I didn't expect this and based on the schedule, I don't think Steve Donahue did, but I am starting to wonder if we have the worst roster for the NCAA's new style of basketball. We weren't a good defensive team in any year under Donahue, but the general style of play was slower and our guys could make up for any lack of athleticism with hand checking. Now anyone with a quick dribble can get free. And we don't have a shotblocker in the paint to force bad shots or get rebounds.
And things only get worse on offense. We are still getting to the foul line and making a lot of free throws, but we waste too much time swinging the ball around. And don't get me started on the terrible decisions made on kickouts. We would be best having Hanlan drive and drive and drive some more. But then again, we are not well built for this style. We really only have one penetrator. Rahon has a good handle and is willing to go to the basket, but he's still not all that fast. Heckmann can go to the hole in a mismatch. But we could really use a guy like...oh maybe Jordan Daniels.
There are other issues here too. Our second half adjustments. General carelessness with the ball. A lack of intensity or sense of urgency. But I really think the world changed and not only were we not ready, we are not equipped to handle it. The one time we could use a soft schedule to figure out a new approach and new defensive schemes, we are playing the toughest schedule in the country. I usually trust Donahue's ability to adjust but because of the new rules, he's flying blind.
This is not a problem Lonnie Jackson or Dennis Clifford are going to solve. This is major coaching triage. Donahue has to retool his whole offense and defense in about a week. If he doesn't, he's done. I know that might seem harsh, but how can you let him fill the 2015 recruiting class with six or more recruits when the program is struggling like this? I want this to end well. I was really excited about this season. But I have real doubts. Wake up, guys! This is it!
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Hits the nail on the head. Well put.
At least all the rah-rah fans out there can take comfort in Donahue pacing the sideline and looking coachlike while having his rear end handed to him,
I had such high hopes for this season, and have been looking forward to going to the Auburn game next month. There seems to have been serious regression, and that, to me, indicates poor coaching. I don't really know how they turn this around.
I was duped by Coach Donahue. I was so frustrated with the mediocrity of Skinner and I was excited about a guy who took Cornell, let me repeat that, Cornell, to the Sweet 16, that I truly thought he would have BC in the tourney every year. Boy, was I wrong. This guy is a disaster. I think we all got greedy by being frustrated with the "good not great" of Skinner and TOB. Be careful what you wish for BC fans!
I blame the hiring processes and decisions of one Gene D.
Gene's legacy will be his bad hires and firing Jags, Skinner and Inglese. He was also the guy who hired Spaz, Donahue, Gambino and Crawley.
I am an original Donahue supporter.
My patience is done. The guy should be fired tomorrow. He has assembled a sorry roster that has even worse coaching. The experiment period is over. He is a bad coach period. Our team is stuck in the basement so long as he is our coach. His roster management is so bad that this is our peak year. Next year was already suppose to be worse than this year. I hope bates pulls the trigger tomorrow even though it wont help our current year.
Well, at least we only play the Fighting Jabari Parkers once. Syracuse with eight guys 6'7" and up? Yikes.
A combined 77 free throws tonight. Sounds like a fun game of Referee. Were they paid by the blow? Wait...
Let's see...can't breathe on a guy this year and no paint presence. What could possibly go wrong?
What drives me insane is Gene had himself planted in the BC athletic Hal of Fame. Hell, I can be a complete failure at the hiring process if that gets me in the HOF.
IF, and big IF, I stop watching this team, it won't be because of the losses. It will be because of those kickouts Bill mentions. It's awful. As soon as a BC player gets any penetration, they kick it out. Usually to a covered BC player, sometimes to a defender. The real gems, though, are when our guy jumps in the air, spins 180 degrees to look for a teammate and hopes that someone is around. Kickouts are great if you can get the defense to collapse, but that isn't happening. It's so boring to watch, it is so ineffective, and I can't comprehend a staff and team watching film and thinking that this is okay. The frustration of watching that is what will drive me away from the team, not the team losing games.
Not to be overlooked offensively is that in practice we play against our own terrible defense.
According to Kenpom this morning BC is in the top 100 (out of 351 D-I teams) in only two of the eight statistical categories -- essentially shooting % and getting to the free throw line. They're ranked no better than 228th in any of the four defensive categories. 4 years in to the Donahue regime it is an undeniable reality that his teams shoot very well and are terrible at defense and rebounding. It's part who he recruits and part how he coaches. They spend so much practice time working on their offensive spacing, ball movement, shooting, etc. that defense and rebounding are almost an afterthought. It doesn't work.
BC's defense and rebounding are weak. The officials are making the game unwatchable. Compare what b-ball has done to the football product. Football has been exciting and entertaining. The coaches have implemented the optimum system for obtaining wins. Power run game with a limited passing attack. Holding the turnover and penalty margins to a minimum. Rettig deserves credit for playing within this system. Last year he had 17 TDs but 14 Ints. This year he has 14 TDs and only 4 Ints. He's gone from almost a one to one ratio to a better than 3 td to 1 int ratio.' a quantum leap in efficiency. If BC can match there usual home performance of 33 points a victory should be in the offing. BC 33 NCST. 21.
Well said, it's a "Chinese Fire Drill" outside with no shot blocker on the inside.
I am in complete agreement with those comments regarding soft defense. This team has absolutely no players that can play mean defense. What scares me is this is the soft part of the schedule. Even worse this is essentially the same team we're going to have next year. Donohugh has to make a major re-tooling of the team's approach while on the run something I doubt can be done. I hope I end up over reacting to the current mess and things do improve but the schedule would seem to indicate otherwise. Why can't we get ATHELETES
Bruce Pearl's NCAA penalty will end in August 2014.
I'd certainly like to see his style of basketball at the Heights; i.e., full court pressure, run and gun for fun. Oh yeah and the regular 20-30 wins and yearly NCAA appearances.
"At least all the rah-rah fans out there..."
Is there any other kind?
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