We needed a statement game and we got one. The team earned their seventh regular season ACC win by defeating Georgia Tech 74-72. But as we measure the team's progress and growth, it wasn't just the win that was so important. It was how they won. They overcame their own mistakes and deficits. They dictated the pace and scoring in the final minutes and then -- when Tech made a go of it in the final seconds, they held on despite some cringe worthy mistakes. Here are some other thoughts.
Likes
-- Rahon driving. He was able to convert and Tech never really adjusted or backed off.
-- Another Odio spark. The 3s, the dunks, the block...all were big momentum plays. He was also fouled repeatedly on drives in the first half that weren't called.
-- Disrupting the passing lanes. BC's picked up a couple of key steals when guys anticipated long passes by Tech and just moved into the pass. Those sorts of plays are signs that the guys are "getting it."
Dislikes
-- Free Throw Shooting. The only reason the game got as close as it did was due to some missed free throws in the second half.
-- Return of the careless turnovers. BC had gotten better at protect the ball and the possessions, yet in this game some of the same issues game into play. Tech converted many of these mistakes into quick points.
-- Half court defense. I tweeted during the game that I thought the pace would favor BC. But Tech's scoring wasn't all pace. There were many times where we played too off of guys leading to some surprise scoring from the Jackets.
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14 comments:
What's great about this 7th win is that I had really feared Donahue was a major bust when we were losing to the likes of Bryant and we may winless in the ACC. I haven't been so pleased by a 7 league win season in a long time.
Despite his final scoring line, Anderson has to be better. He needs to be able to finish strong around the basket. Too often he pulls back in the process of drawing or trying to draw a foul instead of going up with authority. He also made a few really dumb passes both in transition and in our offensive set...can't happen.
Attendance was reported at 5,247 or something.
It was more like 2,475. This team deserves better - they don't give up and they give it the old college try every night.
Go BC - you surpassed my own expectations this year for sure. Good luck in Greensboro.
Fox News New England reported a little while ago that Jack Parker will announce his retirement tomorrow, effective at the end of this season.
Donahue is a major bust.
The 7 wins they have in the ACC are not an accomplishment. Donahue has delivered nothing in 3 years that Al Skinner could not have done. Nice job Gene D - Brad bats, please come the rescue.
Skinner went 15-16 (6-10 in conference) in his final year.
In the Don's first year he went 19-11 (9-7 in conference). With the same guys that Skinner couldn't even coach to .500.
In his third year he went 15-16 (7-9 in conference) with nearly exclusively underclassmen.
Donahue has done more in 2 of his 3 years that Skinner couldn't do in his last. Every BC fan owes Skinner a debt of gratitude, but he wasn't going to be the one to get us over the hump. Maybe Donahue is, maybe he isn't, but so far he's gotten more out of Skinner's players than Skinner did and reset our program down a path of success.
It should be 7-11 in conference for this year. Not 7-9.
We all know Skinner's run didn't end well, but lets not forget that he won the Big East in year 4. Do we see something like that happening next year?
Maybe, if we were still in the i East, but ACC is much tougher. So, apples to apples, please.
Of course it's tougher. How bout this: in year 4 Skinner had his team in the tourney as a 3 seed. Do you see something like that happening for Donahue next year?
Ry,
Did you watch Skinner year 3 (3-13 in Big East I believe) and think "that's a team that will be a 3 seed in the tourney?"
So far Donahue has 21 ACC wins, Skinner had 12 at this point in his tenure with similar starts.
I loved Skinner, thought he should have been given another year with Jackson and a group of seniors, and respect everything he did with this program. But Donahue has done fine so far if Skinner is your comparison.
I don't think we'll be a 3 seed next year, but if Clifford gets reasonably healthy, we should be a tourney team next year in my opinion. I expect Hanlan to make a significant leap. Not Troy Bell, but a big leap.
I think that we all can agree that Skinner was the right man until his last couple of year when, maybe he suddenly was "been there , done that". He had some super teams and class players. Now it it SD's turn. Some demand a top 5 in the first year. Others are realistic. Lots happened during the coaching transition that we can only guess at. No one can deny that we are heading in the right direction. Some will always complain that the world is not perfect. The team seems to have very decent guys on it. They are maturing and SD probably will be a lot better at recruiting than the naysayers think. I want a good team that has student/ athletes. Not a Calipari special. There are plenty of good coachable players who will win lots of games and make us feel proud for something other than just winning.
I don't know if a football comparison applies, but it took Steve Spurrier 5 years to get it going at South Carolina, and he had more to work with on his rosters than SD had on his bball rosters.
We are frustrated because our football and basketball programs (including women's basketball) collapsed at the same time.
We had it pretty good and suddenly we were in last place and completely irrelevant.
I think we're back on the upswing, and I enjoy watching the current players fly around the court more than I did watching Skinner's flex, stand-around offense.
A few more studs, and we could be like those teams that come from nowhere to the national rankings.
Go BC.
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