Saturday, February 07, 2009

Will we see another bounce back against Wake?

Skinner critics blame Al every time BC is blown out. What is overlooked is how the team responds when they get their shot at a rematch. Just look at some of the blowouts since BC joined the ACC and how the team responded when they got their second chance.

2005-2006 Season
Game 1 (at home) NC State 78, BC 60
Rematch (in Raleigh) BC 74, NC State 72

2006-2007
Game 1 (at Clemson) Clemson 74, BC 54
Rematch (at home) BC 59, Clemson 54

2007-2008

Last season didn’t see BC avenge any of the blowouts. But did see improvement in two of the three rematches.

Game 1 (in Chapel Hill) UNC 91, BC 69
Game 2 (in Boston) UNC 90, BC 80 (this was the game when Rice went off)

Game 1 (in Charlottesville) UVA 84, BC 66
Game 2 (in Boston) UVA 79, BC 74

Game 1 (in Clemson) Clemson 78, BC 56
Game 2 (ACC Tournament) Clemson 82, BC 48

This all brings us to Wake Forest this year. BC got killed in the first game. The team is playing much better basketball and seems more focused on the road. Will this be their chance to bounce back like previous Skinner teams?

14 comments:

matthew2 said...

Wake will be a tough game tomorrow. Win or lose, let's hope our team shows up like they have been, and plays a good 40 minutes. And we know Tyrese likes to play at Wake.... maybe he will put on a show tomorrow. He hasn't really had a signature game in his senior year yet... maybe one of the next 3 will be it (I'm talking 30+ pts, lights out from long range.)

Yes, Wake is coming off 2 losses and 3 out of 4. But if we play by that logic, Maryland coming off of that Duke loss should have been tough, and VA Tech coming that tough loss against Clemson could have been a loss as well.

Let's keep this thing rolling, and try not to lose any ground in the standings!

JERZeagle said...

that game against clemson in 2206-2007 is suspect. clemson after going undefeated all season lost ten of their last 14 games. it was a completely different tem the second time around.

lets hope we show up to play in the first half this time.

matthew2 said...

very true JERZ -- I'm not sure what it's worth, but that NC State game we lost was our first ever ACC (home?) game. That doesn't really mean anything, as we had played Julius Hodge and the Wolfpack a cople of times back when we were in the Big East... I just remember how horribly we played that night, and how disappointed I was. But alas, that game was an exception for that team, thank god.

blockparty said...

rakim sanders is the new sean marshall. all the physical talent in the world. the best player on the court when he's on. a huge liability (and extremely frustrating) when hes off.

BCNorCal07 said...

I really wish I could be watching this game. There is no college basketball on anywhere and this game seems like it's super-exciting. Let's see, would I rather a dog show, track-and-field or BC-Wake? Stupid cable networks.

eagleboston said...

BC NorCal,

ESPN 360 has the game. You are not missing much. When Rice went out with an injury, the team fell apart.

I have only seen about 5 BC games this season, but I just don't see this team accomplishing much. They refuse to play defense and they turn the ball over way too much. Basically, they are a lazy team that displays very little enthusiasm. Even if they make the Dance, I feel they will be 1 and done. To be fair, they are very, very young and hopefully this year will be chalked up as an experience on the way to greatness.

matthew2 said...

It wasn't Rice going out that killed them. Wake came out on fire in the second half, and tore us apart for the entire 20 minutes. They were great in transition and we lost whatever offensive mojo we had going.

And after admitting that you've only seen 1 out of every 5 BC games this years, it's hard to make swooping generalizations like this team is lazy and refuses to play defense.

I will be back the next time BC basketball is ranked and the talk of the town. Then, they will be "cool, calm, collected, and play well under pressure (all attributed to their coach). But until then, they are lazy. It's the same cycle with fans over and over again.

Walter said...

eagleboston, this team has done a lot this year and we can't forget that. They've already won more than four games now, I think, than all of last season, and they still have a bunch left. The only real difference is Trapani, and it's been a huge one. It's easy to forget that last year they were abysmal. They could lose every game here on out and still have had a radically improved season.

That said, they are capable of great things. The fact that the announcers (and they were awful) were talking about how we wanted to finish in the top four for a bye in the ACC tournament says a lot for a team picked to finish second to last preseason.

BCNorCal07 said...

Thanks for the tip eagleboston. Unfortunately, my ISP doesn't carry 360. How do you not carry a website? Stupid cable company.

eagleboston said...

Matthew,

I saw at least 6 easy transition baskets. That is just pure lack of effort. Getting back on D does not require that much talent. All it takes is the desire to get your ass back on D. I also noticed several examples of interior players not boxing out. That is basketball fundamentals 101. They play like this the rest of the week, and they will lose to Clemson and Duke and I really think BC is going to need 21 wins to get to the dance. I will grant that I have not seen too much of this team, but I would not get too excited about them doing too much in March. I hope I'm wrong.

BCNorCal07 said...

Eagleboston:

When it comes to the Dance with this team, it is all about the match-up. Guard-oriented teams shouldn't give us too many problems. We can score against man-to-man and play defense (when we - Tyrese - feel like it). It's the defensive rebounding that gives us problems against the bigger teams. I do agree that this team gets very lazy and that could certainly cost us a bid, let alone a first-round game once (if) we get there. I also think we could win a couple games if the chips fall our way.

Mr. Tambourine MAn said...

BCNorCal07,

Check out www.channelsurfing.net, it has streaming live broadcasts of most sports, watched most of todays game on it today. The picture is a little spotty and I assume there's some spyware associated with using it, but its the best thing available if your blocked from espn360.

Ry said...

observations are fine, but if you pick and choose your games you are bound to get a much different flavor than if you actually watched the team on a regular basis. say what you will based on what you have seen, but don't prognosticate based solely on a very limited sample size, it's insulting to those of us who put in the time to see the team night in and night out. yes, this team is far from perfect and has plenty of flaws. but at the same time, they are very capable of getting hot.

BCNorCal07 said...

Thanks for the tip, Rob. I'll definitely check that out this week.