filled it up (23 points). However, most of his points came with BC way down, he was pretty quiet when Duke was building the big (and insurrmountable) lead. On the glass he was just as bad as everyone else (2 rebounds).

The villains:

1. Jared Dudley. If you kiss him when he's good, you gotta spank him when he's bad. The guy's had a phenomenal season and a great career, but let's face it, he sucked tonight. Clearly the worst game of the year for him. He had some bad turnovers, missed the front end of two one and ones during Duke's big run, and committed some really dumb fouls. He was also MIA on offense -I know Duke had something to do with that, but c'mon, if you're gonna be ACC POY you gotta get your points no matter what they throw at you.

2. John Oates. What can I say that I haven't said already? Enought with the crazy treys. And the "ole" defense? Made me wanna throw up in my mouth watching that turnstyle usher in layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup after layup. Sit down, Oates!

3. Shamari Spears. Disappearing act on both ends of the floor, especially the glass (0 rebounds for a power forward?).

4. Marquez Haynes. I've said it before, but I am really disappointed in this kid. I thought he was going to have a breakout year, but he's looking more and more like an America East player, not an ACC guy. And when he's playing point, he is a turnover machine. Hated that foul at the end on Scheyer with the shot clock almost all the way down.

5. Al Skinner. I love Skinner, but a terrible game for him, the worst in years. I would have benched all the starters for a couple of minutes just to send a message, and I would have zoned it up a little more. And were there any halftime adjustments? The beginning of the second half was worse than the end of the first, which was atrocious. And the slow hook on Oates is inexcusable. I'm OK with starting Oates, he's been a good soldier and he's kept his nose clean (unlike some others we know), but you gotta get Blair in there a helluva lot earlier, especially when Oates' man is destroying BC for dunks and layups. I really think it might have been a different game had Blair been in there from the 12 minute mark or so of the first half. And Al has to call some timeouts. It's not his style, that's well documented, but you have to break up those 18-2 runs, even if it's just to give your guys a breather. I'm hoping this is the Al Skinner clunker of the year.

This was one of the worst efforts I have seen in a long time, terrible defense, godawful rebounding, bad decisions, mouthing off at the refs, sloppy turnovers, etc. But BC has to get their heads on straight and fast for UNC. You don't get two bites at the apple very often, but the Eagles thankfully get a second chance to redeem themselves and make a splash on national TV this weekend. They need a big game from everyone, there is absolutely no margin for error with the Tar Heels.

Florida State

2007-02-11T16:54:00.000-08:00

BC absolutely stole one on the road down in Tallahasee this afternoon, 68-67, when Tyrelle Blair buried a 12 footer with 3 seconds left to fuel the escape. Indeed, the Eagles had the lead in this one for only 3 game minutes, so to come out with the victory in such hostile environs is truly amazing. Jared Dudley (23 points, 10 boards) and Ty Rice ( 23 points, 5 boards, 3 assists) continued their incredible play, but the real story was Blair even before he hit the game winner. Blair stepped in for horrid horrid John Oates and turned the game around for the Eagles, who were getting eaten alive by Seminole superstar Al Thornton. Blair repeatedly stuffed Thornton (19 relatively quiet points), forcing him into 7-19 shooting from the field, and was generally disruptive to any one from Florida State in the paint. In fact, Blair submitted a pretty credible Sean Williams impersonation with 6 blocks and 6 boards -- he was no doubt a "difference maker" in every sense of the term.

Dudley and Rice were just outstanding. Dudley made the play of the day when he converted a bigtime 4-point play to knot the score at 64, and Rice was controlled and smart driving to the hole throughout the entire game. BC also got some key performances from Shamari Spears and Marquez Haynes. Spears had another great outing, wide-bodying his way around the basket for 7 tough rebounds and 8 points, and Haynes drilled a couple of critical jumpers when BC really needed some offense.

Now for the bad stuff. John Oates may have submitted the worst 9 minutes of basketball in the history of the game. 7 minutes into the first half, he had jacked three crazy treys that all badly missed the mark, and then was benched after committing his 3rd personal foul (you read that right - 3 fouls in 7 minutes). One of his fouls was of the lean and soft contact variety that is his penchant, the infernal kind that puts opponents on the stripe for 3-point plays. When Oates hit the pine, BC was staring at a 22-9 deficit, largely because of his dismal play. At the start of the second half, Oates immediately threw up another wild trey, and again committed a soft foul that led to another 3-point play for the Seminoles. With 2 minutes gone in the frame, so was he. For the game, BC was outscored 30-13 with Oates on the floor, but trounced Florida State 55-37 with him off it. Time to make a change, Al.

Sean Marshall also sucked. Again. For the fourth straight ACC game, Marshall didn't even show up. He was scoreless in the first half, and finished with an invisible line of 6 points (on 2-8 shooting) and 2 turnovers. Someone needs to wake this guy up and remind him it's his senior year.

Looking ahead, BC gets reeling Duke on Wednesday, who got manhandled by Maryland today for their 4th straight loss. The pessimist in me could say that they are a dangerous opponent that might come out angry and play hard. But you get angry after two losses, not four. The overrated Dukies are playing with zero confidence, and are led by the most overhyped point guard in their history, crappy white boy Greg Paulus (7 turnovers today). The only thing that worries me is Josh McRoberts having his way in the post. That's why the Blair outing today is big; with him on the floor BC can neutralize some of what McRoberts can do. If Oates plays a lot, the Eagles will be in trouble.

All in all, let's give a lot of credit to BC for a huge road win today. Florida State is one tough squad, they've beaten a lot of good teams, especially down there. To come out with a W all but seals an NCAA bid in my opinion, which is quite an accomplishment given all the injuries and suspensions BC has endured this year.

Miami Game

2007-02-08T19:23:00.000-08:00

A nice "hold serve"for the Eagles over Miami yesterday, 75-68, on a night when they clearly didn't bring their A game. The perimeter defense sucked, but Jared Dudley and Ty Rice did just enough to slip by the Hurricanes, hitting clutch baskets (Dudley) and free throws (Rice) down the stretch to seal the deal. Also, John Oates finally found his stroke (10 points), which seemed to get the rest of his game going (5 boards, 1 block). Shamiri Spears had a nice game as well.

On the negative side, a pretty weak showing by both Sean Marshall (9 points, 2 rebounds, 3 turnovers) and increasingly irrelevant Marquez Haynes (o points - hasn't he been a mild disappointment this year?) . Tyrelle Blair was just OK, but Oates stole a lot of his minutes.

With some real tough games on the horizon, BC badly needed this win. It wasn't pretty but they got it. A loss would have been devastating, so I'm relieved - at least until Sunday when they travel to Tallahassee.

Hokie Hoedown!

2007-02-04T09:50:00.000-08:00

BC crushed Virginia Tech yesterday, 80-51, in a wire-to-wire command performance that might be the Eagles' loudest win of the season. The Hokies were until yesterday the darlings of the ACC, having knocked off the likes of Duke, UNC, Maryland and GTech on their way to a Top 25 ranking (that won't last long). They were also jostling with BC for second place in the conference. When the dust settled, BC had a great win that was getting national attention, as well as a firm hold of first place (with Virginia) after NC State shocked the hell out of everyone by edging erstwhile conference leader UNC in Raleigh.

The State win over the Tar Heels emphatically shows just how tough and cannibalistic the ACC has been this year. And along those lines, 10th-place GTech trounced Clemson on the road (remember the Tigers running roughshod over their out-of-conference opponents?), and Florida State beat hated Duke at Cameron. With these upsets, a strong case can be made that the ACC is, top-to-bottom, the best conference in the land (UNC just beat the snot out of Pac-10 power Arizona for crissakes). And I'm not the only one thinking that way - the RPI and Pomeroy rankings currently have the ACC No. 1.

With the toughest part of their schedule coming up, I know the Eagles have a lot of work to do, but they are in a great position at 7-2 in conference to snare an NCAA tourney bid. Indeed, the way everyone in the ACC is beating each other up, there may be only 2 or 3 teams with 10 conference wins. So this helps BC immensely, and gives them a little more room for error. I no longer think they need to go 11-5 in conference play, because we may even see an 8-8 ACC team get in the Big Dance the way things are going. So beating a rock solid team like VTech in the fashion BC did yesterday is huuuuuuge.

A bunch of positives from yesterday's game:

1. Ty Rice. I have not written this, but I have been thinking it for a long time. Rice has made an amazing transition from off-guard to point guard this year. He was a high scoring shooting guard in high school, and only played the point sparingly last year. With the graduation of Louis Hinnant, he struggled mightily at the beginning of the season at the point. But over the past 15 games or so, he's been absolutely incredible, even dominating at times. Since the Clemson game he's dished 30 assists while committing only 8 turnovers. I think he should be 2nd team All-ACC (Zabian Dowdell and Sean Singletary will probably be the First-Teamers), though an argument can be made that no point guard in the conference has his combined proficiency with ppg (16.5), apg (6.2), and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8:1.0).

2. Jared Dudley. What else is there to say? Another spectacular performance. He is the smartest player on the court at all times by a large margin, and should get serious POY consideration (he won't though, not enough pub).

3. Tyler Roche. I'm telling you, getting this kid on the court could be the silver lining of the Dope Dismissals. With McLean and Williams on the team, they didn't need Roche this year and he would have ridden the pine. But with such a short bench, the kid has to play, and he's showing everyone that he can. This bodes well for next year because he is the heir apparent to Dudley at the small forward position. And with the minutes, Roche is gaining confidence. I really liked the way he played defense, hit the boards and was not shy about jacking his heralded jump shot yesterday. Roche assuming a bigger role in the rotation could be what pushes BC over the top in the next few weeks.

4. Tyrelle Blair. He's another guy you can see getting better and better the more floor action he sees. I know Skinner is a loyal guy, but it's time to get Blair on the court as much as possible and sit John Oates down (more on that later).

5. Shamari Spears. Another solid effort from the lil aircraft carrier. I just love the way he uses his body around the glass, and his soft touch is a bonus.

6. The first half effort. Other than the Virginia game, BC has come out hard against every ACC opponent this year (even the losses), often building double-digit leads. This is big for BC, because they play soooo much better with a lead. When the Eagles got ahead of VTech, you could just feel the game devolve into a slow grind, and the Hokies were out of their element. Kudos to Skinner and the seniors for again making sure everyone had their game face on at the outset.

A couple of negatives:

1. John Oates. Again, he was invisible, and his defense was atrocious. He has to learn to stop leaning into guys as they're shooting, he's been doing it all year. Either go for the block or back off. The lean and soft foul does nothing except put guys on the line for 3-point plays. Oates must lead the league in that category. Enough already!

2. Sean Marshall. OK, I'm back to bashing Marshall again. After a nice game (finally) against Florida State, he has returned to his evil ways, allowing a cold shooting hand to affect the rest of his game. In back-to-back conference clunkers against Duke and VTech, he was 5-24 from the floor. He had zero rebounds against the Hokies in 34 minutes. The pouting is unbelievable. Also, I can't stand the way he watches his shot clang off the rim and doesn't hustle back to a defensive position for the inevitable transition basket. This has been an ongoing problem all year for Marshall. It doesn't show up in the boxscore, but the easy baskets going the other way hurt, especially when Rice and Dudley aren't having big games to compensate (like yesterday).

Overall though, a great win obviously. If they can knock off Miami and Florida State this week, I think they might have an NCAA bid all but locked up.

Big Game Against the Hokies

2007-02-02T18:31:00.000-08:00

BC takes on VTech Saturday (1:00 PM, Ch. 38) in a critical ACC battle for sole possession of second place (both are 6-2 in conference play behind 6-1 UNC). This one doesn't need a lot of hype, it very well might be the biggest game on the Eagles' schedule to date. And I say the winner, barring a big collapse, is well on its way to an NCAA tourney bid. The loser? A tough row to hoe.

VTech has had some high profile wins, knocking off Duke and UNC the same week last month, but they stumbled badly the other night at home against ACC bottom feeder NC State. So BC could be catching the talented Hokies in a rut, or they could be on the business end of an angry team. I fear it'll be the latter, so the Eagles better bring their A game.

From the VTech perspective, here's a couple of game previews here and here, and a whiny review of the Hokies' loss to the Pack.

Hartford Beating

2007-01-31T21:26:00.000-08:00

Wells this was a good ol fashioned ass-whuppin,' with the Eagles beating Hartford 94-60 tonight. Yes Hartford sucks, but let's give the guys credit for coming out with fire and putting the wood to the Hawks from the get-go.

Non-conference January games can be a letdown, but the Eagles were having no part of that, and the easy win served as a great tuneup for a huuuuge home game against VTech Saturday afternoon. By the way, the Hokies inexplicably lost at home tonight to crappy NC State of all teams, which really helps BC in the standings. Looking ahead perhaps, VTech?

Aside from taking care of business, there were a number of positives. A lot of guys found their stroke from downtown, with 14 treys overall (the most in a game for BC ever), and just about everyone played well (Ty Rice had 13 assists, John Oates had 11 points and Tyrelle Blair had a great big man line with 6 points, 7 boards and 7 blocks ). But the thing I like the most is that Tyler Roche finally got an extended look (20 minutes), and responded with 12 points on 4 three-pointers. Everything I read about this kid as a prepster was that he is a deadly shooter from long range, and BC desperately needs a guy like that in the rotation. I really really hope he earned some minutes with his performance tonight. The bench is too shallow, and there aren't enough guys in the rotation who can bury the rock from long distance. BC could use a guy like Roche.

Oates Benched?

2007-01-30T18:32:00.000-08:00

According to this article in the Herald yesterday, Coach Skinner benched John Oates for Tyrelle Blair during the Duke game. Not sure if it's a benching going forward or just in-game. If the former, I applaud the move. I'm not an Oates basher, he certainly tries hard and he's a good soldier. But he could try a lot harder. In the last 5 ACC games, he scored only 8 points and grabbed just 10 rebounds. Total! That's pretty bad given all the minutes he gets (approx. 20 per game). Hell, if you just stand under the basket for 100 minutes, I would think that at least 10 basketballs would fall into your hands. So maybe starting Blair will put some fire under Oates feet, and he'll come off the pine with renewed vigor. With Blair starting, BC will get a few more blocks (he led the Horizon League in blocked shots as a freshman for Loyola-Chicago), a bigger body, and probably a few more boards. Blair doesn't have Oates' jumpshot, but Oates hasn't been hitting that all year. I like this move.

The Herald also published the first comments I've seen from a player (Ty Rice) about the Dope Dismissals. Check it out:

"Rice and his teammates are tired of answering questions about the loss of Williams and McLain. 'I didn’t think anyone could be so selfish,' said Rice, who hasn’t spoken to his ex-teammates since they were thrown off the team. 'I don’t want to talk to them. They let the team down. We lost two of our family and I felt like they weren’t loyal.'"

Ouch. I like it though.

Quick Thoughts

2007-01-29T20:37:00.000-08:00

Not only is BC's rotation thin following the Dope Dismissals, the entire roster is shortstaffed. They only have 10 guys on the team for crissakes. I wonder if Skinner is holding tryouts for some bodies, because such a small roster presents problems on a couple of fronts. From a practice perspective, if someone goes down with an injury, it's tough to scrimmage unless one of the coaches participates. From a game perspective, if BC gets in one of those crazy foul-plagued games, the Eagles could find themselves undermanned to the point of perhaps not being able to field a team. I don't think I've ever seen that happen in major college basketball, but I have seen 6 guys DQ'd in the same game before. So it could happen.

Tobacco Smoke Show

2007-01-28T18:40:00.000-08:00

Well, this is exactly what I feared, Josh McRoberts totally having his way against BC's suddenly weak front line, most notably John Oates, in an easy 75-61 win over the Eagles tonight. The Soft One (1 point, 1 rebound in 16 invisible minutes) has always been limited on defense, but even I was surprised at how bad McRoberts made him look. McRoberts scored at will, grabbed rebounds, blocked shots, and generally shoved Oates around like he was a rag doll. McRoberts is no Bill Walton, but he can make bad competition look bad, and tonight was Exhibit A. The primary storyline of this game was rebounding, where the Dukies absolutely slaughtered BC (41-29 total). The edge was even more pronounced on Duke's offensive glass, where the Blue Devils converted a 15-12 advantage into countless second chance points.

But Oates was only half the story. The other half was the regression of Sean Marshall. Marshall was miserable, and it wasn't just a case of the shots not falling. What irks me most is that Marshall constantly put himself in a position to fail (as is his wont), driving into the paint, and taking bad, reckless, off balance shots. Someone needs to tell Marshall that he just can't finish, so driving into taller frontcourt players is a bad idea, especially since he shoots on the way down, giving the competition time to recover whatever step he has to block his shot. Marshall should tee up from 3 when he gets an open look, or drive for dunks when the lane is open. Other than that, he should look to pass on offense.

Marshall also singlehandely killed the last chance BC had at a rally. Down 63-57 with 4 minutes left, he missed an open 3, then fouled Lance Thomas on the fastbreak, who went to the line and converted. The next possession, Marshall was fouled and missed the front end of the 1 and 1 (a turnover at the stripe). Duke capitalized by making a couple more free throws and pushing the lead to 10. Game over. Marshall's line for the day? 2-11, 7 points, 4 turnovers, 4 fouls. That's not gonna do it Sean, not against Duke.

The thing I got out of this game is that going forward BC really has to be hitting on all cylinders offensively to steal some Ws against good competition, because their defense and rebounding are just not good enough to stop anyone. Tonight, they didn't have nearly the firepower they needed from their 3 big scorers (Marshall, Rice, Dudley). Marshall sucked, and Tyrese Rice was also off. Rice handled the ball well (only 1 turnover) and had some nice drives, but his perimiter shot wasn't falling, especially from international waters (1-7). In fairness, Duke had a nice gameplan for him, giving crappy white boy Greg Paulus a lot of help D, but Rice didn't help his cause with his bricklaying. Dudley gave them a decent, but not great game (17 points, 8 rebounds), so BC really struggled to score.

I was pleasantly surprised by Tyrelle Blair. As I have said in prior postings, I think Blair is a backup center, but if the guy he is backing up is Oates, a pretty strong case can be made for him to start by default, and I think Skinner needs to take a look at that. Blair submitted a very nice line of 9 points, 6 boards and 4 blocks, and held his own at times against McRoberts. Shamari Spears also played well. He shot only 5-14 from the floor, but a few of those shots just bled off the rim, so his shooting percentage could have been a lot better had the ball rolled his way. And I really liked the way Spears battled, he boxed people out and went hard after rebounds. I think he is shaping into a nice player.

This was not that bad a loss. I did not expect BC to win, and the L does not kill them. After all, many good teams have gone down at Cameron over the years, it's a tough place to play. The "glass is half full" view is that BC just played OK, yet were within 6 with the ball very late in the game. I like our chances in Round Two at Conte.

BC gets a respite against Hartford on Wednesday. In seasons past, I have considered these non-conference January games dangerous because of the letdown factor, but BC is a team that needs to make some adjustments, maybe get another guy into the rotation to take some of the stress off the regulars. So I welcome it.

How Bad Are the Losses Really?

2007-01-27T11:27:00.000-08:00

I just watched Providence trounce UConn at Storrs, which was very satisfying on a couple of fronts. First, it's always good to see the Huskies go down. Their fan base is replete with only-game-in-town yahoos, and Jim Calhoun is a certifiable a-hole. He took a number of shots at BC when they left the conference, and loudly proclaimed that UConn would never play the Eagles again. Fine with me, Jim, see ya at the World's Fair. Second, the win is good for PC, and what's good for PC is good for BC given the Friars upset of the Eagles in November at the Dunk. I know, I know, UConn is not what they were a year ago, but UConn is now college basketball royalty (much as I hate to admit it), so a win over them at their place is big for anyone, no matter the circumstances.

The PC game got me thinking: how ugly are the BC losses? The out-of-conference setbacks really aren't that bad when you take a close look. PC is 14-6 overall (4-3 in the Big East), with wins over Marquette, UConn and BC. Very much in the hunt for an at-large NCAA bid in other words. Kansas? The Jayhawks are 17-3 with an RPI of 12, 'nuff said. Vermont? Not as bad as you would think. The Catamounts have a Top 100 RPI (98), are currently 14-6, and lead the America East Conference. Duquesne is the most unsightly. The Dukes are 6-11 with an RPI of 210. However, BC was seriously undermanned when they played Duquesne, with Jared Dudley, John Oates and Akida McLean in streetclothes nursing injuries. And BC is not alone, the Dukes have put it together and upset a couple of other decent teams like Dayton (RPI 73) and St. Louis (RPI 97) in Atlantic 10 play.

In the ACC, the Eagles have only lost at Clemson, a Top 25 team most of the year and probably a lock for the NCAA tourney barring a collapse. The rest of the ACC schedule is so strong that BC really can't have a bad conference loss. Other than Miami (RPI 167), every ACC opponent the rest of the way is in the RPI Top 50.

So right now, it's all about the numbers. If the Eagles can somehow get to 19 or 20 wins, they have a pretty good argument for getting into the dance. They're at 14 right now, and should pick up the last out-of-conference W next week when they host Hartford (now THAT would be a bad loss).

Duke Preview

2007-01-26T17:22:00.000-08:00

BC heads down to Tobacco Road this weekend for a showdown with the Blue Devils Sunday night (5:30 P.M.). Duke is one of those teams (the Yankees and Notre Dame Football being the others) that I absolutely despise. The common thread is the air of superiority that they and their insufferable fans all have. Duke is particularly annoying in that every Top 100 prepster in the country is dying to go there, so the Dukies cherrypick the perfect profile ones (i.e., good grades, parents are educators, dates the homecoming queen), and then shamelessly brag about how Duke wins "the right way." Whatta crock. When Fudge Packer and Gay Bilas gush over them on CBS I wanna throw up in my mouth.

As is well documented, after Steve Lappas got canned Coach K is the only large rodent left coaching major college basketball. And the truth is that he is the most duplicitous coach out there. Every year Duke has a Top 5 recruiting class, yet every year they have a short bench. A disconnect? Not really, since Coach K likes a rotation that only goes seven deep, he throws a bunch of talent against the wall and sees what sticks. The sin is that I very much doubt he discloses that on the recruiting trail. But these dopey lemmings should be warned: if you're not in the Dukies' rotation by mid-November, you should be making transfer plans. Just ask Eric Boateng, a ballyhooed McDonald's All-American who transferred to Arizona State last year, or Jamal Boykin, a Parade All American who transferred to Cal this year. In fact, I'll bet there are more high school All-Americans who have left Durham in the past 3 years than have ever attended BC. Parenthetically, I look at a guy like Duke Freshman Gerald Henderson, a McDonald's All American, and I want to smack him in the head. He was a friggin' stud in high school, and now he's averaging 3ppg in ACC play in limited minutes. Why not go to a place like BC? His dad played for the Celtics for crissakes (made the steal that won the '84 championship over the Lakers), and he would have started right away and put up big numbers. Unbelievable.

Now for the game. This will be a tough one for BC, playing a pretty good team in their gym before a hostile crowd. I think the Dukies are overrated, especially Greg Paulus and his 1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, but Josh McRoberts will present a really really tough matchup for the Eagles. He's inconsistent, but that's only when he's playing against decent competition in the post (e.g., Craig Smith last year). I would have liked BC's chances had they not booted Sean Williams off the team. But without Williams, I think McRoberts is going to have a field day against soft John Oates and graceless Tyrelle Blair. So it could be ugly down low. On the other hand, I think there is a possibility Ty Rice will devour Paulus. Hell, Paulus couldn't run with Louis Hinnant last year, and Rice is twice the player Sweet Lou was, especially on offense. The X factor might be how Sean Marshall defends DeMarcus Nelson. Nelson is an athletic guy with good range, so Marshall needs to get in his jock on defense and stay there. And whomever is on Jon Scheyer needs to do the same; that frosh can flat out shoot, and he's been playing with a lot of confidence as of late. My prediction? If BC can stay with the Dukies through the 1st half, I think things could get interesting, especially if Jared Dudley takes advantage of his mismatch (he will have one).

Hey it's my birthday Sunday, and there would be no greater birthday present for me than a W over the hated Dukies at Cameron. So let's win one for Angry Eagle, fellas!

Forecast and "the Bubble"

2007-01-24T20:31:00.000-08:00

BC is in the home stretch of the season, and despite their 6-1 conference record, they are in a precarious position. I have said before that I think they need to go 11-5 in the ACC to be assured an NCAA tourney bid. 10-6 might do it, especially coupled with a win or two in the ACC tourney, but I would be squirming in my seat the whole way. The unsightly early season losses to Duquesne and Vermont, the Dope Dismissals, and a 5-6 fade would put them on the wrong side of the Bubble in my view.

The remaining 9 ACC games consist of exactly 1 game they should win (Miami away), 3 games they should lose (Duke away, UNC home, VTech away), and 5 "swing" games (VTech home, FSU away, Duke home, Clemson home, GTech away). So getting to 11 conference wins will be no easy task, as they will probably have to hold serve against the Hurricanes and take 4 of the 5 "swing" games, unless they pull a huge upset at Durham or Blacksburg, or home against the incredibly talented Tar Heels looking for payback.

The most likely candidates I see for W's among the "swing" opponents are VTech, FSU, GTech and Duke. VTech is a completely different team on the road (just ask FSU and Miami), and BC has already proven they can hang with FSU. GTech will be tough, they have a couple of fantastic freshmen. But I'm not sold on the Ramblin Wreck, they've been mighty inconsistent this year. Same goes for Duke; I think Greg Paulus totally sucks (perhaps the most overhyped player in the country), and McRoberts is just a big tease. Clemson scares me though, I just don't see the Eagles knocking them off, even at home.

If the season were to end today, BC (RPI 34) would probably be in as a No. 6 or 7 seed (see Bracketology), but according to this nice article from ESPN's Andy Katz, the season doesn't end today for the Eagles, it's just beginning. I couldn't agree more.

Recruiting Classes

2007-01-24T07:52:00.000-08:00

With the Twin Dope Dismissals, Al Skinner's class of '04 (Sean Williams, Akida McLean, Gordon Watt) is pretty much a total washout, despite having a boatload of talent (Watt transferred to Purdue and is starting and scoring 9 ppg for the Bolermakers). Yes, John Oates was kinda sorta in that class, but was not so much a recruit but a late signee after he fell through the cracks and was offered an open scholarship in August, much like Jared Dudley the year before.

The dismissals will not only hurt the Eagles this year for obvious reasons, but next year as well, when BC will be sorely lacking senior leadership. Skinner has done a great job over the years adding 2 new players or so to the rotation every season, blending veterans with newcomers. That formula has led to continuity and success. It will be broken next year. However, as is well documented in prior postings and on other blogs, BC will be welcoming its best and largest class next year (5 solid recruits). Let's hope the kids can play, or it could be a long season of growing pains.

Florida State

2007-01-23T18:51:00.000-08:00

I attended the game tonight, and it was one of the best games I have witnessed in a long, long time. I don't think either team was up by more than 5 points at any point in the game, a total see-saw, thrilling affair. Coming in, I thought BC needed to win at least 5 and probably 6 of their final 10 ACC games to get an NCAA tourney bid, so this was a huge "hold serve." Florida State is no shrinking violet either, with wins over current Top 25 squads Florida and Virginia Tech, and near misses against Clemson and Georfia Tech. A few thoughts:

1. Ty Rice might have sealed 2nd or 3rd team All-ACC honors with his performance tonight (26 points, 6 assists, 1 turnover). But it wasn't just the numbers. He hit big shot after big shot, drove to the hoop with authority, and handled the rock almost flawlessly with intense perimeter pressure on him. If he had played anything but a great game tonight, BC loses this one by 15.

2. Sean Marshall obviously drilled the big three at the buzzer for the win, but he also hit the boards hard (10 rebounds) and had some big baskets when BC's offense stalled.

3. Jared Dudley had a routine game for him (23 points, 6 boards), but that means stellar for anyone else.

4. Marquez Haynes chipped in some nice defense and had a few key free throws.

5. Shamari Spears had quiet numbers (4 points, 5 rebounds), but his boards were big and he had one absolutely crucial steal in the final minutes.

6. John Oates and Tyrelle Blair. These guys were invisible, and their enhanced minutes is the most disconcerting byproduct of the Sean Williams and Akida McLean dismissals. Oates was exposed again by a quick team. The guy just can't move his feet on defense, and everybody knows it. Blair is basically a backup center who can deliver the occasional block, but he has no touch around the hoop and has weak hands.

7. Down 5 with less than 5 minutes to play, BC went with a smaller, quicker lineup (i.e., Oates and Blair were on the pine), and it paid huge dividends - BC went on a 13-6 run to close the game and grab the W. While they can't play this lineup every game and especially against size, in spots they should go to it without hesitation. Plenty of scorers on the floor, and no glaring holes on D.

I am fired up. A big emotional win was exactly what the team needed to get its mojo back after the Clemson debacle. Heading down to Duke now is a "no lose" proposition, they are not expected to win, and it won't kill them if they do. So I expect them to play loose, and I expect them to play well. And who knows, maybe they can steal one against the overrated Dukies, who have had some weird struggles against medicore competition at home this year (e.g., Holy Cross, Kent State).

Clemson

2007-01-22T14:13:00.000-08:00

I did not see the Clemson game because I was on vacation, but I followed it. Needless to say, I am more than a little disappointed in the outcome. I thought that BC would come out swinging after the dismissals of Williams and McLean, but they obviously didn't and got thumpted. Make no mistake about it, Clemson is a good athletic team, playing at home and probably a little angry coming off 2 losses (including 1 blowout) against a couple of the better conference teams (Maryland and UNC). But a 20 point loss is a drubbing in my book, no matter the circumstances. I'm just hoping this was more about Clemson than BC. If the latter, the Eagles have to regroup and fast, cuz the schedule gets a little tougher from here on out, starting with a decievingly good Flordida State squad (No. 22 RPI) at home tomorrow night and Duke on the road this weekend. The big time players have to step it up, and the role players (especially Oates, Blair and Spears) have to show some game.

This is one of the weirdest seasons in memory.

Baaaaaad News for BC

2007-01-17T17:19:00.000-08:00

Sean Williams and Akida McLean were booted off the team today according to multiple sources, including ESPN's Andy Katz in this Article. The rumor I heard from a guy close to the program is that they were caught lighting up a doob after the game. I also heard McLean's earlier 9 game suspension was for dealing drugs.

Un-friggin-believable how goddamn stupid these guys are. Williams went from surefire NBA 1st rounder if he declared this year, and possible lottery pick if he played his senior year and continued to improve. Now if he makes it anywhere, it will be despite all the baggage he has to drag around with him . We're talking millions and millions of dollars he just lost. Williams' children, let alone his great great great great grandchildren, just lost their trust funds. If our legal system were perfect, they could sue him for idiocy with no statute of limitations precluding their claims. And McLean? That guy was the ultimate unfulfilled promise - a long 6'9" lefty with a nice shooting touch. He could have turned himself into a great college player, and perhaps work himself into the NBA or a good Euro league. No chance now, I'll bet he never even graduates from college anywhere. I've always said there is a fine line between being an NBA guard and a security guard, McLean will learn that the hard way.

So where does that leave the Eagles? When I first heard the news, I was driving in my car and I had a very visceral, profane reaction. But as I calmed down, I got more rationale. The loss is really limited to Williams. It's a big loss for sure, he is a spectactular talent who can change games. But maybe Tyrelle Blair can step in a little, and maybe Shamari Spears can step up a little and fill some of the gap. Though BC could have used a healthy McLean, his absence will be no great loss - he's barely played this year, and the team has done just fine without him. And really, maybe it's good riddance to both of these bad apples. We only hear the result. Given their multiple suspensions and second chances, these thugs must have been brazenly flouting team rules at least, and the law at worst. I don't see how that could not have been disruptive for the rest of the team.

Al Skinner has faced more adversity this year than in any year of his career. The Eagles had lost 25 man-games to injury or suspension through last night's game, all of which involve rotation guys (mostly starters). That figure will balloon to 51 with Williams and McLean off the team for the balance of the season, and that's if everyone else stays healthy (Dudley?) and out of trouble (Spears?). I'll bet that's more than any team in the country. Teams can go one of two ways when faced with adversity - they can either crumble or pull together. I hate to sound like a homer, but I think this BC team will be fine. Jared Dudley and Sean Marshall seem like good kids, and this is their team and their senior years. I think they will pull the team together and circle the wagons. And I think the finality of having these losers off the team will be like a breath of fresh air around Conte Forum. What the hell, that's my prediction and I'm sticking to it - look for a big loud win over Clemson this Saturday.

Articles and Other Stuff

2007-01-17T10:50:00.000-08:00

Here are the game articles from the Miami Herald, the Orlando Sentinel, the Boston Herald, and the Boston Globe.

If you count up the votes for "other receiving votes," BC is now viewed as the 33rd best team in the country in both the AP and Coaches Polls.

After 24 league games (including the ACC tourney games last year), BC is 18-6 against ACC opponents, and has a losing record to only Duke (and the 2 losses were by a combined 4 points). The breakdown is as follows:

Maryland: 2-1
Georgia Tech: 1-1
NC State: 2-1
Florida State: 1-0
Miami: 3-0
North Carolina: 2-0
Duke: 0-2
VTech: 2-0
Wake Forest: 3-0
Clemson: 1-0
Virginia: 1-1

'Nuff said BC Bashers!

Another Easy Win

2007-01-16T20:17:00.000-08:00

BC put the wood to Miami tonight for their 4th straight easy conference win, and 10th consecutive W over the 'Canes (nice to stick it to them in hoops to offset their football dominance). Skinner's charges definitely seem to be finding their groove. The Eagles went up by 20 midway thru the 1st half, and the Hurricanes never really challenged, even though BC put it in cruise control in the second frame.

The Heroes:

1. Sean Marshall (15 points) and Jared Dudley (18 points, 5 boards). Another solid outing for the seniors.

2. Ty Rice. 16 points, 12 assists (career high) and only 3 turnovers. Rice couldn't find his range from three, but he had some strong drives and pretty teardrops. A little shaky on defense, especially in transition, but his play of late is really showing me he has what it takes to be a solid pointguard in this league.

3. Shamari Spears (9 points, 10 boards). He was huge on the boards for the second straight ACC game. He had some really stupid turnovers with interior passing, but that's a little nitpicky.

4. Sean Williams (10 points, 6 boards, 3 blocks). Got in some foul trouble, but a pretty solid effort with limited minutes.

The Villains:

1. John Oates. This a real stretch calling Oates a villain tonight. He submitted a subpar game, but it really wasn't that bad. His rebounding was so-so, his defense weak, and his offense non-existent (3 points). But a lot of that might be attributable to Miami big man Dwayne Collins, who had a monster game.

2. Transition D. BC got burned often and ugly by the 'Canes in the second half, when they were off to the races on every defensive rebound. The rotation D has reared it's ugly head on a few occasions in the recent past, and I think some adjustments might be in order. Rice likes to drive, and someone has to rotate back when he does that. But a lot of that happened tonight after BC got the big lead and was coasting.

Other Thoughts:

1. Billy Packer - why does that know-it-all dork hate BC so much? Goddamnit, he is annoying. With BC up 15-20 virtually the whole game, all he could do was rave about Collins and talk about how BC "better be careful." Whaaaat? Miami never got closer than 12, and that was with 3 minutes left. C'mon. BC is in your beloved ACC, Billy. Get used to it.

2. Nice to see Akida McLean on the floor after his injury, albeit for only a few minutes. Having McLean back in the rotation could be huuuge.

3. Sean Williams was quoted in the paper professing his intent on returning to school next year, and returning the faith BC has showed in him. Nice to hear, but I'll believe it when I see it. He is a no-brainer 1st rounder - who would turn that dough down?

4. BC is now 18-3 in ACC play over the past 21 games going back to last season (tourney games included), and has beaten every team except Duke. And they get two cracks at the overrated, insufferable Blue Devils in the next few weeks.

Switching gears a little, Sports Illustrated came out with their 2007 college football Power Rankings, and the Eagles check in at No. 20. The only ACC team ahead of them is VTech. ND is nowhere in sight I'm pleased to say (God I hate the Irish), but it concerns me that 4 Big East teams made it, including BC recruiting rival Rutgers.

Hurricanes in Town Tonight

2007-01-16T09:11:00.000-08:00

Christ, it's pretty lame that the Globe and the Herald both failed to publish a game day article on a Boston College ACC tilt for the third game in a row. That is unheard of down South, and gives substance to the tired refrain of opposing coaches on the recruiting trail deriding Boston as a "pro sports town." In any event, here's the preview of tonight's game from the perspective of the Miami Herald. Thank God for the Internet.

BC has won 5 in a row and Miami is in a downward spiral, having lost 5 of 7. So BC should roll, right? Not so fast. If history teaches us anything, it's that the Eagles time and again come out flat in circumstances like this, and Miami has always given BC trouble. Getting off to a good start against the Hurricanes this evening is thus critical - smack them down and don't take your foot off their neck.

Yesterday, this Article came from the Boston Herald about Sean Williams' defense improving at the expense of his shot blocking. The writer takes the position that setting up the blocks puts Williams out of defensive and rebounding position. I couldn't agree more. In my post after the Duquesne game, that was my big criticism. Williams and Blair had 17 blocks combined, but BC was killed on the offensive boards, and the overall defense was terrible, swats notwithstanding. There has been a marked improvement in overall defense since that game, and the Herald article credits Skinner for the adjustment, citing player quotes. Another example of why the guy is a great coach.

Swatmeister and Other Thoughts

2007-01-15T09:58:00.000-08:00

Sean Williams getting some props from Sports Illustrated in this online piece.

BC has an RPI ranking of 37 right now, which would put them in the NCAA tourney on that criterion alone if the season ended today. They have three wins over Top 100 teams, Maryland (24), Michigan State (25), and UMass (72) to shout about. Even the losses aren't that damaging. Obviously going down at Kansas (21) is nothing to be ashamed of, but the Providence (53) and Vermont (97) losses don't look as bad as they felt at the time given the seasons those teams are having - Providence is 12-4, and Vermont is 12-5. The Duquesne setback hurts, but remember that BC was played the Dukes with three rotations guys sitting on the bench nursing injuries (Dudley, McLean, Oates).

Next on the slate is Miami at home tomorrow night. The Hurricanes are a weird team. They beat conference heavies GTech and Maryland, but have had bad losses to the likes of Binghampton, Buffalo and Cleveland State. As I said in my previous post, I expect a war. If the Eagles prevail, it will be a seat squirmer - it always is with Miami.

Virginia & Wake Victories

2007-01-14T18:49:00.000-08:00

This was a big, big week for the Eagles. As I have said before, I think BC needs to go at least 10-6 in conference (and maybe win 1 game in the ACC tourney) for a really good shot at an at-large bid. So racing out to a 4-0 conference start puts them in great shape, as they only need to go .500 the rest of the way to get there. And if they can somehow close out conference play by going 7-5, they would probably end up at least 21-10 (assuming they take care of business at home against Hartford and go 1-1 in the ACC Tourney), with an 11-5 conference record to brag about. I can't see the NCAA Selection Committee keeping them out with that profile, especially in light of the fact that suspension and injuries have kept the Eagles from fielding a full complement of players for every game - BC has lost 12 man-games to suspension (McLean 9, Willliams 2, Spears 1), and another 12 man-games to injury (Oates 2, Dudley 3, McLean 7). For those of you still lamenting the Vermont and Duquesne games, I think the high profile wins over teams like Michigan State, Maryland, Virginia, Wake and even UMass (check it out - they are having a great year) will overshadow the ugly losses when you consider the short bench BC has had to play with.

How much weight should we give the Wake and Virginia wins this week? Wake does look kind of soft, but Virginia is solid. The Cavs blew out Gonzaga a few weeks ago, and gave North Carolina all they could handle (at Chapel Hill a couple of days ago) before the Heels pulled away for a 10 point win. And 4-0 in conference is 4-0.

I'm getting fired up about this team again because I sense that Al Skinner has been poking, prodding and tinkering with his rotation, and he is close to hitting the sweet spot that he seems to hit every year. I like the way the perimiter defense has stepped it up. I like the soft press that has led to so many easy buckets. I like the fact BC went on serious runs against NC State, Wake and Virginia. Though they had to withstand some comebacks, the important thing is that they did. Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And the foul shooting, a bane last year, has been excellent.

I also like BC's chances down the road because it looks like they clearly got a favorable ACC schedule. The best teams BC will face in conference play appear to be Maryland, Duke, Clemson, GTech and UNC. They only have to play Maryland, GTech and UNC once each, and they got the Terps and the Heels at home.

A few quick comments:

1. It was great to see such a large crowd at the Virginia game yesterday. Usually those home games during winter break are pretty small gatherings, but the joint was full, even if it wasn't jumpin'.

2. I continue to be pleasantly surprised by Sean Marshall. I still think he can't finish inside, but his rebounding and defense have improved, and it looks like he's found his stroke from downtown.

3. Ty Rice is playing well, though he had a quiet game against the Cavaliers. Usually BC sinks or swims with Rice, but the Eagles got a nice win when he had an off-day. Given his inconsistency, that is a very good sign.

4. For those of you who did not see the end of the Wake game, it was a little disconcerting watching Marquez Haynes wilt under pressure when forced to play the point. Haynes is a nice player, plays good D and has a decent offensive game. But with Rice in foul trouble, Haynes showed he is not an adequate point guard. Wake pressured him into 6 turnovers down the stretch, and many of them were of the panic variety.

5. I read in the paper that Akida McLean participated in a full practice the other day. If McLean can come back from the ankle sprain and give them some meaningful minutes, that would be huge. He is one big dude, and has a nice touch with the left hand. Playing him and Williams together would give BC a sick front line, especially on defense.

6. Shamari Spears had a really, really nice game against Virginia, perhaps the best ACC game he's played. He got a number of important boards, and one critical put-back when the Cavs were making their final run. I hope that gives the kid some confidence, as he was playing without any the past few games.

7. Miami is next up, and that will be one of those war games. Miami is never that great, but like Virginia Tech, always plays BC tough, especially on the road. The Eagles get them at home on Tuesday, and I hope they come out early and smack them into submission.

8. BC is now 16-4 over the last 20 ACC games spanning two years, tied with Duke for the best record in the conference. I love pointing that out to the BC-haters who predicted the Eagles would get smoked when they joined the ACC!

NC State

2007-01-07T07:22:00.000-08:00

BC crushed the Wolfpack in Raleigh yesterday in a wire-to-wire thumping that may have been the Eagles' best all-around effort of the season. I know, I know, the Pack is weak this year (picked pre-season to finish last by the ACC coaches), but a road win is a road win, and Al Skinner's charges made it look easy. So easy in fact that I was musing about the naysayers who mocked BC's move to the ACC, claiming the Eagles could not compete in what has been traditionally the best hoop conference in the land. To those naysayers I point out that after last year's 0-3 conference start, BC has won 15 of 18 ACC games (including the ACC tourney), and 2 of the losses were against No. 1 Duke by a combined 4 points. Indeed, I'll bet if you asked the other ACC coaches who the toughest conference opponent to prepare for is, a lot of them would say our nice little group from the Heights.

After the Duquesne loss, I was admittedly a little worried about this team. The defense had been atrocious. But against Yale and NC State, things have picked up. And this is not the first time Skinner has had to make significant defensive adjustments. Early in the 2003 season, I recall BC was getting sliced and diced from the perimiter this badly. After Villanova put up 92 points and pinned BC with a home loss, Skinner made the changes and the Eagles went on a roll all the way to the NCAA tournament. I see the same things happening here. NC State couldn't buy a good look at the hoop.

As I stated in an earlier post, I thought the Dudley injury might be a blessing in disguise. I am now convinced that it was. While no new player emerged (Tyler Roche, you missed your opportunity), a number of players stepped up their game:

1. Sean Marshall. There has been no bigger basher of Marshall than me, but over the last 4 games or so, Marshall has become a big-time scorer, and he is crashing the boards (14 v. NC State). He is even hitting the big shot for once, not just a lot of meaningless buckets early. Yesterday's game very well might have been the best game of his career.

2. Ty Rice. I have always viewed Rice as a tease. He has a lot of talent, but often wastes it gunning for style points, which usually translates into maddening turnovers. But since Dudley went down, he has found his shot from three, his drives are sound decisions and open up the offese, and his handle has greatly improved. Yesterday he had 10 assists and only 1 turnover.

3. John Oates. I have been a mild critic of his game, especially on defense, but his injury showed how valuable he has become to this team. Sean Williams shot-blocking makes up for his defensive deficiencies. Yes, his offense is limited to the occasional put-back and three, but his rebounding has improved markedly (8 boards yesterday).

4. Marquez Haynes. Kind of a quiet game yesterday, but extended minutes during the Dudley absence show that he can play when called upon. He brings speed, sound defense, a little flash offensively, and a decent jumpshot.

5. Shamari Spears. Still a work in progress. I am a little worried he is going to turtle up in ACC play, but as long as he can grab rebounds and give the Eagles a little offense off the bench, he can be a productive rotation guy.

6. Dudley and Williams. What else is there to say? Williams was a little quiet yesterday (4 points, 5 boards, 3 blocks), but they really didn't need him with Marshall taking over and the game well in hand early. Dudley had the most subtle 20 point game I've ever seen, which is further testament to how great a college player he is.

If BC can steal a win at Wake Tuesday, they could be back in the mix for an at-large NCAA bid. With the Vermont and Duquesne losses, I think they need to go at least 10-6 in conference play, and if they can get a win over the Deacs, they would simply have to go .500 or so the rest of the way to get there.

I sense this team can go on a run, and it should be noted that they have not had their full complement of players for a single game this season. The NCAA committee will take note of that if BC can get to 20 wins.

I'll Take It

2006-12-31T07:30:00.000-08:00

Let's give credit where credit is due: to Spags and the players. Although they played flat, especially in the first half, I'd say it was as difficult for the players to get up for this game as it was for the fans. And the fans, especially this one, were not up for the game. But they won despite being pushed all over the field for 59 minutes or so, and that's all that matters.

I have a few takes on the game.

BC's disinterest was evident by one aspect of their game early and often: poor tackling. Tackling is all about fire and effort, and when you see guys arm tackling and lettting people bounce off for extra yardage (yes, Mark Herzlich, you), then you're just not up for the game.

Ryan Glasper, a great player, had perhaps the worst game of his season, perhaps his career. Glasper was out of position all day, blew deep coverage on the first Navy touchdown, and, along with his secondary mates, could not figure out how to defend or help on the option pitch. 350 yards on the ground? That's all on the DBs, Navy had little of that up the middle. I could not believe how successful the Middies were. BC knew it was coming and must have defended against in it practice for a month.

The playcalling on the final drive was ridiculous. I know they were trying to center the ball and not screw up (i.e., holding call, interception, sack), but c'mon. You can throw a couple of safe outs or go for a corner endzone toss. Ryan is too smart to screw up in that situation. BC dodged a bullet by placing all its eggs in one basket with a shaky walk-on kicker who had never made even a 40 yard field goal, and who had missed an extra point that day. Maybe it was Dana Bible all along.

I'm glad this is over, and I'm talking about the TOB era. It felt like BC when they were still in the Big East but had committed to the ACC. Let's get on with it and start kicking ass next year.

Painful Loss

2006-12-28T18:57:00.000-08:00

BC went down to Duquesne tonight in overtime 98-93, believe it or not. I am stunned. The Eagles blew a 10 point lead with 4 minutes left, and a 3 point lead with 2 seconds left in regulation. It was a weird one. With Jared Dudley, John Oates and Akida McLean all in street clothes, most of the other rotation guys stepped it up, in particular Ty Rice (29 pts, 8 assists), Sean Marshall (30 points), Marquez Haynes (12 points) and Sean Williams (19 points, 13 blocks). But shrinking violet Shamari Spears looked like a scared freshman for the second straight game. He was horrible on defense and invisible on offense (0 points). Tyrelle Blair, the big beneficiary of the Dudley minutes, was likewise underwhelming (0-2 fg, 3 pts, 4 boards, 21 minutes). He continues to show me that he is nothing more than a backup center who should only see the floor when Williams or Oates is in foul trouble. Tyler Roche (4 minutes) was the only other player to see any time, and Skinner had a quick hook with him.

For a while there, I thought we were going to see Sean Williams break the NCAA block record (14), as he had double figures in the first half. But Al Skinner inexplicably played one-dimensional Blair with Williams most of the second frame, and they seemed to be tripping over each other. The combo was good for blocks (Blair had 4), but the overall team defense was atrocious as a result ( a lot of "ole" trying to set up the blocks), and the Dukes put up big numbers in the second half and in overtime on layups and free throws.

If there is one, the silver lining here is that Haynes had a solid game, and Rice and Marshall found their stroke from downtown (20-37 combined). But Marshall missed the big shot again. With a chance to tie late in overtime, he tossed up an airball on a wide open three. He is just NOT a bigtime player.

Lastly, it should be noted that the referees played an unusually significant role late in the game. In overtime, Sean Williams was whistled for an intentional foul for dropping an f-bomb at the ref after a call on Blair (very stupid - he deserved it), and then again for grabbing a Duke's shirt on a breakway (ticky-tack). Those calls pretty much iced the game for Duquesne, the best free-throw shooting team in the A-10.

This loss is a serious, serious blow to BC's tourney hopes. Losing to Vermont early is one thing, but it's almost January, and Duquesne is a bad team. Even if BC does well in conference play, it will be a struggle to reach 20 wins, usually the benchmark for an at-large bid. The committee may look at this game as one in which the Eagles were missing 3 of their top 7 rotation guys due to injury, but they also might say a team like BC should be able to beat Duquesne handily with their backups. I would agree with the latter. Losing at home to Vermont and Duquesne in the same season spells N-I-T, ask anybody from the 02-03 NIT team (19-12 overall, 10-6 Big East but lost to Holy Cross and Northeastern at home).

How Big is the Bowl Streak?

2006-12-28T13:07:00.000-08:00

From the BC perspective, a lot of the interest in this weekend's Navy-BC third tier bowl centers around whether BC can extend its longest-in-the-nation bowl winning streak (which Utah tied for the time being with their win over Tulsa last Saturday). I for one have never been that impressed with it. The streak has a lot more to do with the expansion of the bowl slate and, how shall I say it, BC's "unique situation", than it does with BC's talent or game preparation. BC is a northern school with minimal appeal outside the northeast and a bad reputation for "traveling well." As we have painfully learned the last couple of years with the move to the ACC, BC is a lot less bowl attractive than any of their southern brethren. As a result, they always go to a lesser bowl than they deserve, and in turn square off against a lesser opponent whom they should beat. The pessimist in me also observes that TOB's annoying penchant for yearly WTF losses always knocked the Eagles down a slot or two in the bowl pecking order as well.

There is an interesting dichotomy between BC's bowl streak and that of Notre Dame (Notre Dame has lost 8 straight). ND, in contrast to BC, because of their misnomer nickname (the school was founded by a French order of priests) is wildly popular with all the yahoos across the country with Irish backgrounds. They fill seats and get good ratings, and have parlayed that appeal into an exclusive television contract with NBC and a special arrangement with the BCS (if memory serves, they get into the BCS if they have 8 wins and are ranked in the Top 10). So ND always goes to a better bowl than they deserve because of knee-jerk AP voters, which is why the Irish have lost 8 straight bigger bowls, some in embarrassing fashion; they constantly play teams that have gotten to the game on the merits.

BC has not exactly been world beaters during the streak. Look at the teams they've beaten: Arizona State, Georgia, Toledo, Colorado State, UNC, and Boise State. BC was heavily favored in every one of those games except Georgia. And the year they beat Georgia, the Bulldogs missed out on a January 1 bowl the last weekend of the season, were pretty unhappy to be in the Music City Bowl, and played like it.

So that's the real story with this glorious streak the BC Sports Information Department gets so excited about.

Duquesne And Other Thoughts

2006-12-28T05:41:00.000-08:00

BC is hosting 3-7 Duquesne tonight and I will be in attendance. The Dukes are an interesting squad. Coach Ron Everhart took over the troubled program and brought in a slew of new faces (only 2 holdovers from the previous year). Some are sitting out the year as transfers, but Duquesne has at least one hotshot freshman, Richard Mitchell (18.1 ppg, 5th in the nation for rookies), and a solid point guard in Aaron Jackson (1st in the A-10 in assist-to-turnover ratio). Duquesne has also grappled with the well-publicized on-campus shooting of 5 of its players following a party in September.

Everhart will miss the game due to medical issues, and a triumvirate of assistants, including 24 year old Richard Pitino (son of Rick), will take the reigns.

In the football world, I note with pleasure that Florida State blew out UCLA last night in the Emerald Bowl. This was the one ACC team I was most worried about because of the matchup. The Bruins were pretty good, they should have beaten Notre Dame at South Bend, and did beat USC in the regular season final. The Seminoles victory augers well for the ACC postseason, and a good showing by ACC schools could atone for some of the PR knocks the league has taken this year. Also, I love the transitive nature of the win: BC beat FSU, FSU beat UCLA, UCLA beat USC, USC crushed ND, ergo BC crushed hated Notre Dame. God, I hate the Irish and their insufferable fans.

More Muffler Bowl artcles here (Herald), here (Herald), here (Globe) and here (Baltimore Sun).

Yawner in Charlotte

2006-12-27T08:10:00.000-08:00

Anybody else out there completely disinterested in this weekend's Muffler Bowl (Saturday, 1 PM, ESPN)? Call me a bad fan, but I just can't seem to get too excited about a third tier bowl game against a service academy we've played many times over the years. I'll watch the game, but I won't have my typical BC Boner.

This is the classic can't win scenario: win and you get "big deal it's a service academy;" lose and you get "can't believe you lost to a service academy." Compound that with the twists and turns of the coaching change over the past few weeks, and you've got an interest quotient close to reruns of "A Very Brady Christmas."

Anyway, for those of you interested, here's a Mike Vega article from today's Globe about BC's bad travel reputation. The subject is old, but the article is well-written. Here's the Herald's take on the "weird situation" of having an interim coach and how the players are dealing with it, and the Baltimore Sun's version of the same issue.

Navy will have a distinct home field advantage (sound Boise-like familiar?). Not only is Charlotte just a few hours drive away, but the Navy faithful are pretty fired up over a 9-3 season and a bowl appearance. This local article says they're expecting 20,000 fans. I'd be surprised if BC has 3,000.

Lastly, here's the Herald's salute to outgoing AP 1st team All-America Josh Beekman

Injuries Injuries Injuries

2006-12-25T08:25:00.000-08:00

The Globe and Herald are reporting today that Jared Dudley will be out a couple of weeks to nurse a nagging foot injury. This comes on top of injuries to John Oates (not that serious foot injury) and Akida McLain (pretty bad ankle sprain). I think this will be a blessing in disguise. The competition is not that tough (Northeastern and Duquesne), and as I mentioned in my last posting, I think Tyler Roche needs to get on the floor so we can see what he can do. Roche was a big time recruit (scholarship offers from Georgetown, NC State and Providence), and from all I've read he is quite a shooter - check out this scout article. The Eagles desperately need an outside threat. Ty Rice, when he can get them off, is just not hitting his shots this year (16-59 from 3 point range), and Sean Marshall is waaay too streaky, and the bad streaks are a helluva lot longer and more frequent than the good ones. At 6'7", Roche will have no problem getting his shot off. And if he can step in and earn a spot in the rotation by exhibiting some long range prowess, BC will be much better off down the road, and won't be so susceptible to the zone defense.

Lost in Lawrence

2006-12-24T08:43:00.000-08:00

U-G-L-Y. BC took quite a pounding yesterday at the hands of the 12th-ranked University of Kansas, as thorough a beating as they have suffered since Pitt thumped them at home in the waning days of the 04--05 campaign. As I said in my preview, all the Kansas papers have been describing the Jayhawks as an inconsistent team, but one that can absolutely blow your doors off when they put it all together. Well KU certainly brought their "A" game, and put the wood to the Eagles. The game was essentially over late in the 1st half when Kansas switched to a zone defense, and promptly broke a 16-16 tie with a 31-7 run (not a misprint).

This was bad news on a number of fronts:

1. It represented a collosal missed opportunity. The Jayhawks haven't played anybody decent in almost a month, and came out of the gate pretty slowly with a number of sloppy turnovers. But BC was just as careless, especially Ty Rice (more on that later). Had BC pounced on Kansas and went up by 8-10 points early, it might have been a different game, or at least a different half. In the grander scheme of things, this was also a blown chance to have a nice, loud out-of-conference win. Kansas is young but extremely talented (6 McDonald's All-Americans). They will continue to improve, and by the end of the year might be a Top 5 team. Had BC managed to upset the Jayhawks, it would have been a big statement win. With the loss, BC has no more opportunities for such outside the ACC, so the Eagles are left to pull for UMass and Michigan State to have big years, so the wins over them look good come Selection Sunday.

2. Sean Williams had a huuuuge game (19 points, 15 rebounds, 7 blocks). Why is this bad news? Because BC-KU was a nationally televised affair on a dead Saturday during a holiday weekend. Everyone in the country was watching this game, including the NBA scouts. According to this article, there were 16 credentialed NBA scouts in attendance. Now everyone knows what we all know, that this guy is a f'ing freak. So make no mistake about it, Williams just vaulted from 2nd round flier to 1st round certainty in the 07 NBA Draft. Whether Williams returns to BC for his senior year is now extremely tenuous. I don't know Williams or anyone who does, so I don't know what he's thinking, but if he is drafted in the 20s (where I have him now), he could probably ink a $3.5M deal for three years. Would you turn that down? Let's face it, he's not going to be a scientist or a lawyer, he's going to be an NBA forward, might as well get started making the big bucks now. "He’s the best I’ve ever seen,” KU guard Russell Robinson said of Williams. “He comes out of nowhere.”

3. As stated above, the game was there for all to see, so the entire country got a good glimpse of BC and all it's warts. Compounding the glare was the fact that BC was the undercard for the much-hyped Ohio State-Florida tilt, so everyone who tuned in for that game at 4:00 PM EST, got 10 minutes of the end of the BC drubbing. Not good.

4. John Oates and Akida McLain went down with injuries. I'm not a big fan of Oates, but he does have a role, he's a big guy who can grab a few boards, get some put-backs, and drill the occasional three. So it will hurt if he's out for a long time (the Globe indicated he had an "injured left arch," whatever that means; the Herald says he is day-to-day). McLain is a bigger concern. He could really help BC down low, and if he's out for a while that will be a problem. He reportedly has a "severely sprained ankle." I had a few of those back in my playing days, and they can really hobble you for long stretches of time, perhaps the entire season. So that sucks for the Eagles.

The Heroes:

The only hero in the game for BC was Williams. He continues to show that his improved offense is no accident. He's looking to score and taking it to the hoop. Also, his shot-blocking is absolutely breathtaking (no news bulletin there). Getting 6-7 blocks against the likes of Sacred Heart and Fairfield is one thing, but doing it against the thoroughbreds of Kansas is another. His prowess on the boards was a little misleading though. With Oates and McLean out, someone had to clean up the glass.

The Villains:

1. Sean Marshall (2-5, 5 pts, 3 turnovers) pulled another disappearing act against a quality opponent. This guy gets all his numbers against the mid-majors, but comes up small against the big boys (7.0 ppg v. Mich. State, Maryland and Kansas this year; 17.2 ppg v. everyone else). He needs to stop pouting when his shot isn't falling and concentrate on defense and rebounding. I counted at least two occasions when he missed a shot, and then watched his man race up court for a long pass and a dunk. That can't happen. He also has to improve his rotations (see below)

2. Ty Rice needs to knock off the careless passes, it's getting ridiculous. His assist-to-turnover ratio is close to 1:1. That's horrible. I have generally been a Ty guy, thinking he brings more to the table than he takes away. But the turnovers are becoming a big concern, and his shooting, particularly from trifecta range, has been god-awful lately (and this season in general). Nevertheless, I was alarmed to see him pass up his jumpshot. He is a great shooter, and I want him jacking that three when it's open, even if it's not falling. That's his shot. I don't want him driving to the hoop, especially against a tall athletic team like Kansas. When that happens and Marshall fails to rotate over, it leaves BC open to fastbreak opportunites, which we saw time and again yesterday.

3. Al Skinner. There is no bigger Skinner fan than me, but you've got to call some timeouts when you're getting blown out of the gym on the road like they were in the first half. Al has always had a "let em play" attitude, but that was a little extreme. Also, it's looking more and more like the Marqez Haynes-Ty Rice combo should be on the floor more. My biggest criticism of Al is his loyalty. We saw this in spades during the Nate Doornekamp era, and we're seeing it here with Marshall. Haynes should be eating into Marshall's minutes, especially when Marshall's only asset - three point shooting - has abandoned him.

4. Shamari Spears. I hesitiate in calling Spears a villain, but the game he submitted revived my concern that he will have a tough time getting his shot off against bigger and more athletic competition when ACC play starts. He has looked good against the mid-majors, but 1-2 from the floor with 3 boards in 23 minutes doesn't cut it in the big-time.

Yesterday's abysmal outside shooting (4-19 from three) made it painfully evident that BC lacks a perimeter game. KU went with the zone early and dared BC to shoot. That paid big dividends for the Jayhawks, and we can expect to see more and more of it in the future when teams check out the tape of this one. I for one am really disappointed we haven't seen more of Tyler Roche. I am not there at practice, so I say this with no authority, but everything I read about Roche during the recruiting process was that he is a dead-eye shooter from long range, and he's 6-7. BC could really use someone like that to keep the defenses honest and avoid long scoring droughts like we saw against Kansas. But it looks like Roche is out of Al's rotation, which means he probably won't see the floor all year. Al is the anti-Tom Izzo, he likes to have 7 or 8 guys in a rotation and no more, even if a guy on the bench has game (e.g., transfer Gordon Watt, who is now starting for Purdue).

Lastly, did anyone else find it annoying that Jared Dudley was named BC's Player of the Game by CBS? I love Dudley, but that was probably his quietest game of the year, and he was pretty much a non-factor. Williams was clearly BC's MVP, but CBS no doubt hyped Dudley coming in and forced the script down the viewers throats. That's why I hate these dumbed-down national telecasts, especially come tourney time.

Next up is a home game Thursday 12/28 against Duquesne. The Eagles should lick their wounds with the 3-7 Dukes, but there are no guarantees with this team, as we found out against Vermont.

BC-Kansas Preview

2006-12-23T06:24:00.000-08:00

OK, today's the big day, BC-Kansas. 16,300 fans will be on hand, and a National audience (CBS, 2:00 PM) will be watching from close and far. This will be the undercard for an even bigger marquee matchup on CBS (Ohio State-Florida, i.e., Greg Oden v. Noah, Horford, et al, 4:00 PM). By the way, this is the first of a 2-game home and home series with the Jayhawks; KU will travel to Chestnut Hill next season.

A couple of nuggets I picked up from the Kansas papers:

BC leads the all-time series, 1-0. The Eagles won, 78-62, in the first round of the 1969 postseason NIT. Sophomore guard (and former coach) Jim O’Brien led BC with 24 points while senior forward Terry Driscoll contributed 21.

Alltime BC is 5-1 versus the Big 12. BC is 3-0 versus Iowa State, 1-0 against Oklahoma State and 0-1 against Texas.

Jared Dudley played AAU ball in San Diego as a teammate of KU’s Mario Chalmers (sophomomore guard, 10.5 ppg).

BC's five starters average 63.4 points a game, while the team averages 77.4

Sean Williams has blocked 38 shots in seven games. His 12 blocks at Providence set a school single-game record and was two shy of an NCAA single-game mark set by David Robinson (Navy), Shawn Bradley (BYU), Roy Rogers (Alabama) and Loren Woods (Arizona).

Dudley played 1,340 minutes last season — the highest total by any player in America

The Jayhawks are outscoring opponents by an average of 21.1 points per game and have a plus-8.2 rebounding margin

KU's Russell Robinson ranks second in the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6) and fourth in steals. He;s dealing with a strained right wrist, however, and shooting just 37.2 percent through 10 games.

The Eagles have outscored opponents 166-90 from the free-throw line.

The athleticism displayed by F Julian Wright is reflected by his average of 7.9 rebounds, as well as eight blocked shots over a three-game stretch and a team-high 14 dunks through 10 games.

Of the eight wins Kansas posted in its first 10 games, seven were by margins of 10 points or more. The eight victories were by an average of 17.2 points, with 16 consecutive opponents held to under 50 percent shooting.

Here's the projected lineup for Kansas:

F 30 Julian Wright 6-8 So. 11.9
F 24 Sasha Kaun 6-11 Jr. 4.6
G 25 Brandon Rush 6-6 So. 13.2
G 15 Mario Chalmers 6-2 So. 10.5
G 3 Russell Robinson 6-1 Jr. 6.6

Here's the preview from the Lawrence Journal-World. KU Coach Bill Self apparently is pulling a page from the Bill Bellichick playbook, talking up how good BC is. Check out these quotes:

“I think their whole team is pretty underrated to be honest with you,” Self said, nodding in the affirmative when asked if sophomore Tyrese Rice was one of the most underrated point guards in the country.

“Coach said they were as good as Florida, probably better,” KU freshman Darrell Arthur said. “We have to come out and attack them like we did Florida, come out with a lot of energy and have fun when playing, too. Their starting five is averaging over 10 points a game. We’ve got to buckle down on defense,” Arthur added.

“I think it’d be a big, big, big, big confidence builder to get a win over Boston College,” KU sophomore Brandon Rush said. “I think this game will be one of the more competitive we play in a while, since Florida. I think it’d be a great statement if we play our type of game and get a big ‘W.’ I think everybody on our team steps play up big when you play higher competition like Boston College,” Rush said. “Guarding Dudley is motivation to play harder.”

This from the Kansas City Star: "Victories over solid USC and Toledo squads were great, but beating a top-tier team such as Boston College would provide a true dose of momentum for a KU squad in desperate need of confidence as Big 12 play inches closer. The Jayhawks vow they’ve become a different team over the break. Today they can prove it."

Here's an article on precocious Jayhawks big man Darrell Arthur (freshman forward, 13.7 ppg).

Here's a gushing article about Dudley (expect to see that in every rivals' newpaper from here to the end of the season).

Here's the game preview from the Kansas City Star. The writer is calling the BC joust a possible "breakout game" for the Jayhawks.

Here's the game preview from the Boston Globe.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

2006-12-22T17:53:00.000-08:00

Well, tomorrow is as big a game as you get in December for our surging Eagles. BC visits storied Allen Fieldhouse for a tussle with the University of Kansas (CBS, 2 PM EST) in a game the winner might proudly point to in March when NCAA bids and seeds are getting doled out. If BC manages to escape with a W, they will be well-positioned for their 4th straight NCAA appearance and 6th of 7. That would be HUGE for the program, not to mention unprecedented. In the annals of BC hoops, the Eagles have never had a run of 4 straight. And with the best BC recruiting class ever coming in next year, the table is set for BC to firmly establish this as its golden era.

The ugly Vermont loss is close to being ancient history. With wins over Michigan State, Maryland and possibly Kansas, that toe-stubbing might seem like last season come March. And to the extent the UVM debacle is mentioned around tourney time, the fact that BC was playing without Sean Williams and Akida McLean will be discussed in the same breath. No doubt.

Is Kansas beatable? Definitely. They have a lot of talent for sure, but they are very young (no seniors on the entire roster) and very inconsistent (losses to Oral Roberts at home and DePaul). Their two best players are Mr. Inside (Freshman Phenom Darrell Arthur, 13.7 ppg) and Mr. Outside (Sophomore Brandon Rush, 13.2 ppg). Here's what they've done so far:

Nov 11 Kansas 91, Northern Arizona 57
Nov 15 Oral Roberts 78, Kansas 71
Nov 19 Kansas 87, Towson 61
Nov 21 Kansas 89, Tennessee St. 54
Nov 24 Kansas 64, Ball St. 46 Neutral
Nov 25 Kansas 82, Florida 80 (OT)
Nov 28 Kansas 83, Dartmouth 32
Dec 2 DePaul 64, Kansas 57
Dec 4 Kansas 72, Southern California 62
Dec 9 Kansas 68, Toledo 58
Dec 19 Kansas 94, Winston Salem St.

The Kansas papers are moaning about the Jayhawks being trick or treat, but when they come to play, you gotta look out. KU beat a great Florida team, a decent USC squad, and slew of mid-majors by wide margins. So how does BC measure up tomorrow? They'll have to bring it, and they need a big defensive game out of Sean Williams. His shot-blocking ability could be the neutralizer BC needs against the athletic frontline of Kansas. Coach Bill Self is saying all the right things. This from the Kansas City Star:

"The Eagles, 7-2, have two potential NBA players in Jared Dudley and Sean Williams. 'They’re good — and I mean the Florida category of good,' Self said. 'You always wish you were more prepared, but hopefully we’ll have some good practices these next few days and be ready.'"

We'll see.

Positive Thoughts

2006-12-20T14:04:00.000-08:00

Well, you all know how I feel about Whipple being passed over. It's time to move on and focus on the good stuff. First and foremost is the fact that TOB is gone. This IS good stuff. He did a great job at the Heights, but he had advanced the Eagles as far as he could, and the seasons were starting to take on a "Groundhog Day" feel (7-9 wins, beat up the patsies, lose to the big boys, Bed Bath and Beyond Bowl). I am among the many who think BC can reach a little higher. I certainly don't expect or demand them to be in a BCS bowl every year, but they can compete at the highest level.

BC is not insitutionally limited by size, academics, geography or fan interest, as many O'Brien apologists have said. For one, BC has roughly the same enrollment as Notre Dame and Stanford (not to mention the University of Miami), and twice the enrollment of Wake Forest. All of these schools have reached BCS bowls while balancing tough academic standards. I don't hear them complaining. And you can say all you want about BC's geography being a negative, but the fact of the matter is that BC has a virtual recruiting monopoly in the northeast corridor. Check out their roster. I'll bet 80% of the players come from New York, New England, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The only real competition BC has for recruits is Syracuse, meaning there has been no competition for the past 5 years. The Cuse sucks, though they somehow managed to beat our dear departed marine time and again. BC should continue to clean up in recruiting as long as Cuse is down, and provided UConn and Rutgers don't make any headway (I do worry a little about Rutgers).

Another reason why I think BC can do better than the Muffler and Tire Bowls is that the football landscape has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. The reduction in scolarships in 1994 to 85 has spread the wealth. That's why we've had 10 different champions over the past 10 years. That's why these 1-AA teams keep upsetting the 1A guys, the talent has trickled down. Why can't BC step it up like Wake and Rutgers did this year? BC has much more going for it than those schools. BC has historically been a solid program, the recruiting is there, we have a Heisman Trophy winner and an Outland Trophy winner, we have one of the most famous plays in all of sports in our archives, we have the brand-new Yawkey Athlectics Center. It's laughable to think we can't step it up.

Is Jags the guy to do it? I hope so. Just because they missed a great hire, doesn't necessarily mean they made a bad one. In many ways, I feel the same way as I did when Jim O'Brien left BC in 1997. Things had grown stale with JOB as well, he couldn't win any big games. He lost to UConn something like 18 times in a row, just like TOB kept losing to Miami. BC used the same technique to constructively fire TOB as they did with JOB: they refused to support him. With JOB, it was the admissions department (they wouldn't let a couple of Prop 48 qualifiers in). With TOB it was his salary. When both left, I felt relief. I knew those guys would never move on volitionallly, but I was also convinced BC would never shitcan them because of the PR hit they would sustain.

The parable in this story is that BC hired underwhelming Al Skinner (or so I thought) to replace JOB. We all know how that worked out, NCAA tourney appearances every year and Top 25 (sometimes Top 10) finishes. I am now a certified, card-carrying Skinner-o-phile, the guy was the perfect hire for BC. Maybe Jags will be as well, the jury is obviously out. But at least he is a change from boring ol' TOB, and from what I hear he is a passionate guy who will get the team and the fans fired up. I hope so. BC desperately needed that.

WTF was GDF Thinking?

2006-12-19T22:03:00.000-08:00

I'm still having trouble letting go of my Whipple Boner. He was THE PERFECT COACH for BC and GDF unconscionably let him slip away. Eagle in Atlanta has been a good source for BC info and has worked hard over the years, but lately he just sounds like a sycophantic BC rumpswab, applauding this regrettable hire like he's Mike Vega's buttboy. One recent posting of his gushed that interest in the job has confirmed BC is now a very desirable place to be. Whaaat? I'd agree if BC stole the coach from Texas A&M or Purdue, but everyone GDF interviewed was either an assistant or an HC at a 1-AA school looking to take a step up, any step. And who wouldn't be interested in a promotion and 200% raise? Give me a break. GDF hires this nobody who's been, ahem, kicking around and treading water for 21 years, riding the slowest of the slow ride elevators. If you read between the lines in today's Mark Blaudschun article, you know he feels the same way as I do, and Blaudschun is only the most respected college sports journalist in the area. We lost a great one in Whipple, no two ways about it, and I am not afraid to call GDF out on the carpet for it, unlike Eagle in Atlanta.

What might have been had GDF not dropped the ball? UMass gave Whipple this glowing salute when he left the Minutemen for the Steelers in 2004:

The last six years have been the Golden Age of UMass Football. Ever since the hiring of Mark Whipple on December 16, 1997, the program has never settled for anything less than excellence. But the man who led UMass through that era will not longer be with the program, as Whipple announced last month that he has accepted a position as quarterbacks coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League.

"This is a great opportunity for me, and I am really looking forward to it," said Whipple. "The Steelers have tremendous history, and the NFL is the best league in the world. It will be a challenge for me, and I can not wait to get started."

As much as UMass fans must hate to see Whipple leave, no one can argue with him for taking a chance at coaching in the NFL. And it is not as if he is leaving the Minuteman program hanging, with little chance of future success. Whipple has developed UMass into one of the nation's top programs, and whoever replaces him as head coach will have all the ingredients necessary for immediate success.

This is not to say that Whipple will be an easy act to follow. Here are just a few of his accomplishments over the last six seasons:

* Led UMass to its first-ever national championship during the 1998 season, when the team posted a school-record 12 victories.

* Made back-to-back postseason appearances for only the second time in school history, as both the 1998 and 1999 teams advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs.

* Led the 2003 Minutemen to a 10-2 mark during the regular season, to set a new school record for victories before the playoffs.

* Named National Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association and Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette in 1998.

* Earned Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year honors in 2003.

* Selected as the New England Coach of the Year by the New England Football Writers and the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston in both 1998 and 2003.

* Posted five winning seasons in only six years as head coach.

* Coached nine different players who won first team All-America honors.

* Guided his teams to a share of the Atlantic 10 Conference title in 1999 and 2003.

* Finished his career with a 49-26, to rank second behind only Vic Fusia (59-32-2 / 1961 1970) on the school list for all-time coaching victories.

Well folks, that's what we could have had at the Heights instead of Jags. They like hunting in Wisconsin; let's pray we didn't get a Davie in the Headlights.

Cold Water on the Jags Hire

2006-12-18T21:00:00.000-08:00

The more I look at this Jags hire, the more concerned I get. Did a firm handshake, a Cheesehead hat, and a holy cross pendant really win him the job over the eminently more qualified Mark Whipple? God I hope not. But Jags' resume leaves me wondering. It is not the stuff of a hot young coach on the fast track, shall we say. Aside from the fact that he has never been a head coach at any level despite being a little long in the tooth (43 yrs old), the vast majority of his coaching career (18 of 21 years) has involved serving as a positional coach. Check it out:

1985 Wisconsin-Whitewater Running Backs
1986 Northern Illinois Offensive Line
1987-88 Louisiana State University Offensive Line
1989-91 East Carolina Tight Ends/Asst. Offensive Line
1992-96 East Carolina Offensive Line
1997-98 Boston College Off. Coordinator/Offensive Line
1999-2003 Green Bay Packers Tight Ends
2004 Atlanta Falcons Tight Ends
2005 Atlanta Falcons Offensive Line
2006 Green Bay Packers Offensive Coordinator

I find a few things alarming:

One, that he has spent two very long stretches treading water. The first was when he was an offensive line coach for 10 years, from 1986 to 1996, at the collegiate level. That's a pretty long time to go without a promotion. Then he ran into another rut when he was a tight ends coach for 6 years in the NFL, from 1999 to 2004. Not exactly a rising star in the Eric Mangini mold.

Two, it looks like he had at least a couple of curious career moves, which were probably not volitional. In 1996, he left LSU, where he had been offensive line coach, to preside over East Carolina's tight ends. Could it be that he just loved the Outer Banks so much he was willing to take a demotion and spurn the powerful SEC? I don't think so. Then in 2003, after sitting in the breakdown lane as a tight ends coach with the Packers for 5 years, he took a job with the Falcons in the same capacity. Why?

Three, his two OC jobs have not been particularly successful. His first stint was at BC in 1997 and 1998. Those were a couple of baaaad BC teams for those of you with short memories, each finishing 4-7. And his current post is no resume highlight either. The Packers are 6-8 in the very weak NFC. His offensive unit has been shut out twice, moreover, including the 35-0 shellacking the Patriots gave them last month for all of New England to see.

What does GDF see in this guy over Whipple? Amazing.

I'm just rocking back and forth right now mumbling "hope I'm wrong, hope I'm wrong..."

Sad Day in Chestnut Hill

2006-12-18T17:26:00.000-08:00

As you all know, Athletic Director Leahy overruled Assistant Athletic Director DeFilippo today and hired Cheesehead Jeff Jagodzinski as BC's new head coach over a clearly superior candidate in Mark Whipple. If Leahy did indeed throw his weight around to get either a Catholic or a Midwesterner in the corner office of the YAC (as one blogger with apparent inside info asserted), what an embarassment for the school and the region.

Decisions like this ultimately can only be judged at the time they are made--without the benefit of hindsight--and this was a horrible one, make no mistake about it. When you compare the resumes, it's a no-brainer that Whip should have been the guy. He won at every level, and has been a collegiate head coach for 15 years, winning a national championship at UMass. Ohio State certainly didn't blink when they had a 1-AA candidate like that in their back yard (Jim Tressel at Youngstown State). How did that work out for the Buckeyes? A national championship in 01 and maybe another in 06, that's how. Jags has been a coordinator for all of 3 years (2 of which were at BC 10 years ago), that's the closest he has come to calling the shots. He's been a positional coach the rest of the time. From what I hear, he got the job because he was a great interview. But that is the WORST reason to hire someone, just ask Bob Kraft after the Pete Carroll fiasco was over with the Patriots. I really hope I eat crow on this one, but I think the best thing we can hope for is that Jags surprises us all for a couple of years before bolting for the NFL or the Big Ten the first chance he gets.

Random Thoughts

2006-12-17T16:57:00.000-08:00

I checked it out and confirmed that Dudley is in fact shooting exactly 70% over the current six-game win streak (43 for 61). Sean Williams is also shooting in the same stratosphere during that span (27 for 41 - 66%)...Driving back from the game, I was thinking about BC recruiting over the years. I have some friends of mine who think Skinner is a shitty recruiter who's gotten real lucky. I disagree. I think he recruits guys for his system, and when the right guys get in his system, they flourish. He's developed three certifiable studs over the years (Bell, Smith and Dudley) that no one else wanted out of high school, but by their sophomore years could have started for every single team in the country, including schools like Duke, North Carolina, UConn, and Kansas. That's not luck, that's a pattern. He's also recruited and developed some very nice role players, such as Kenny Harley (one of my all-time favorites), Kenny Walls, Uka Agbai, Ryan Sidney, Jermaine Watson, Louis Hinnant and the current ensemble...Skinner seems to always get about 2 solid rotation guys a recruiting class, which is a great way to keep things rolling with consistent NCAA tourney appearances. Check out the current rotation: he has two seniors (Dudley, Marshall), three juniors (Oates, Williams and McLean), two sophomores (Rice, Haynes) and one freshman (Spears). I'm pretty happy with the freshman class this year even though only one guy is getting meaningful minutes -- I expect Tyler Roche to break the rotation next year unless someone from the stellar incoming class leapfrogs him (which wouldn't be a bad thing), and Spears could develop into a real star if he can learn to get off his shot against taller guys...Thinking about Skinner's recuits got me wondering where some of the transfers went. I was interested to learn that Gordon Watt, who was in Williams' and McLean's class, is now a starting guard for Purdue averaging 26 minutes and 9.5 ppg. Purdue is no slouch either; they are 8-2 with an RPI of 12, and they've knocked off Oklahoma, Depaul, Virginia and Missouri, so bully for Watt...Purdue must like BC's sloppy seconds. A few years ago they took a Skinner discard named Willie Deane, who went on to become 1st team All-Big Ten for the Boilermakers, averaging 17 ppg in 01-02 and 18 ppg in 02-03, and leading the Big Ten in scoring his senior year. Deane was in the same recruiting class as Kenny Harley and Jonathan Beerbohm, and was a bit player for BC as a freshman (he sucked then, but obviously improved after leaving the Heights)...Troy Bell's old backcourt sidekick Ryan Sidney, who transferred to D2 Cheney State after being booted from the Heights (drugs), is reportedly playing pro ball in Mersin, Turkey for $55,000.00 this year...speaking of overseas hoops, you may have read recently that erstwhile Syracuse star Gerry McNamara came back from Greece with his tail between his legs because he couldn't get on the floor with his Greek team, Olympiacos, one of the top clubs in the European circuit. That's because GMac got beat out by one James "Scoonie" Penn, perhaps the most famous BC transfer of all time (he followed Jimmy O'Brien to Ohio State).

Sacred (Broken) Heart

2006-12-17T12:41:00.000-08:00

Just got back from the BC-Sacred Fart hoops game. You'll be happy to know that BC put together one serious ass-whuppin'. I know the Pioneers (5-6, RPI 153) are pretty low on the D1 totem pole, but these are the kind of games that can get ugly when a power conference team mails it in against a vastly inferior opponent, and then finds itself in a 5 point struggle midway through the 2nd half, getting tighter by the minute. But today the Eagles absolutely put the wood to them, and led big pretty much wire to wire. They were up 60-30 at the half for crissakes, then traded baskets in the second half while playing a lot of the scrubs. Dudley continues to amaze me with the way he lets the game come to him. He dropped 20 on Sacred Heart on 8-10 shooting. His shooting percentage over the current 6 game winning streak must be close to 70% (I'm going to confirm that), pretty incredible for a wing player. Sean Williams scored 16 points, and I'm beginning to think he really has improved his offensive game, and those double digit performances early were no fluke. That's good news for BC. Sean Marshall was OK but a little uneven, typical for him. Rice drilled a few 3s and looked great shooting the ball, but also had 5 turnovers. However, most of his TOs were because he was trying for style points with the game confortably in hand, an annoying but forgiveable offense. Shamari Spears had a nice game with a double double (11 points, 12 boards), and looked downright nasty with some loud snatches of rebounds. He looks more and more like a bulkier Danya Abrams when Abrams was a freshman. His flaw is the same as Abrams' (height), but I think if he can figure out a way to get off his shot against taller opponents like Abrams did, he will be a 15-17 point scorer for BC in the years to come. Tyrelle Blair got an unexpectedly long look in the first half, and had a nice offensive output (8 points) coupled with some solid defense (4 blocks). By the way, he led the Horizon League in blocked shots his freshman year before transferring to BC. Oates was OK, he buried a three and had a couple of putbacks, but his defense still sucks. Haynes had a couple of flashes with some athletic drives to the hoop. Here's the boxscore

The next game is December 23 at Kansas. This is the last big out-of-conference game for BC, and if they can somehow pull out a win against a young but very talented Jayhawks squad, it would go a long way toward burnishing their credentials for an at-large bid come tourney time. Short of a W, a strong showing would be great, as the game is on national TV (CBS, 2:00 PM), and a lot of people will be watching over Christmas weekend. The Kansas game is also significant in that it will be Akida McLean's first game back. McLean looked good in the scrimmage I attended pre-season, but has been sitting on the sidelines serving a 9-game suspension (undisclosed violation of team rules). It will be interesting to see (1) if he gets much playing time against the Jayhawks and (2) whether his game has indeed improved since last year. If McLean has improved, BC could use him. He is a really long frontcourt player, a legitimate 6-9 guy with a nice offensive touch.

In a game related note, my sons' "I've got a Whipple Boner" t-shirts were a big hit with the coeds at Conte Forum. Man do I miss college.

No News is Bad News?

2006-12-17T08:14:00.000-08:00

From what we've heard, BC has interviewed everyone they're really interested in, and the two candidates that impress are Mark Whipple and Jeff Jagodzinski. A blogger on Eagle in Atlanta claims to have someone in the know who was "there" (whatever that means) asserting that Father Leahy wants Jagodzinski, one reason being that he's Catholic. If that is indeed the case, the silence might betray a little power struggle between GDF and Father Leahy ("I call the shots in the Athletics Department" v. "it's my fucking college"). I for one would be apoplectic if they pass over The Perfect Coach for BC in favor of some carpetbagging Midwesterner waiting for his phone to ring with the NFL on the line. My contacts (and they're pretty good) tell me that GDF wants Whipple, has wanted him from the get-go, and Whipple badly wants the job. If there is a dispute, GDF should stand his ground, to the point of walking out the door. This will be his signature hire. His legacy, together with the move to the ACC, will be defined by it. He should not allow himself to get trumped by some waddling priest who knows nothing about football.

Parenthetically, I really question the Catholic thing being any kind of factor, and in turn question the juice of this blogger's "contact". The notion that Whipple's religion could torpedo his candidacy would be preposterous if true, unheard of at the bigtime college sports level, and grounds for serious federal and state discrimination claims. And on top of all that, it's completely nonsensical. Would Leahy want only Catholic players? C'mon.

I'm heading out to the BC-Sacred Heart hoops game in a few minutes, and my 4 yr old and 2 yr old boys are wearing "I've Got a Whipple Boner" custom made t-shirts. That's just me doing my little part to send a message to the guys calling the shots.

Brown Baby Brown!

2006-12-15T15:19:00.000-08:00

Looks like Mark Blaudschun of the Boston Globe is thinking like me based on an article in today's paper, that Don Brown of UMass could be a strong candidate for DC when (not if) Whipple is named Head Coach. I talked about that very prospect earlier this week in my "Whipple Boner" posting. Blaudschun and I are also sympatico on TOB: a good steward of the program for sure, but a guy with a ceiling. Love this quote from Blaudschun in that article:

"As solid as O'Brien was in rebuilding the Eagles from scandal and disappointment over the last 10 years, the cocky attitude that all great teams have rarely, if ever, surfaced. The Eagles still had a tinge of doubt, often playing not to lose."

My sentiments exactly! Under TOB, BC never, ever, had a nasty team, just a few nice ones. And "often playing not to lose" is code for "often sleepwalking into WTF." God I'm glad he's gone.

Stop Sweatin' It

2006-12-14T18:55:00.000-08:00

Whipple is a done deal. I have inside information which I am not willing or at liberty to disclose. It's just a matter of dollars right now. My prediction is that the deal will be for about $1M, standard stuff for the ACC, and the contract will be signed tomorrow, Monday at the latest. Whipple can try to negotiate all he wants, but it's tough sledding when you're getting a 300% raise and a higher profile job. The leverage just isn't there (that's what the dog and pony show with the other candidates has been all about). Case closed!

UMass Helps Out

2006-12-13T19:43:00.000-08:00

BC's win over UMass 2 weeks ago looks a little better after the Minutemen knocked off Louisville at Louisville tonight, 72-68. The Cardinals' RPI was 34 coming into the game, so the win might vault UMass (126 before the game) into the Top 100. Let's hope it does and they continue to climb. A team's record against the Top 50, Top 100, etc. is one criterion the NCAA selection committee weighs heavily when deciding both invites and seeding in March. BC currently has two wins against Top 50 squads (Michigan State and Maryland). By the way, UMass has a decent team this year; they were picked by the A-10 coaches to finish second (behind Xavier) in the pre-season conference poll.

One Last Parting Shot at TOB

2006-12-13T10:55:00.000-08:00

Whomever is the new BC HC, I'm looking forward to a guy who makes the right personnel decisions. It seems like TOB always chose the wrong player when a key position was up for grabs. I remember he initially chose some forgettable back over Derrick Knight to succeed Mike Cloud. DKnight only went on to become BC's all-time leading rusher, and 2nd in the nation his senior year. I think he made the wrong call with LV Whitworth over Andre Callender. Whitworth is certainly serviceable, but Callender stikes me as more of a feature back, one who needs a lot of carries to get going. And TOB initially chose Quinton Porter over Paul Peterson (big mistake), and stuck with Quinton Porter over Matt Ryan (bigger mistake). In my opinion, those baaaad decisions undoubtedly cost BC some games over the years.

BC Honor Roll

2006-12-13T06:18:00.000-08:00

Josh Beekman was named AP 1st Team All-American yesterday (Globe). That's quite an honor, and I think he had a great year. But I am a little surprised. I think BC's line was pretty suspect this season. They had a lot of trouble running the ball against any semblance of a stout defense, and frankly I think it was the weakest O-Line they've had in 10 years. But I'll take it, and I think it speaks volumes about BC's reputation as O-Line U, which can only help in recruiting the oxen of the future.

Also, Jared Dudley was named ACC Player of the week. No surprise there. That guy has been incredible lately, and has really stepped up his game. I didn't think that was possible - he's been great for three years coming in. But it amazes me how he just lets the game come to him. Have you checked out his field goal percentage lately? I was worried coming into this year that he was going to force things as he stepped into the Craig Smith vacuum, but that hasn't been the case. Dudley picks his spots and continues to do the little things (e.g., take charges, draw ticky tack fouls on the opponent's star) that help the team win. I think he is on pace for serious consideration as a 1st team All-American, which would be a first for a BC hoopster. I also think he will be a 2nd round draft choice in the NBA and be a productive rotation guy at the next level. The comparison I keep coming back to is Shane Battier, with a little less athleticism.

Whipple Boner

2006-12-13T05:37:00.000-08:00

Looks like the Globe is reporting the football post is Whipple's job to lose. He won't. As I suspected (and predicted) even before TOB was constructively discharged last week (love NC State's AD's comment to the Globe about what GDF said when he asked for permission to interview TOB: "That's fine"), Whipple has been in GDF's crosshairs for a while. In fact, I'll bet he has been on GDF's very very short list since TOB initially started whining about his salary and looking around for a job two years ago with U-Dub. I was curious as to whether GDF hired TOB. I checked it out and learned that he didn't - Chet Gladchuk hired him a month or so before GDF took the reigns at BC. So TOB was never GDF's guy. I'm sure GDF thinks TOB did a good job over 10 years, was a good steward of the program, navigated BC out of the Dan Henning mess, etc., but every AD wants to make the calls with the high profile revenue sports eventually. And the time was right. Things had gotten stale for BC, TOB, GDF, the fans and the players. This is a great time for a fresh start, with a loaded returning BC team and an exciting coach like Whipple coming in. As you all know, I have been following Whipple for a long time, back to when he was at Brown (I am an Ivy League graduate as well and follow the Ivies pretty closely in addition to BC). Whipple did amazing things at Brown, and even more amazing things at UMass (inheriting a 2-9 team and taking them to the national championship the next year). This guy will come in and the offense will be explosive. No doubt. The key is whether he can get a good Defensive Coordinator to be his No. 2 guy. When UMass won the national championship in 1998, that guy was Don Brown, who took over for Whipple at UMass after a HC stint at Northeastern. I will be watching the Div. 1-AA game (UMass-Appalatian State) Friday night with keen interest. I think if UMass wins, it would be logical step for Don Brown to rejoin Whipple at BC as Def. Coordinator to burnish his credentials for his own D-1 HC job, and if that comes together, BC will have a great, great coaching tandem to start kicking ass in the ACC.

Back on the Radar

2006-12-11T11:32:00.000-08:00

Well, the wins over Michigan State and Maryland got some people's attention. BC is back getting votes for Top 25 - #36 if you count them up.

Couple of Links

2006-12-11T11:17:00.000-08:00

This is a helpful link I use all the time to the RPI rankings. It's pretty slick, especially when you want to look back on prior years to see some trends.

One other thing I like to do is read the local papers for BC's opponents and see what they're saying about BC. Here's the game article from the Baltimore Sun

BC-Maryland

2006-12-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

The BC win over Marlyand last night, coupled with the win over Michigan State, goes a long way toward atoning for the Vermont and PC sins. In fact, the PC loss isn't looking that bad - they have an RPI of 45, and are 7-2 overall (with an ugly early loss to Brown and a respectable loss to Florida). Vermont was ugly, no doubt about that, but many many NCAA tournament teams over the years have stubbed their toes in November games and rebounded nicely. And BC has a built in excuse (Sean Williams did not play). If BC can somehow squeak by Kansas and hold serve against the rest of their out-of-conference bunnies, BC should be right back where they started, probably ranked in the high teens as conference play really kicks in. I think it would be great for this BC squad to make the NCAA tourney this year. I know that sounds modest with Jared Dudley on the team, but BC is coming off a fantastic PR year and has its best recruiting class in 30 years coming in next year. So if they can have the continuity of NCAA appearances in 6 of 7 years (the one miss being the year BC was everyone's "Bubble Team That Got Jobbed"), they will continue to move up the pecking order on the national radar.