Saturday, February 25, 2017

Basketball's can't seem to break bad habits

BC lost again on Saturady. This time to Virginia Tech. Losing isn't new. BC has now lost 12 in a row. Losing to Virginia Tech isn't new either. BC lost to them earlier this year. But what worries and frustrates me is that this team is not getting better and not showing signs of improvement. For example, here are some of the recurring issues from the season that happened again Saturday:

-- BC started really slow, giving VT a comfortable lead
-- BC's defense was terrible and never really adjusted. VT shot nearly 67%
-- The bigs got in foul trouble and going small was a problem defensively.
-- Not enough scoring from the role players.

In the coming weeks there will be plenty of talk about Christian's future. Does he deserve another year? Should BC leave his status up to the new AD? Christian deserves to be fired. He won't be, but he does deserve it. This team doesn't have enough talent and the talent that is there is not getting better. The Defense is inexcusably bad. But I don't know if it matters. I don't think BC will hire a new coach during the AD transition. So all we are left to do is wait and hope for a sudden breakthrough.

23 comments:

mod34b said...

VT shot 67%. really.

the ghost of Steve _onahue returns

JC post game acts like its on the players - not playing 40 minutes. no JC that's on you

CT said...

67% is absurd. Unbelievable. Talent is one thing. Pride is entirely different.

notfadeaway said...

Drain the swamp. Bates hires were so awful I can't choose which was worse. They both lost every ACC game last year and only won 3 this year. We are a laughing stock. I'm enbarassed as an alumni. It's just all very sad. Partivualatly because no one seems to care or be held accountable. Ever to be mediocre at best ...

Napolean Bonaparte said...

JC will get another year due to the AD situation. The optimists see improvement and think he deserves a shot particularly with some new players he should recruit. I just don't see it - a better coach would have gotten more out of these players. Hope I'm wrong but all we are doing is delaying the inevitable. With Leahy and HR allegedly running the show entirely on the AD hire - its hard to be optimistic when we keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.

Geezer eagle said...

I don't even turn the games on anymore. Totally disqusted and embarrassed.

lbkjj said...

BC has a basketball team, who knew!!

Unknown said...

As a NYC area alum who attended the big east tourney every year when BC was in the big east, I was so excited when the ACC announced several years ago that the ACC tourney was coming to Brooklyn. Ok, the team was bad at the time of the announcement, but they had years to get better. Did not happen. I will be there Tuesday afternoon hoping for a win but wondering if they can get any better before next year.

Bravesbill said...

Another recurring theme was BC leading at the half and then getting blown out in the second half. Va Tech also shot 66% from 3 in the game. Shot 75% from the field in the second half and 7-8 from 3. Absurd.

eagle1331 said...

If Father Leahy, and the Board, have any respect for the institution, the new AD should be given the power and resources to clean house from the bottom up, or top down, when he or she is appointed. They shouldn't have to deal with the mistakes of their failed predecessor - Brad Bates - and the school's own poor decision making processes - as they have all combined to have us in such a terrible state.

Brad Bates departure should serve as the beginning of a long introspective period for the school to review its commitment to the Athletics Department.

If it determines programs need to be cut, then do so. If it determines that they're going to put fewer resources in to the programs, facilities, and coaches, then the students, athletes, and alumni/donors need to be publicly informed of that (and the school should bow out of the ACC).

If it is going to re-up on its commitment, then the school needs to evaluate the Board members and School Leaders (Leahy et al) that made the decisions that put us in this position. It needs to come out and accept the blame for the downward spiral, and find some way to re-assure fans, donors, sponsors, the ACC, the students, and the Student-Athletes that it owns its failures, but is putting new systems in place to properly rebuild this aspect of the institution to respectability.

Fans saw Brad Bates, and his coaching hires, as being "out-of-their-league" when they were hired. The school did not, and must own that. Change is needed at much higher levels than Brad Bates.

Geezer eagle said...

Yep!

mod34b said...

So Eagle1331. When have you seen any part of the Catholic Church do anything like you suggest?

No public self flaggellation will occur.

The Catholic Church "accept blame"? A very unlikely scenario

Knucklehead said...

Not a fan of the anti-catholic bigotry. Not surprised since is comes from a Subaru driver.

mod34b said...

knock, are you talking to me?

mod34b said...

is a "suburu driver" some kind of offensive code word?

Napolean Bonaparte said...

While I agree with Eagle 1331 - I don't think it has anything to do with the Jesuits as mod feels. Its a management problem plain and simple. Other Catholic universities such as Notre Dame, Villanova, Gonzaga, etc. seem to do as good a job managing their athletic departments as anyone. While I have no inside information to really understand the situation - it appears our problems rest largely with the decisions of the school's president Father Leahy and perhaps the Executive Committee of its Board of Trustees that appears disinterested and unwilling to assert its authority over Father Leahy to insist on a new direction and strategy for athletics at BC. Father Leahy may have done excellent work in managing many areas of the university - but athletics is not one of them. But if the Board of Trustees feels there isn't a management problem - their appointed manager will keep doing it his way. That's about it and this problem happens all the time at all sorts of institutions (Catholic and non Catholic) - its called bad management.

knucklehead said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
CT said...

At this point, everyone is just re-hashing what has already been said and what we all know. Treading water until the new AD is named.

knucklehead said...

Except the literally retarded Catholic Church belch from mod.

mod34b said...

Nap. I am specifically and only referring to the suggestion that BC - or any part of the Church - will publicly confess the error of its ways. Nothing else.

How dumb is knucklehead? First it would be "figuratively " not literally. The use of the word retarded is itself quite offensive. And second. My comment s merely an observation of the utter lack of responsiveness of the Church to the flock - hardly a controversial statement

And I agree with CT. A whole lot of nothing going on

Geezer eagle said...

CT is correct. We have discussed this issue over and over, time and time again. Essentially, we are all in agreement (even the truculent, acerbic, and belligerent Knucklehead). All that remains is replacing the failed leadership model (starting with Leahy) cleaning house, and starting over again. We have a management problem, boys and girls, not a Jesuit one.

Knucklehead said...

Mod,
The statement you made is literally retarded because it came from a retard, you. So
it makes sense that you would find some offense in the word retarded.

The way you play to the crowd is typical of your sniveling ways.

Georgia,
You shoot your mouth off and then get offended when anything is said back you. What is the SAT vocabulary word for that?

Heights said...

Let's go Eagles. When will the student athletic complex be finished (break ground)? Pivotal piece for EVERYTHING - athletics program, students, everybody. Let's get moving!

STL_eagle said...

Clearly Leahy and the Board play a big part in the success of BC Athletics at a high level regarding investment and resources but let's not overstate their role. Players play the game, coaches coach the game and the AD runs the department. Brad Bates had plenty of resources to create success at BC but did not use them wisely. Arguably BC is too supportive of athletics as they support more sports than most of the other ACC schools.

If Leahy and the Board did not care about Athletics they would have retained Bates. The new AD will have a tough challenge but it falls on their shoulders, not Leahy and the Board, to make the necessary changes to get BC back on track. That said, the new AD will have the best chance for success if Leahy and the Board provide the new AD with both financial resources and moral support to restore pride and competitiveness back to the Heights.