PUT THE PITCHFORKS AWAY FOR A SECOND

If you're going to pick a day to lose to Bryant in hoops, the day that the BC fan base gets the four-year-old gift it has been dying for is a pretty good day to do it. Barring an announcement of a new coach in football soon, though, it won't be long before attention turns back to what has happened in the early parts of Donahue's third season on the Heights.

How much time does the Don get? Three seasons? Four seasons? BC was one of the first teams out of the NCAA in season number one, but there were seven seniors on that team (plus Reggie Jackson, who would leave early). There was no depth behind those players, and last season, it shouldn't have been surprising that the team didn't have their act together. They were young - 9 freshmen! - and inexperienced.

Next year, the expectations can change, but this year, we really have to treat it like Donahue's second season. He's starting a mostly green lineup, but I do like the starting five, even if they are all underclassmen. Olivier Hanlan looks solid, and the healthy Ryan Anderson we saw at the beginning of the season could be a beast. There still isn't much down the bench to spell these guys, but it will get better.

So put the pitchforks away, and let's just spend one season not calling for a coach's head. Ok? We've done that enough for a lifetime courtesy of the football program and I think we could all use a break.

HAPPY VALLEY REMATCH

The Big Ten-ACC matchup list is out. Donahue's boys will get a chance for a revenge on the only Big Ten team to have ever beaten them in the series when they travel to Happy Valley on November 28. All of the match-ups for the 2012 edition are here.

THE PRE MORTEM POST MORTEM: HOOPS

Yes, there is still at least one more game left on the schedule for the BC men's basketball team, tomorrow's afternoon contest in the first round of the ACC tournament. As the 12 seed, Donahue's boys draw NC State, and if they survive that one, UVA awaits. It'd be fun to be optimistic, but let's face it, the season is over (although it would be an amazing story if four upsets took the team to the NCAAs, but you'd have to believe in some pretty hefty miracles on that one). 

How far has this rag tag group of freshmen, five-year grad students, transfers and Danny Rubin/Gabe Moton come in the last five months? Other than ending the season on a Miami blowout, the ACC schedule wasn't completely a disaster, or at least the disaster it could have been after all of those early season beat downs from UMass, BU, Harvard, Holy Cross, et al.

The rotation finally started to click, and Donahue shortened the bench as the season progressed. Ryan Anderson definitely appears to be the star of the team, and Dennis Clifford will be a nice foundation down low to support him; Matt Humphrey enters his senior season as a nice mature leader and Lonnie "LoJack" Jackson will continue to find himself a place in Donahue's offense as long as he keeps up his outside shooting and keeps his temper down. Jordan Daniels is another key piece to grow in the back court alongside two incoming guards from the small 2012 recruiting class. 

Come fall of 2012, we're looking at a more experienced starting five of those key players, with Moton, KC Caudill and Patrick Heckmann as bench options. There's no reason not to expect a 10 man rotation with Donahue's offense that would include the two new recruits. 

Is this all to say that the team is ready to rise to stardom out of the ashes of the 2011-2012 season? No. But a 12th place finish in the ACC is going to be a disappointment next season, and not an expectation. As the team is recognizable (what a year to not have names on the back of the jerseys...), the seats in Conte may once again fill up as well.

It's going to get better. Not immediately, but read through again what the future holds. These are not kids who are going to bolt, and come 2013, the only piece that will need replaced in the starting line-up (barring disaster) is Humphrey. The benefit to getting nine freshmen at once is that they will push each other through the growing pains.

Let's not judge them tomorrow on the final result. We hope for a fight, pray for a win, but we do expect them to fall short. It's ok. 

QUICK PSA: GO BACK TO CONTE

Those things you see behind this Duke basketball player are yellow shirts, likely being worn by current students at Boston College. They have been rare this year when the home team has played basketball against, well, every other team that has come to town.

Those shirts and the people in them need your help, friends. They have been exposed to Boston College basketball, some of which wasn't the complete disaster that it could have been against a very good Duke team that looks pretty battle-tested as March comes around the corner. We can help them by exposing them to more.

For just a yearly student activities fee that they already pay, those students can continue to manage this chronic condition of "home games". Symptoms include chanting, wearing yellow Suprefan shirts, taunting the student athletes at other schools, having fun and supporting the school even when other non-top-five teams come to town.

The best cure is more basketball. Try it again, seriously, you won't be disappointed and, hell, you paid for it already.

NAMING THE ICE, THE COURT AND THE FIELD

Dan Levy over at B/R just posted some great thoughts on the pinnacle of honors in the sports world: namely, getting a playing surface to bear your name. With Dicky V getting the nod for the University of Detroit basketball floor, Levy shows that he's much better at Photoshop than we are, but it also got us thinking about the honors for the different venues at BC's campus.

Don't forget that the hockey and basketball team, while they play in the same building, do technically have different venues. The building is named for Silvio O. Conte, BC Double Eagle and US Senator, but the hockey rink itself is named for the legendary coach John "Snooks" Kelley, who led the Eagles to a 1949 Ice Hockey championship, five of the first 10 Beanpots and hundreds of wins over his 35 year career on the Heights. Perhaps the only argument with the honor: where do you put BC's other legendary hockey coach's name when he finally hangs up the clipboard*. Jerry York Ice at Kelley Rink?

*Jerry: please don't go anywhere. Jerry Wan Kenobi, Help Us, You Are Our Only Hope


To this date, I see no case, whatsoever, for a court-naming at BC. If I talk about Skinner, I'll punch myself for even thinking it (that national coach of the year award is a long, distant and fading memory of luck that completely was undone in the last few years when he gave up). We're not touching Jim O'Brien with a 15-foot pole. Bob Cousy wasn't around long enough (117-38 in six years) and no one would primarily associate him with the Eagles. Steve Donahue: you have an open window here. Just hang around for a decade or two more, maybe get into a few Final Fours and win the ACC half a dozen times. Then we'll talk. Not a moment before.

Which brings us to the most obvious argument ever.

If GDF needs one more Hail Mary to distract everything he's bungled over the last few years, I would in no way, shape or form be surprised if he chose to take a specific route.

Flutie Field at Alumni Stadium. It's going to happen.

Flutie hasn't seen the field since last playing with the Patriots in 2005, and while he did some time with ESPN, it's much more likely to see him in the Plex playing pick-up these days. We are now a little less than three years away from the 30th anniversary of November 23, 1984 and the anniversary of Flutie's Heisman winning season. Flutie will be 52. It'll be the right time.

HOOPS WELCOMES BACK JOHN CAHILL

As you may know, the BC hoops team is young. So young in fact that our lead returning scorer, Danny Rubin, averaged 4.1 points last year.

This morning, it looks like we have a little bit of good news in the form of John Cahill. Cahill was a walk-on last year and has now cashed in remaining eligibility to suit back up in lieu of spending the year as a graduate assistant. He was one of those guys who probably would have only worked in Donahue's system of "Let there be 3s" - and it worked to the tune six starts by the end of the season. In the last eight games, he became a really consistent contributor for Donahue - jumping up to nearly 30 mpg and posting at least one double digit game while remaining a threat from beyond the arc.

Will a little more experience increase the prospects for the low expectations of the team? Not likely, but one more guy knowing Donahue's style and how the young kids can contribute may have a lasting effect.

WHEN CRAIG SMITH POSTS A BC VERSION OF ONE SHINING MOMENT

...we are actually contractually obligated to repost it here.



I miss when our basketball team was this good. I still haven't gotten over that Villanova-OT game yet.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE REGGIE WOULD MAKE

There has actually been a steady beat of coverage these past few days leading up to the official start of NCAA basketball season regarding the Eagles. So much of it has been focused on second-year coach Steve Donahue, and the talent he brought in to restock the bare cabinets left by a previous coach who's luck with finding pearls ran out and who never really "coached" much more than let the boys play.

There is something to be excited about with the new coach. Maybe not this year, but last year's team nearly surprised itself by making it to the NCAA. But there is a bright future, and if you haven't read the CBS piece yet on Donahue and his leadership, go ahead. I'll still be here when you get back.

One thing that will stick out to you will be the jokes that get made about the no-names on the 2011-2012 squad:

However, when assistant coach Akbar Waheed asked if I needed a roster, I just laughed.

Eddie Odio, KC Caudill, Jordan Daniels, Ryan Anderson, Lonnie Jackson, Dennis Clifford, Patrick Heckmann.

Who the heck are these guys?

You know what's missing? How about the guy in this video:



First round draft pick has a great ring to it. Getting drafted #24 to play basketball alongside Kevin Durant? Reggie Jackson, first team ACCer, you absolutely deserved that honor. But right now you're sitting in a gym, wearing beautiful BC basketball gear but not because your Thunder warm-ups are in the laundry.

I don't fault the guy for getting paid when he saw the light of the first round being a legitimate opportunity. It isn't a surprise, though, that the dispute between players and owners in the league could have cost the NBA all or part of this season. I've gone back and forth on this issue since Reggie announced last spring, but even back then, the lockout loomed. With games really getting canned now, I'm going to question it further.

I know this year doesn't look, on paper, to be one we can get excited about to the tune of "Deep March Run." How many more wins could Reggie have been worth? Would he have made enough of an impact this year that BC could have gotten into the tournament? Even more so, isn't there is the opportunity for him to be the teach to that ridiculously young team how to come together.

Donahue is making me excited for the future of BC hoops. But one more year with Reggie may have made the wait not feel as long.

2011 Season Preview: The Low

Some of you know how Dave and I did things around here when we started blogging in 2006, but just to give a brief reminder, we kinda play good cop/bad cop, and usually thats not too far of a stretch since I tend to be of the "we suck" caste of fans and Dave tends to be "rose-colored glasses".  We are going to start this season with a little preview of the upcoming year, and then will do Heigh side and Low side (see what we did there?) for each week as it comes.  Without futher ado: the Low-lights.

I want to break down our potential first by going through the team in general, the coaching, and then the opponents.

TEAM:

Offense - We have some potential here with some young, exciting receivers and some seriously talented running backs, unfortunately the receivers were under-used last season and the running backs are both hurt.  This leaves us with our "next best thing" in Chase Retting.  He had moments of greatness last season, but to me it was more of a case that he looks great compared to Shinskie and Marscovetta who both were atrocious.  Can Rettig manage this offense and bring out the potential in the receivers?  Can he keep his head on his shoulders while facing some tough competition?  I have my doubts.

Defense - We have always had (under Spaz) powerful defenses, specifically against the run.  Last season we were among the best in the nation against the run, unfortunately we had miserable pass defense and our opponents exploited this every single game.  This year we are looking at a defense that has lost several key players both on the line and in the backfield.  We do have wunderkind Luke Kuechly back to be everywhere at every time, but will it be enough, can our secondary step up and keep teams from bombing us deep and forcing our offense to out gun them?  Will our run defense be as good as last season?

COACHING:

I want to start with the biggest change.  We got rid of Rip-Van-Tranquil and his sleepy hollow offense of run-run-get sacked.  Kevin Rogers steps in and is forced to totally overhaul a stagnant offense.  In looking at his history, there has not been an amazing amount of success, especially considering his last Collegiate OC job was at Notre Dame during the abysmal years of 1999-2001.  That being said, a trained monkey will be better than Tranq. 

Spaziani is a whole 'nother topic.  I have had very little faith in his abilities as a head coach since the start, and this has only gotten worse.  Spaziani seems to be incapable of "getting the team up" for big games, and always capable of dropping the ball on an easy game (somewhat in the vain of the TOB WTF games).  I hope that much of this was a result of his partner is nap-time Gary Tranquil, and we will see another side of the team this year, but I don't think this is likely.  After this season, we should see the water under his seat start to get real hot, especially from guys like myself that were strong supporters of Jags and leaders of the FireTOB movement.

OPPONENTS:

I wont go game by game here since our friend Eagle in Atlanta already got the low-lights covered.  But in general I see us having serious challenges winning more than one or two games after week 5.  Our chances against teams like Maryland and Clemson rely heavily on how our team "warms up" during the first 5 (which outside of UCF and Northwestern) should be easy wins.  If I had to put a number on our overall W-L for the season, I would say 6-6.

UNC Second Viewing

I took a few days off of BC talk/thoughts/worry, to let myself simmer a bit, and then last night watched the Saturday night debacle again. I have a few things I want to point out:

• Tyrese Rice is an all star at filling voids. He is a scorer when we need it, he is a point guard when we need it, he handles the ball pretty well all the time and very well in clutch places.
• We would have had no chance without Sean Marshall, which indicates to me that we need him to remain in the ON position if we are to make a run in the NCAAs. He is a great player most of the time, but he really excels at coming from outside and cutting in. He needs to try this more.
  
• Jared Dudley played 39 minutes of great Basketball. He is still an great player, but it is going to be VERY hard for voters to name him POY after that game. He outplayed Tyler Hansbrough and has twice owned Al Thornton, as for Sean Singletary, there really is no comparison, BUT the voters are going to look to both Wednesday and Saturday night, when he was at home, against top opponents, during an emotionally charged week, and he couldn't come through in the end, and they aren't going to be able to cast that vote.
  
• John Oates had a good game, a very very rare occurrence, in fact I think I have seen more solar eclipses than good games by Oates.
  
• Our "Ghost Players" need to step it up, Spears is good, but he is clumsy and needs to really take some charge. Blair has had 2 great games for us, and Saturday wasn't bad, but he needs to be a bit more consistent.
  
• Skinner, even the old dog that he is, learned from his mistakes of Wednesday. Our clock management was better, our substitutions were better, we just needed some players to step up to really get to the next level.

So I feel kinda bad about my post-game posting. Not really, but kinda. I know that Jared Dudley is a fantastic player, and a great contributor, but the last minute failure in a HUGE game is really a tough pill to swallow. He will always be one of, if not the, Smartest player to ever don the Maroon and Gold, and he has been a great leader for our team, but I just can't see him taking us to that next level with big mistakes in big games.

Dudley = Big Game Dud

JDuds, the former ACC POY contender, proves that he is no Craig Smith. JDuds played mediocre tonite (better than the Duke debacle), but as he has in many of our losses this season, choked when it mattered. Not only did he miss two major three point opportunities, but he also missed the critical 3 free throws at the end of the game. Dudley is a serious NCAA BBall player, but tonite he proved that he couldn't take BC to the next level.
Tonite was of course not only Jared's fault, John Oates missed some MAJOR rebounding opportunities, Shamari Spears was a ghost as usual, Blair was ok, but just ok. The only good games had were (as they were on Wednesday) Marshall and Rice. TRice proved that he was a Top NCAA Point Guard who can make some scores too. Marshall played well inside and outside.
I will have some more serious comments tomorrow after my rage boils down. But this was our chance to step from a second tier team to the top of the tops, and we blew it. Good night.

Half-time Report from the UNC Game

Since the DL1 is at the game, I get the sole responsibility for posting thoughts mid-game. So far we have seen the team fall back hard, and make a rush. Sadly, the ACC Officiating is as bad as usual. Sometimes I really think that the reason Duke and UNC dominate the league is because the refs want them to. Skinner deserved his T about as much as Dave loves Notre Dame. I am so tired with seeing our guys getting horrible foul calls.

Beyond that, thank you Skinner for putting Oates on the bench early, but we need to get around Bradon Wright. We also need to slow the ball down and play our 1/2 court game again.

Jared, you got screwed, take advantage of the emotion and get off the bench with a fury.

LETS GO EAGLES.

Heights Week Conversation

DL1: Well, it has been a while since we’ve posted, so, the two of us thought we’d gang up here and do a little back-and-forth on the game this Saturday night along with our thoughts from earlier in the week. Heights week has been a split so far, with Men’s B-Ball going 1-1, Men’s Hockey going 1-1 and the Ladies Hockey team taking the Beanpot. Of those games, probably Wednesday’s Duke game sticks out the most.

DougBushBC: The Maine game was nice, but in reality the two biggest games of “Heights Week” have been a major bust so far. The hockey team looked great in the second and third, just like the hoops team looked from minute 12 to minute 19 of the second half of the Duke game. But in reality we have fallen a bit flat in both of those settings. What really matters, is that its not over yet, and we have two chances to make up for the mistakes of Monday/Wednesday. Can we?

DL1: I think we have two different situations going on here. The Hockey team really outplayed BU for 50-55 of the 65 minutes. The basketball team got embarrassed with a complete lack of hustle on Wednesday. If you are losing the rebound battle and points in the paint, you are going to lose. What bothered me most was the commitment to Oates by Skinner, who never let BC get into the groove early in the game when Duke was on its heels. I think the number one key to the game is to set the tempo against the Heels because they are certainly more athletic than the Eagles. This should probably start with the center not launching brick’s from beyond the arc 10 seconds into the shot clock.

DougBushBC: Another problem with the Hoops game was that we didn’t play our style of ball. We NEVER allow teams to beat us in the paint and beat us on the hustle; it has always been with Skinner’s teams, “if you are going to beat us, you have to beat us by shooting exceptionally behind the arc”. Sadly we tried to shoot behind the arc a lot, and the only one making them was Marshall. That’s another story. Our team is still very individual. They play exceptionally individually, but you need more than one or two guys shooting well to beat these guys on Tobacco Road. This weekend is going to be the test. Skinner will NOT let the guys make the same mistakes this game, they won’t be sloth, they wont be weak inside, but they still need to get fired up TOGETHER.

DL1: I think I was most surprised my Marshall’s line at this game. If you would have told me that Marshall put down 23 and we broke 70 points, I would have said ‘blowout.’ I don’t think Marshall is as crucial to this game. For some reason, Tyrese Rice goes all pre-2006 Peyton Manning against Duke and plays terribly. The opposite can be said about UNC. I don’t know why Duke has BC’s number, but, the Eagles have found ways to compensate for Hansbrough the last two times we’ve played them, both in the state of North Carolina. A rabid home crowd, motivation and national television could mean that Tyler will be invisible on the court.

DougBushBC: Hansborough will never be “invisible” on the court Dave, he’s one of the top 5 players in the country, and he is undoubtedly the best big man in the game. If we had the more experienced Sean Williams here, maybe we’d mitigate some of his damage, and in reality Tyrelle Blair has a chance to do the same thing, but he will have to play the game of his life. We let sub-par big man Josh McRoberts run all over us Wednesday, which HAS to change. Oates cannot be on the court more than 8 minutes if we want to win this. Another factor we need to remember is that last year, we had undersized but overpowered Craig “The Friggin Tank” Smith in the front court and he put it to Hansborough like he was a rag doll.

DL1: In the legendary words of Rick Pitino: Craig Smith is not coming through that door. For the record, let it show that the tournament win over UNC was because Hinnant decided to show everyone that he could hit a basket, and the February game at the Dean Dome was the Sean Marshall Show. I agree, though, that it will not be Oates to slow down Hansbrough on the inside. It has to be Blair and Spears. I said a few weeks ago that the key to our interior defense is forcing the ball back out to the point where the zone can force bad shots. If we leave the lane uncontested, we’re in trouble, but the key to defense is that it does not have to be Swat City Contestation a la the Block Party. The only foul trouble BC wants is on Oates. My final prediction is an instant classic, low scoring game, where BC holds UNC on the final possession for a court-storming win.

DougBushBC: Despite my “bad-cop” persona, I don’t disagree with you. I know that Al Skinner is one of the best coaches in the league, and he will NOT let his team make the same mistakes, and if they can avoid those things they royally screwed up in the Duke game, they have a damned good shot at holding down the Tar Heels and taking this game. Beyond that, if anyone saw any of the numerous interviews with JDud about his performance, you KNOW that the player with the best Basketball IQ in the country will NOT play poorly twice. I want to see a great court storm like Dave and I had to miss out on during the ‘Cuse game of 3 years ago. My feelings, Dudley has a “Look-at-me-I’m-NCCA-POY” type game and BC wins in a close one.

DL1: And, just for giggles, I’m also gonna call another win over Maine and their starting goaltender, Benny Bishop. The production last night from the 2^nd and 3^rd lines was huge, and, I think the momentum is going right. After losing to BU in the Beanpot last year, we rattled off win after win. I see it happening again. Check in after the weekend and we’ll have our thoughts on after the game.

Great Defense of Skinner

I know that I VERY rarely link to other blogs, but there is a great statistical breakdown over at AngryEagle defending Al Skinner in his position. I may be hard on Skinner's decisions once in a while, but overall he is one of the most underrated, and in reality, best coaches in the Land.

Take a read at AngryEagle HERE.

Put away the panic button...

Tyrelle Blair may be the answer to preserving BC's defense. Why? Until this week when he played 24 minutes against Duke and 25 minutes against Hartford last night, Blair was seeing less than 10 minutes of PT a game. Still, he averages only 12.2 minutes, but, that's not why this matters. It's because of his stat line from the last two games.

01/28	vs. Duke	L 61-75	25	3-3	0-0	3-7	3	3	6	0	3	4	1	1	9
01/31	vs. Hartford	W 94-60	24	1-2	0-0	4-6	1	6	7	1	3	6	0	2	6

A little down the way you'll see a "4" against the Devils and a "6" against Hartford. Those are blocks. Blair actually averaged 1.2 a game BEFORE last weekend's spike in minutes. Tyrelle looks like Sean Williams did a few years ago, when he was a foul problem with minimal offense. It's not like Blair really took the shots, though, a total of 15 points for those two games. Half of them were from the free throw line, and the field goals he attempted he were the last option.

Why does all this matter? Because it means that maybe BC doesn't have to change it's game plan as much as they thought. Skinner needs to recognize this fast and get Oates off the court sooner, because sometimes it feels like the Eagles are only four-strong when the Quaker is out there.

I don't believe that the team needs Blair to post the near double-double average that Williams had to be successful. It's that he can become enough of a non-blocking presence in the lane to force play out to the 1 and 2 of the offense, forcing bad long range shots and Rice/Haynes/Marshall in their face. That's how this team will go far.

My starting line-up?
1 - Rice
2 - Marshall
3 - Dudley
4 - Spears
5 - BLAIR

Goodbye Oates. Or Hello NIT.

Flogging Dudley

Well after the game (?) this weekend, I am left with even more lingering doubts than I had before. Our remaining members played their normal game, but their normal game is NOT what is needed when you are down the best defensive player in the nation. For their parts, Dudley, Spears, and Rice looked DECENT, but the rest of the squad looked beat before they started.

Keys to BC's Victory is as follows:

• JDuds steps up and LEADS rather than just being the studley solo player he is.
• Sean Marshall becomes the player he CAN be. He plays well and the team wins, he plays poorly, and its tough to score.
• TRice learns to handle the ball in big game situation and doesn't get overwhelmed when he tries to overcompensate
• AND THE KICKER: Spears steps up and plays consistantly without the rookie mistakes. He can be the best player on this team, his talent is SERIOUS, but he makes the big mistake when it counts
  

The Future Looks Like the Past

So, with the Block Party officially shut down by the man, there is an unyielding urgency for Shamari Spears to step up and slide into a role left by a man who was built the same.

There was talk that if Spears could bulk up a little, he would have a chance to be the force-to-be-reckoned-with New Craig Smith.

The truth of the matter is, at 6-6, 245, #34 is built more like a linebacker than a 4. Well, his baptism by fire starts this weekend as the freshmen gets the nod over Tyrelle Blair, a Junior transfer.

Is it the right decision? Consider this, Williams was averaging 12 and 10, and was good for three to four blocks a game. Spears was getting 8 and 6 in about 70% of the playing time. The loss of Williams will boost his minutes. What Spears lacks in shot blocking ability, though, he makes up with clean defense and offensive boards. He was less of a threat to foul than Williams, and, more important even still, he is an efficient and consistent free throw shooter.

When the clock is winding down, who do you want? Williams was getting better with the ball, but, he still was somewhat of a liability from the charity stripe. Spears hits in the 70-80 percent range. Smith NEVER came that close.

Spears weakness, though, is anywhere NOT under the basket. An effective trap offense could pull him out from the post and set him up to leave the lane wide open. At which point he'll either have to foul or just give up the easy two. He will shut down the second chance points, its the first chance points you have to worry about.

Do I think this team will be ok? For this next month, the core of the conference play and hardest part of the schedule, I hope so. A UNC game I thought we would walk away with now will be competitive and favor the Heels (Spears on Hansbrough is not a matchup I want). Spears on McRoberts? We'll see next weekend.

As for right now? This team just needs to focus on what they can do and not what they no longer can.

Williams/Mclain Fallout BlogPoll

Ok, so heres what I want to do, I want everyone to comment to this with what they think the extent of the fallout of this situation will be, BCers and Non-BCers alike, you all have an opinion. Post it here:

Choices:
1) BC will rally together and make a run through their ACC Schedule this year without the burnouts.
2) BC will play about the same as they would, and in the end fall either just outside the NCAAs or just inside with an early loss.
3) BC will falter significantly and will lose whatever limited cohesion they had and will drop a lot of their remaining games and make a NIT appearance.
4) The team will fall apart and wont even be invited to the NIT.

Extra Credit.
EX) Will Al Skinner lose his job over this?

What will come of this?

So [Obviously] there is a lot of talk about this Williams/Mclain situation. A few sources that I have spoken to have said that this came after a Zero-tolerance policy for those two from their November suspensions. This same source claimed that the previous suspension of Akida Mclain came from being caught dealing drugs, and Williams was from smoking pot. This final explusion was drug related, they were caught smoking pot after the Miami game.
So in reality, what will come of this? Deep into the NCAA? Doubtful. Cleaning house on the rest of the ACC Schedule? Unlikely. NIT at the end of the season? Maybe. Coach Skinner losing his job? Thats the biggie.
I love Al Skinner, absolutely love him, but as the Heights points out today, he is the one coach that BC has/had that can't keep his team out of trouble. He has shown time and again that he can be a great on the court coach, and definitely a great recruiter and talent developer, but the other aspect of coaching, especially at a school like BC, is the off-the-court side.
What will be the final backlash? No one knows, but I hope that Skinner stays, and the team rallies together and some of the role players step up, but this might be another wipe season like the Football one turned out to be.

The Block Party comes to an Abrupt End

Wow... thats about all I can say about this. ESPN is reporting that Sean Williams and Akida McLain are now officially booted from the squad and will not be returning. It seems that the two, who were both on tight probation for the team since their previous indiscretions.

This whammy is going to put a major damper on our team this year, our rotation is now thin of two players that make HUGE differences on the squad. McLain had some great minutes last year, and once off his injury was set to be a supporting character on a devloping team. But Williams is another story.

Sean Williams was on track to be a NBA Draft Lottery Pick and maybe Defensive Player of the Year. He was the player that he hadn't been the last two years, and was playing great defense and even good offense.

We here and Heights and Lows support Coach Skinner and Gene D in this, even though it hurts the BC Squad IMMENSELY, its so unbelievably unacceptable that they have acted the way they have in the past two years off the court.


Read: BC dismisses center Williams, forward McLain