Basketball's slide continues as they lost another game Wednesday...this time to Pitt. BC built an early lead but Pitt made a run to tie the game going into the half. In the second half Pitt stayed hot. BC did not.
BC needed this game. Not for postseason play or resumes. But for momentum. It was at home against another bad ACC team and we didn't respond after their run. BC's shooting faded and there was no answer. The challenge remains with the front line and with the D. If our shooters are not hot, we have no chance.
The team's next outing is against Georgia Tech on Saturday. I will be there in person. Hopefully the momentum will change.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
28 comments:
Always the optimist, my good friend ATL. I , on the other hand, am disqusted with the whole situation.
There is ACC talent now. Just not enough of it. We need better D and we need a little more talent.
Fox news boston sports guy said "BC lost again tonight - to Pitt. i was going to show some highlights but they were too awful.. laughter"
yes, BC hoops is a joke.
I just hope BC sports turns it around and earns the respect of the nation before I'm in assisted living and suffering from dementia.
The nice thing about dementia is that you can really enjoy BC's many victories and nationally championships!
BC hoops are what they are, they have 2 legit ACC players and a few others that are okay. They are the worst team in the league by far for about the 5th year in a row.
None of this matters until we have a new AD in place. Bates is the sole reason for how pathetic BC athletics is. He is the leader, he sets the tone. He had the chance to hire new coaches in both marquee sports. He chose a baffoon of football coach who took over a good Temple team and was in process of running it into the ground and he chose a career MAC coach who had 1 stint at Power 5 that was beyond disastrous. He chose those coaches, he is responsible for current state of athletics and apathy to the teams.
Ultimately at this point Bates has ruined any athletic pride the school once had the only people who care are the 25 people who read this board and EA. There was 500 people at that game last night, nobody cares. Maybe that is Bates strategy, just make it so no one cares and he gets to keep his job.
Someone recently tweeted that since Bates took over BC Football, BC Mens Hoops and Womens Hoops are combined 31-125 and all three have received extensions. LET THAT SINK IN.
Good post, Shabby
shabby - and do not forget that it was well known when Bates was hired that he had a horrible record in selecting head coaches.
it was known he lacked an eye for talent.... and of course that trait continued and has been visited on BC.
but, it is not quite right to say this is all on Bates, The BOT and Leahy had a big big role in hiring HC. They knew Bates was not strong in that department and could have brought in someone skilled to make the call. They did hire some sort of consulting firm - who obviously sucked at that too.
also, BC is a niche sell. Not for everyone.. so it is hard to find the right guy - which is all the more reason they should not have hired Bates ..... he is never going to get the right guy for BC.
Bates is a gentleman, he has nice hair and says all the right things about BC and education - but that is about it. Has very little, if any, "executive chutzpah"
Mod,
Have you ever heard Bates be interviewed or speak to an audience?
He has too much executive attitude. That is precisely the reason why he is incapable of hiring a decent coach. He has the same problem that Gene had.
yes, I have. executive skills are about execution not hot air. executive skills are about setting standards and holding underling accountable. executive skills are about understanding your biz better than anyone else and seeing the future trends before others and acting to capture that value. For sports, think of belichick. little hot air, lots of shrewd analysis and decisive action.
Bates has none of these skills
what do you think of his hair?
Mod I think we agree. I think Leahy's biggest mistake is waiting this long to fire Bates. Bates is a fraud for all those reasons you pointed out. He isn't smart or tough enough to hire a good coach.
Look at VT. Babcock is a stud AD, one of the best in business. His first hire at VT was Buzz. Buzz is a maniac but one of the best coaches in CBB. VT has a terrible basketball tradition and plays a large second fiddle to football. But Whit recruited and has the balls to get Buzz to buy in to HIM. It has nothing to do with the leadership of the school.
Think about Gladchuck's hires. Coughlin, TOB and Skinner. All great hires. Even Henning who didn't work out was a very highly regarded NFL offensive mind. TC is a tough tough dude, you need a strong personality to even attempt to sell him and manage him. Can you imagine Bates even trying to hire TC? He wouldn't even try, that is why we ended up with who we did. He didn't try to hire any legit coaches, he went after Daz and JC. Two lower level coaches. What other ACC/Power 5 coaches were even in the mix? None, not one and that is the problem. Bates is pathetic and should quit on principal.
Think about that stat I put earlier. 31-125 in ACC play and he gave them all EXTENSIONS!!!
Mod,
We are talking about hiring coaches right?
Bill Belichick hires 25 year old assistants that he can pay nothing, work 90 hours a week and who have no experience. That he can control them/get them to learn his methodology of coaching without any interference. However when "it comes down it" Bill is the coach not the assistants. Did you watch the Super Bowl? Bill had the polaroids and was working the Defensive players(Patricia may have been as well but I didn't see it). He left OC alone because he doesn't want to lose him(think York).
Belichick analogy is ridiculous because your boy Bates cannot coach the teams when all else fails.
He needs to be able to hire the correct people. That requires a completely different skill set. You need to be able to relate to people, get them to communicate with you honestly so you can effectively analyze their ability to lead a program at your school.
Bates is like Belichick that is why he is a terrible AD. You notice that non of Belichicks assistants who have gone on to HC jobs have been successful on their own. You might call OB in Houston successful but that is marginal at best.
Bottomline is that Bates is short tempered, arrogant and think more of himself than he should. Dazzler and Christian exhibit the same characteristics.
knucklehead, in your zest to joust, you've missed the point. I offered Belichick as an example of a man with unquestionable executive skills - as a coach, de facto gm etc who do you think hires and manages the OC/DC and other highly paid coaches. Who makes all the personnel decisions? our Alpha dog Bill (ps Bill is not afraid of Josh McDaniell ha ha)
Bates is not like Belichick, or others with 'executive chutzpah' - which was my point.
I am saying you are wrong and that Bill doesn't have executive skills. He can run the entire show by himself but he hires minions at the behest of management and to placate NFL standard operating procedure.
The Superbowl is an example.
Bates also doesn't have executive skills. He cannot get away with it because he cannot coach the teams.
Bill can coach. He is not an executive. He speaks to the media because he has to. Executive speak to the media because they want to.
With Belichick you are conflating executive skills with his being a good coach. He is a micromanager he is not an executive
You are also mischaracterizing Bates with undercurrent about being a gentleman and talking about academics.
The reason I asked you if you have heard him speak at length is because he comes across with a holier than thou attitude. He is far from a gentleman.
You can see it in his hires. Dazzler and Christian are dicks. I don't think either of them deals with their players very much. Saw a player fall at Christian feet last night in the second half of the Pitt game, he look down and him and walked to the other end of the bench. Odd.
"Bill doesn't have executive skills" Knuckle that is so wrong just look at the results. coaching is only half the story...many, many personnel decision is the other half of the story. both sides require exceptional executive skills
talking to the media does nothing to enhance Belichick football teams. But if you watch him, as I am sure you do, he is brilliant at messing with the dopey reporters.
We are talking about hiring coaches. I said he can run the show by himself. An executive doesn't run the show by himself Mod. An executive sets the agenda and people are brought in to execute it. Belechick sets the agenda, hires people to learn his system, cuts players, drafts players, signs players and coaches the defense. That is micromanagement. Not being an Executive.
No personel guy is going to Draft Nate Ebner, sign Chris Hogan to a $15million deal, sign Micheal Floyd after a DUI, trade Jaime Collins mid season because they would be fired. No OC would kick and extra point9 when you are down 19 with 25 minutes to go in the Superbowl when you could go for 2 and put it at 17. Joshie poo did after conferring with Bill. Bill can do all this shit because runs everything. He "doesn't leave it to his people" like an executive would.
Bob Kraft is an executive. He lets Bill do everything and speaks to the press when it is beneficial to himself and the brand.
You guys are on fire today. Nice to see this blog back on track after the recent troll invasions.
The basketball team is so inconsistent, it can never get its players playing well at the same time. If Robinson is hot, Bowman is not. Yesterday Jeffers looked good (had some good moves in the post and a soft touch) but Robinson was awful in the first half. Robinson played better in the second half, but then Bowman tanked. After showing initial promise this year, Popovic has all but disappeared. Chatman has also disappeared after his two game scoring binge.
Any thoughts on why BC can't recruit elite New England talent?
Serious question GE, does New England have basketball talent?
New England has high level talent and has for a long time now. NE has much better talent in basketball then it ever has in Football. BABC, NE Playaz, Expressions, Mass Rivals and even Middlesex Magic are some of the best AAU programs in the country. We have the best Prep school teams in the country littered with Power 5 talent.
BC has not gotten anyone locally for years. The last high profile kid is probably Rakim Sanders.
Go to New England Recruiting Report and look at 2017 rankings in NE. Top 20 kids are going to all Power 5 NCAA Tournament teams, BC doesn't have 1 kid. 20 kids and BC doesn't have 1.
Last year same thing. Top 20 kids (probably not as deep but top 5 went Kentucky, Nova, Auburn, Miami, Cuse) are almost at all Power 5 schools. BC nothing.
That goes on and on from 2016 to 2000. Literally JOB is last guy to get kids to stay home and he ultimately got fired for it because BC - Mahoney stopped taking those kids. JOB got Herren (McDonalds AA), Sconnie Penn, Michael Bradely, Elton Tyler all to committ to BC and BC blew it. Penn took Ohio State to Final 4. Bradley helped take Kentucky to National Champ and Tyler was 4 year starter at Miami. Add Sean Connelly to list who committed to BC and ended up great player at Ohio State. Leo Papile of BABC hasn't sent a kid to BC since (maybe Sanders played for BABC but think he played for Rivals). TJ of Rivals won't send a kid to BC either (His best friend is Kellogg so if the kid is good he is going to UMass not BC).
JC is a nice guy and I am sure those guys don't have an issue with him but they are not sending their top kids to him. Donahue didn't even try. You want those kids you have to get a NE guy with deep deep ties to those programs and prep schools. I was laughed off boards months ago when I said Pat Skerry ultimately would be great fit if he won more at Towson because he would get those kids because of his long time NE relationship with those programs.
Excellent insight and research, Shabby. But how many of the aforementioned kids were/are academically qualified to play for BC? Again, I would rather see us go winless than become another Kentucky/Louisville B-ball factory.
Yes no question not all of those kids are BC academic kids, so BC can't recruit them however plenty are.
I think the problem that BC faces now along with not having no local ties to these programs & prep schools is that the program has been so pathetic for so long that local stud HS kids don't even consider it. The kid Ryan from MA who is looking at Nova, ND, Northwestern among others isn't even looking at BC. Some of that in this particular instance is not BC's fault but local kids have grown up now for such a long time with BC being completely irrelevant. It is amazing that despite playing the ACC we can't keep anyone home.
As frustrated as we are with Football, Daz can still say we have gone to 3 bowls in 4 years and just won vs. a Big Ten team. Ultimately that helped flip Dillon.
Understood. However, if they are academically qualified ( given the double-standard between jocks and the rest of the student body) shame on BC for not signing them.
GT's bball issues of late mirror exactly what you're talking about Shabby. Gregory was a midwest guy with no connection to the AAU programs here in Atlanta. There is no reason not to be great at GT. Cremins recruited. Ok coach, but great recruiter. Built the program from scratch. Pastner is tapping into the local AAU talent again.
The only major program BC can legit win a championship in is bball. Even a program with a better winning tradition than BC as at GT had issues rebuilding with the wrong rebuild coach. The issue, as you mentioned, is irrelevancy. The good news is that in bball, it takes one transformative player to turn it around. Tech got it with Mark Price, then followed with the greatest college point guard of my lifetime (I will fight over this), in Kenny. Travis Best and Stephon followed. Tradition.
Can JC build a culture? What is it? Skinner did. He deserves next yr and probably the following to build something.
Post a Comment