Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Upset!



This was the season to forget...until tonight. BC pulled off the upset of the season in the Carrier Dome by beating No. 1 Syracuse 62-59. There's a lot to digest with regards to what this means and the emotion attached with Dick Kelley, but the focus first should be on the game.

A couple of thoughts...
-- Heckmann played the game of his BC career. He didn't light up the scoreboard, but he played smart and focused. There wasn't one boneheaded move and his defense was very good.
-- Hanlan was the best player on the court. Syracuse boasts the Conference Player of the Year and a handful of McDonald's guys, but Hanlan made some huge clutch shots, and more importantly, could get his shot off against all of them.
-- Syracuse's pace helped us. It wasn't just the 2-3. Their methodical half court offense allowed us to play better defense than we've played all year. We didn't have many blown switches and they really didn't exploit their size advantage.

DK
Dick Kelley was mentioned on the broadcast and practically trended on Twitter. It was the best thing about the finish. I wish Dick had been alive to see the game. He would have been proud of his guys.

Donahue
We are past saving the season or saving his job. If anything, I think you can view this game as an indictment of the season. Why haven't we had shorter rotations all year? If playing slower led to better D, why didn't we do that earlier? After the game Donahue said, he told the team to stop trying to win a certain way. "Win ugly" is what he implored. Coach, where do you think they got the idea that every possession had to be a certain way? It is all too little, too late. I think this shows how much the team has underachieved and how a new voice and new vision for next year can make a big difference. 

13 comments:

Napolean Bonaparte said...

Hats off to Lonnie Jackson for the four straight free throws at the end. Huge shots.

Unknown said...

It's Not The NBA. It's College. There's a reason for that. These kids played with emotion tonight. Dick Kelley will be missed. Go BC!

Bravesbill said...

Are you trying to excuse the players it Donahue? If the latter, then you're crazy.

Bravesbill said...

*or

JERZeagle said...

has ryan anderson gained even more weight as the season went on? I know his numbers are adequate, but my gosh, why hasn't he been a gym rat since his first summer on campus?

people joke about Caudill being the dough-boy, but in my opinion its anderson.

good win, but lets not use this as an excuse to keep the don.

also, 56% free throw percentage for a sharp shooter.... just makes no sense, but it helped us win the game.

ATL_eagle said...

Lonnie is a good FT shooter. Just hasn't gone to the line that much this year to get his average back up.

JERZeagle said...

AH, makes sense haha.

eagleboston said...

Dick Kelly sent a message from heaven. That's the only explanation for this improbable win.

CT said...

Biggest upset ever wrt winning pct by unranked team over AP No. 1 in or after Feb.

ESPN cites it as closer to a 16 beating a 1 than a 15 beating a 2, according to BPI.

We have beaten Va Tech twice, Wash, Sacred Heart, FAU, D2 Phila Univ., and No. 1 Syracuse. If that doesn't scream divine intervention...

Hoib said...

Incredible! Maybe the players read ATL,s post about Hopkins and wanted to impress their next coach.

No matter what the reason these guys now have their place in BC lore.

@timstwrt said...

Biggest upset ever is a real backhanded compliment when it comes against a team in your conference.

Bravesbill said...

Well Syracuse did have over a 98% chance of winning...oops.

Smitty said...

I had to watch with the volume off as I couldn't take listening into Donahue's whistle in the background. I understand whistling every once in awhile to get your players attention, but every 5 seconds?

Great win for BC! I can see DK smiling from above.