Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Should we freak out about the Falzon stuff?


The New England basketball scene got a little controversial Tuesday when worded leaked out that BC was no longer recruiting Aaron Falzon. The problem came when Falzon, his family and his coach found out via Twitter instead of hearing directly from BC. Jim Christian and his staff can not publicly talk about recruits or explain why or how it happened, but through the backchannel rumormill, it is being said they told Falzon first. Yet his family and coach dispute the sequence. The only thing that most observers can agree on is that it wasn't handled well and now Christian has pissed off a local recruit at a regional power (Northfield Mount Hermon).

I don't care who Jim Christian recruits. If he thinks Falzon is not a great fit for his system and prefers Markus McDuffie as a power forward, that's fine. Christian -- not me -- has to coach the guys. But the problem comes in perception and execution. Despite not having a great recruiting reputation, Christian said winning in the ACC takes talent. He hired two ace recruiters for his staff. Now before they've even started practicing, there are questions about how this staff is working together and if Christian can close the guys Murphy and Spinelli serve up.

Although Christian hasn't thrown Donahue under the bus in publicly, he has made it clear to those close to the program that he has a different recruiting philosophy than our former coach. Falzon -- with his long range for a big man -- might have been the perfect Donahue player. Maybe he would have been lost at BC under Christian. That's fine. The staff certainly did their homework on him. However, they need to get better at communicating to recruits and they better hope that this didn't piss off Josh Sharma and that they close on McDuffie. It wouldn't hurt if McDuffie proves to be a better player than Falzon.

7 comments:

Hoib said...

So it sounds like Christian is a hard man. Let's hope he finds and developes a team of hard men to put on the court. No more Mr. Nice guy! The games start soon and we'll start to get some questions answered.

Kash86 said...

I think the most likely scenario as to what happened was the staff, who was 3 deep visiting McDuffie yesterday, probably expressed to him that he was 1 of 2 top priorities (with Sharma), and that they had decided to move forward with McDuffie instead of Falzon, which is fine/normal.

He then told this guy at ESPN who tweeted it out. McDuffies camp probably shouldn't have said anything and this blogger probably shouldn't have released the information.

It comes off bad, but its not as bad as it looks. This guy on twitter (Falzon, dont know if its his father altho I assume it is) seems to be making a much bigger deal out of this than it really is.

Bottom line, the coaching staff knows what happened. They definitely did damage control with NHM considering Sharma is a teammate. It was most likely a mix up and not intended to be malicious towards Falzon and definitely shouldn't have been put on social media or mentioned if told in confidence/private

Mr. Tambourine MAn said...

Who are the players that the staff supposedly put on a platter that Christian can't close?

JBQ said...

Falzon looks like a super recruit for "Dartmouth". Donohue was excellent at that level. Sadly, that didn't work at BC and the ACC. You need more "meat and potatoes" players like Jared Dudley. Sometimes, reality serves a "sour dish". You then just have to get used to eating sauerkraut. It looks like "Hans" Christian has his head screwed on tight and will make a difference at BC.

EL MIZ said...

"there are questions about how this staff is working together and if Christian can close the guys Murphy and Spinelli serve up."

who is asking those questions? Sharma just took an official visit and did not commit; the first time that has happened. all six players who came on official visits prior to that committed on the visit (the 2 transfers, Diallo the freshman this year, and the 3 current commits for next year).

as i was with Donahue, i will be patient with X-ian and wait to see what happens with Christian. Unknown expressed what seems like a plausible scenario. Falzon and McDuffie are both second fiddle to Sharma; he's the guy we need to land, and if we can get McDuffie as well, that is fantastic.

also, McDuffie plays at St. Anthony's in NJ. would be great to get traction with them, they are one of the best HS programs in the country

Hoib said...

El Mz

As usual many good points. Was the transfer we lost to URI's wisit not official? I remember reports that stated he was coming after that visit. Turned out to be wrong. I agree about St. A, but I have one issue w/ McDuffie. He's listed as 6 8. 175lbs. How can he be a power forward? We need guys who can hold their own inside in the ACC. I don't see how a guy that sleight can do it. Tell me I'm wrong, please.

JBQ said...

@Hoib: Okay, you're wrong but you're right.