Headlines: Is Skinner's Job Safe?
by Brian Favat on Dec 15, 2009 8:12 AM EST
in Boston College Basketball
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PrintBrian: After the Harvard loss, I was frustrated but still willing to give Al Skinner the benefit of the doubt. Now with back-to-back home losses to mid-majors, I’m starting to question my previous position. For the second straight game, the Eagles came out flat … this time falling to Rhode Island 80-69.
Make no mistake about it. Rhode Island is a good team and can certainly make some noise in the Atlantic 10 and the postseason. But the Eagles came out flat, uninspired and lacked hustle. URI shot 50% from the floor including 9 of 15 from 3-point range. Rams guard Keith Cothran led the way with 19 points, while Rakim Sanders paced the Eagles with 14 points in his first game back.
In the last four years, BC has now lost to:
2006-2007: Vermont, Duquesne
2007-2008: Robert Morris
2008-2009: Harvard
2009-2010: Saint Joseph’s, Harvard, Rhode Island
At 6-4, the Eagles are off to their worst start since 2003-2004 (a season they finished 18-11 and bowed out in the second round of the N.I.T.). Going back to the better Skinner teams over the past 9 years - 20-0 to start 2004-2005 season and the 2005-2006 team - it didn't seem like there were these type of letdown games coming from the Eagles. In recent seasons, however, BC has been dropping games to mid-major non-conference teams at an alarming clip.
Dropping games like these starts with how the players execute, but coaching preparation has to be part of the problem. So my question is this. Given the uptick in curious non-conference losses the past couple of seasons, Is Skinner’s job still safe in your book?
Jeff: I don't think Skinner would ever lose his job over a road or neutral site loss. So let's eliminate the 2006 Duquesne loss and this year's Saint Joseph's loss for a second. If you do that the Harvard and Rhode Island losses might not turn out to be too terrible considering Rhode Island is 8-1 and Harvard is currently 7-2 and both have top 60 RPIs. Both teams may very well be on their way to the NCAA tournament and no matter how highly you regard the BC athletics program and the men's basketball program, BC has never been and will never be a program where losing to NCAA tournament bound teams at home is grounds for losing your job as head coach.
I understand many BC fans are upset with the basketball team's performance early on this season, but we can't forget that one of our best players has been injured and our team is not all that deep. As hard as it is to imagine the Eagles rattling off a string of wins in ACC play right now, the Eagles should be able to get healthy, comfortable with each other, and still finish with a winning conference record. 9-7 or better in the ACC gets you serious consideration for the tournament, no matter what you did out of conference.
Brian: Attendance was abysmal last night. While it probably looked worse on TV than it actually was, there were still tons of empty seats in Conte Forum. All reports are that Rhode Island brought a strong fan contingent and were louder than the BC faithful that showed up for the game. This year, BC didn’t have any study days and start finals tomorrow. The official attendance was 4,263 but my guess is maybe half of that actually showed up. At one point, I counted all of 7 Superfans sitting underneath the baskets on one side.
Who’s to blame for the poor attendance?
Jeff: Attendance is usual a GDF problem. He is the only one to blame for selling season ticket packages that go unused. As for student attendance, this is no new issue. However, let me give the students a pass for the Rhode Island game considering it was a Sunday night game with finals starting the next morning. That's terrible scheduling for the student-athletes and the student fans. I'm actually glad to see, as a BC grad, that students were concerned with preparing for exams and not at the game Sunday night.
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Next 2 Years
As I said just after the Harvard game, if Al does not make a deep tourney run with this core in their this year or next year he should be fired. That would be 1 Sweet 16 in 15 years which is unacceptable for an ACC program. Then again I don’t trust GDF to do anything.
studying < Being a Superfan
you were glad to see kids studying and not waiting outside 2 hours before games ordering pizza in lines to get front row seats? This is not the kid i went to college with.
Al Skinner has done a good job with the kids he has had, and kept our program competitive. Moving to the ACC in basketball was a huge adjustment, and anyone who has expectations of a sweet 16 with this bunch, is smoking some good stuff. We have a decent team, but as long as josh southern is starting we are in trouble. We are exposed inside, which leads to us being exposed outside. There is no help defense once guys start driving, so look for us to get run on early and often. Our team is more athletic than its probably ever been (sans sidney and bell), but we are not the smartest.
A common problem we’ve had whenever we dont have a superior ball handler who’s quick, is the ability to break the press. This is also a problem when you have undersized guards. If you look how we set up to break the press its not all that bad, its just about poor execution and not making quick enough passes. we hesitate and then we’re stuck, and its just so frustrating to watch guys pick up their dribble so early, or not dribble at all.
Hopefully these recruits we have next year, live up to the hype. A 7 footer from canada is looking real good right now.
I don't think it's unreasonable...
To expect a win or two in the NCAAs in the next two years. By not bringing in a recruit this year, Skinner has placed his bet on this core group of players. If BC doesn’t win an NCAA game in next two years, it might be a long time before the next W.
Skinner has built a consistent winner in Chestnut Hill, but without a win in the NCAAs in the next few years, a coach can only live off 2004-2005 for so long.
The way it is shaping up, it might have to be next year for the NCAAs. This team is looking NIT bound at the moment unless they rattle off 10+ wins in the ACC (not very likely barring a drastic transformation).
by Brian Favat on Dec 15, 2009 12:17 PM EST via mobile reply actions
sweet 16
i think the nCAAs are still a possibility, and you know we get up for the ACC tournament, so there’s also that. But i do think the sweet 16 again is a little much especially this year. We’ll see the kind of talent we bring in next year to figure out how far we can go next year.
Comes down to ACC play
As you guys mentioned, it’s going to take 9-10 ACC wins to get an at-large berth, provided there are no more soft, non-conference losses. RPI-wise, what hurts is not getting to play Purdue, but instead getting RPI points from South Dakota State (which isn’t going to bring much).
I think this team will get better as Sanders comes back – it’s not always the easiest thing working in a player who needs as many touches as he does after 6 missed games. Who knows what the NCAAs would bring in terms of seeding, but I do see this team improving as the year goes along.
I love to play baseball. I'm a baseball player. I've always been a baseball player. I'm still a baseball player. That's who I am. - Ryne Sandberg
BC hockey went through the same growing pains that I hope the hoops team will go through
The hockey Eagles came out flat to start the year but as Muse shook off the rust from his injury, and with the emergence of Parker Milner as a legit #2 goalie, BC got things rolling.
I think this team will get better, but then again, so will everyone else in the ACC. And other ACC teams have a head start when it comes to number of wins, RPI, SOS and the other metrics that are important for the postseason resume. If you look at current Kenpom standings and the like, the numbers don’t project the 9-10-11 win ACC season this team will need to make the NCAAs.
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