Saturday, February 24, 2018

Basketball blows winnable game against Miami

It's been a few hours and I am still frustrated with the loss to Miami. Losing a game with a five-point lead under a minute is flat out blowing a game. Look at the ESPN win probability charts (via AJ) .

Bad choices. Missed foul shots. Bad D. It all happened. It is one thing to lose a close game. That happens. We've won some this year and lost some. But this wasn't a back and forth with a bad bounce. This was a collapse. BC lost big leads late. It is games like this that have me doubting Christian's upside. The talent is improving, but the coaching...eh. As much as people credit Christian for his inbound plays, there are holes in this roster, there are holes in the D and there are some games where you wonder what they are doing. Now we are on the NIT bubble. Ugh.

21 comments:

Bravesbill said...

NIT is not happening at this point. This collapse pretty much mirrored the Miami collapse against BC. Pop's free throws were pretty brutal.

always sunny in cleveland said...

None of the three guards gets a blow when the lead is in double digits with five or so to go, if only for a possession or two. Bowman fouls out. The three officially clock 119 of 120 minutes.

Meltdown then on its way to completion.

mod34b said...

Fire Christian after the season

I hope the mediocrity standards do not get trotted out once again: “good enough”. And “the team improved this year” “we’ll be better next year” “he is starting to recruit some quality players”

Bah!!

If Christian can recruit a few decent players imagine who a good coach can attract?

BC is very attractive as a ACC school.

Christian is not the guy

Unknown said...

"BC is very attractive as a ACC school."
That statement is only true if by "very attractive" you mean the least attractive school in the conference.

Edward Griffith said...

Beat that vindictive , nasty, wretched bast Boheim on Wed. He has inflicted 40-50 point
losses on BC when BC bb is really down when 25 or 30 would certainly be sufficient.
I know we all root for BC and anyone playing ND but in BB I would certainly add Syracuse.
How we could play Miami so tough(away) and just give up against FAKE Irish at CONTE is a
mystery.
Disappointing opening by baseball.

John said...

I haven't watched enough to know, but with BC up by 14 points and 5 1/2 minutes to go - could Christian substitute Avery Wilson to give Ky a little blow?

I don't understand sometimes. Is Wilson any kind of ball handler?

We ask an awful lot from My Bowman.

Re: Pop's free throws - his legs were probably dead from playing the entire game. No excuse, but that's the reality.

No depth in the ACC? Absolute killer.


In order for Christian teams to improve, he needs to be 8 or 9 strong, IMHO.

Let's hope Robinson decides to stay, Hawkins comes back and the new guys contribute immediately.


John said...

Just trying to say that the guys were doing their best but tiring down the stretch.

mod34b said...

No.

Anonymous said...

Miami has a 5 foot guard that got under Bowmans skin in the second half. The last foul on Bowman was pretty much bullshit that late in the game.

The two eastern European's shit their pants on the foul line in the last 30 seconds. The guy who hit one of two looked petrified on the second(he hit the first and missed the second). Like he was supposed to have missed both. Strange.

Pathetic.

Again, the players lost the game. Not the coach.

Guido said...

Knucklehead - you can not have players who are on the court the entire game. Even the best players (superstars ) are given time to sit on the bench to get some rest. If you watch enough basketball , you oft time hear commentators say that certain players need a break since their shots are falling consistently short etc. since they have had too much court time. I do not know whether Jim Christian is a good coach or not - but I will say that part of the evaluation of a good coach is whether he has the ability to recruit on a consistent basis. AND IS HE (Christian) CONSISTENTLY RECRUITING TALENT ?????? I think not !!!!And please I do not want to hear the academic restraints any longer - that excuse has gotten OLD BIG TIME. Jay Wright @ Nova is a good coach in a very good Conference . Academics is high @Nova also . Had children that attended Villanova - GREAT SCHOOL !!!!!!!!!!!!! Are u in love with Christian ????

Edward Griffith said...

Father Monan has lifted BC a level above Villanova which tries to basically do one major well.
We are heavily into football ,basketball and Hockey.
When Father Monan was running "THE HEIGHTS " and O'Bie was around we were good in
football , basketball (competed very well with VU ) and Hockey.
Unfortunately hi successor is not interested in the whole man of ratio studiorum and hence
the woeful results in football and bb.

Guido said...

There is nothing wrong with the goals of Villanova . They are a fine 1AA football program as well as a fine Basketball program. They have chosen a certain path and all seem to be content with the results. Maybe BC should re evaluate their GOALS ???? of their many /multiple sports programs - maybe they should drop track-certainly can not compete with any collegiate programs - how about sailing et al. Your comment on Villanova has no merit , and it almost sounds like sour grapes . Villanova will never try to compete with BC or other schools - they are happy/content with their current position.

BigEast94 said...

I find it amazing how BC always seems to attract the same "mediocre" coach... same thinking that ran Skinner out of town. He was just a product of his assistants, according to many. I must have missed the wild successes of those assistants post BC... players gotra play.. if anyone on this board has seen BCs bench for long stretches and still feel that bench management is the issue are being dishonest or provocative... this team is still short on talent. Coaches have developed first five, but they need more weapons...the endless barrage of coaching complaints is silly. The program is directionally pointing the right way... need to continue to build on this..

Guido said...

BigEast94 - I do not think that anyone on this Board thinks that bench management is any problem at BC !!! There is NO BENCH !!! That is the problem !!! And when Robinson and Bowman et al have to play the entire game, it is totally unfair for anyone to criticize the players . They are exhausted. When you are exhausted , maybe some think that a lack of effort is apparent. IT IS SHEER EXHAUSTION. And please do not say that young athletes do not "lose their legs" !!! It Happens. If Robinson stays next year and these two highly rated recruits come in , then a fan will be better equipped to evaluate Christian. It will be year 5 !!! After five years , a coach should be able to compete on a regular basis in a Conference, since he has had time to recruit.

mod34b said...

Why make excuses for Christian? . His results tell you all you need to know. Dump him. Jarmond knows the b-ball world. This is will be a good first fire-hire for him.

A young exciting coach will out recruit sleepy Jim.

Let’s not keep making excuses for his even-lower-than- mediocre work.

Seek to excel. Really

knucklehead said...

The players never play for more than 10 minutes at a time without a timeout for the or called by the coaches or for foul calls.

The game wasn't lost because the players were fucking tired.

It was lost because the Miami guard covered Bowman well and got into his head. Then the two Eastern euroes missed their free throws. Two stiffs.

You didn't watch the game.

knucklehead said...

... that is to Guido. Captain of team tired.

Guido said...

Knucklehead - you seem to have the absolute answer to every situation in every sport. I believe that I shall leave this Board since your analysis and knowledge on every subject is superior to others who post. It is amazing that Brad Stevens actually substitutes for Kyrie Irving - I must text the Coach and ask him why Kyrie does not play the entire game night after night. After all , he is your best player and with TV timeouts , he definitely does not need a "Breather".

knucklehead said...

Totally different. 48 minutes, back to back 82 game season, multimillion dollar players/assets, matchups played with second team players vs second team players.

Never said they don't get tired. Said they didn't lose because of being tired.

Garbage excuse. When did they look tired against Miami?

downtown_resident said...

This team is absolutely tired. You do not rank in the top-5 for minutes played by starters nationally without a material effect on your ability to compete at the end of the season, particularly at the end of a hard-fought game.

That said, you can't blow a 14-point lead without making numerous mistakes, both physical and mental, and everyone from the coaches down shares blame in the Miami loss.

Big picture is that Christian has increased the team's win total each of the past three seasons, has most likely clinched the first non-losing season since 2010-11, and is bringing in two of the highest-rated recruits the program has seen in a generation. Now is not the time for a change. The goal for next year is simple-- BC needs to compete in the NCAA tournament. Anything short of that and it is time for the Eagles to move on from Christian.

knucklehead said...

Material effect. Ridiculous. Business slang doesn't prove your point. The point is unprovable.

You don't watch the games either. Nobody on that team has looked tired, winded, dragging etc etc at all. Use your eyes.