The Loss Of Reggie Jackson Lowers Expectations At Boston College
by Brian Favat on May 10, 2011 11:57 AM EDT
in Boston College Basketball
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Brian: Reggie Jackson leaving the program early will significantly lower expectations for the Eagles basketball program in 2011-12. But just how low will expectations for next season be?
The departures of Jackson (NBA Draft), Elmore (transfer) and the graduation of eight seniors including Joe Trapani, Corey Raji, Biko Paris and Josh Southern, leave Donahue with a roster full of walk-ons, freshmen and transfers. The only players who saw any significant playing time last year were freshman Gabe Moton and walk-on Danny Rubin. Yikes.
Even though the Eagles have what appears to be a manageable ACC schedule next season, I'm wondering whether Donahue will have enough talent to contend in the conference and make a return trip to college basketball's postseason.
Where should the bar be set in terms of expectations for next season?
Jeff: If we look back to this time last year expectations were real low for the 2010-11 Eagles and we were pleasantly surprised to see them compete for a berth into the NCAA tournament, ending up just one win short. Here we are again and I think we need to set the exact same goals. We should be very happy if BC makes the NIT. BC has less talent returning but a better recruiting class coming in.
If this were football, we'd be doomed. But in basketball, freshmen sometimes turn out to be the best players on a team, in a conference or in the nation. A winning record and an NIT berth might be a stretch for Donahue's team but I think it is attainable. The team might actually not have a let down loss to a team like Yale this season and if they can manage to win all those games that they should win, they'll just have to steal a few here and there to make some form of the postseason.
If Donahue's team can show improvement throughout the season next year, even if we fall short of our goal, we should have some good seasons to come. It also helps in recruiting when a player feels they can earn a starting position right away. At BC right now, Donahue can say that in every living room he sits in.
Brian: I agree. I think that any sort of postseason should be the goal for Donahue's team. The NIT would be gravy, but playing in one of the other tournaments (CBI, CIT) would only help this team develop further and play more basketball in March and/or April.
I think the schedule will be much more manageable next season. The ACC schedule lightens considerably, and there's obviously a reason GDF will likely duck Harvard this season. I think the AD will put together a much easier non-conference schedule knowing that this will be a rebuilding season for Donahue and the Eagles. I actually don't think a winning record is a stretch for this team, and Gene will put BC in a position to succeed with an easier sched this year. I think the Eagles will face more than just a couple RPI Top 200+ teams as they did this season.
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A tournament?
That is awfully optimistic, I agree a team full of freshman brings about unlimited potential, but they also can be horribly inconsistent too. Not to sound like a Debbie Downer, but .500 might be a bit of a reach unless at least two of these recruits are homerun. I am not sold on Mouton and Danny Rubin being regular contributors either, neither showed much to “wow” me last year. Nice role players, but starters? I’m not too sure about that.
Its tough to predict
next year. We dont know who were playing, how good the freshman are, who are the starters, the leader? Ill be happy with anything around .500 but then again i said that last year and i was very satisfied. Hopefully Donahue makes these guys good maybe even great players.
The only predicament is, deciding what to put on....The Big Boy. VAN GUNDY!!!! hahahaha
Now Ronaldo, long way out, WHAT A GOAL! not too far out for him, on a night Manchester United had to score they have scored inside 6 minutes, and its the man from Portugal who has hammered it home and hammered a 1-0 lead for United
Also Reggie.......
Visit LA, talk to Jerry Buss, get a contract, and defend quick point guards.
The only predicament is, deciding what to put on....The Big Boy. VAN GUNDY!!!! hahahaha
Now Ronaldo, long way out, WHAT A GOAL! not too far out for him, on a night Manchester United had to score they have scored inside 6 minutes, and its the man from Portugal who has hammered it home and hammered a 1-0 lead for United
A vineyard?
Let’s get realistic here, folks. Optimism is great, but let’s set it aside for now. BC lost 90% of its minutes and scoring this year (this is no exaggeration). The freshmen coming in are good, but they’re not Jared Sullingers and Brandon Knights. They’re 2- and 3-star recruits that Donahue sees potential in. Moton is a good guy and a hustle player, but he’s an atrocious shooter and highly turnover-prone. We have no experienced point guard, which in the ACC will lead to a ton of fastbreak points. Rubin was hot early but hasn’t showed enough consistency to gain my trust. Donahue’s system calls for a lot of ball movement and 3s—but all of our best recruits coming in are big men. Meanwhile, teams around the ACC have had monster recruiting classes over the last 2 years, and this should lead to a higher level of ACC play than in 09, 10, and 11. “Might not actually have a letdown loss to a team like Yale this season”…. they are all the more likely to have those this year! Realistic ACC expectations… best-case: 6-10; worst case: 0-16; prediction: 2-14. Sorry.
2 ACC wins?!
Think you are vastly overrating the rest of the ACC. Outside of Duke and Carolina, there isn’t a dominant program out there. BC has 10 … 10! … games against NC State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech. Wake is awful. New coaches at State, Georgia Tech and Miami. Virginia Tech loses a lot of talent to graduation.
Donahue got this year’s team to 9 wins with some senior veterans but with a couple of guys that he plucked from the ’Plex simply because they could shoot the three ball. Imagine what he can do with actual scholarship players he recruited.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
We're winning more than 2 ACC games next season.
We might be young but Donahue’s not leading us to less than 3 ACC wins.
Only two programs have won 2 or fewer games in the conference since BC made the ACC an even dozen:
2008-09 Georgia Tech went 2-14
2010-11 Wake Forest went 1-15
Wake was absolutely the worst ACC team in about 20 years. Georgia Tech has followed decent season with horrible season for about 5 years now.
Point is you have to be really, really terrible to win 2 or less games in the ACC. I’m fairly confident that BC can at least get 4 wins in conference. Coupled with what I think will be a much weaker non-conference schedule, the team only has to win 10 or so non-conf games to get to .500.
Pretty sure we’ll see a lot more Bryants, Maines and New Hampshires on next year’s schedule.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Finally ...
"Might not actually have a letdown loss to a team like Yale this season"…. they are all the more likely to have those this year!
Disagree. Truly believe the reason we had these WTF losses over the past few years were based on the players on the court. The Yale and Harvard losses were due to players that were holdovers from the Skinner era.
With Jackson gone, Donahue gets more of a clean slate and I’m predicting fewer WTF losses going forward. We’ll lose a bunch of games we shouldn’t win, but I think we’ll lose games we should win with lesser frequency.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Too soon, but i like the optimism
The only players ive seen who will be back are moton and rubin. Moton had better be shooting jumpers a la biko, b/c otherwise having them as ‘veterans’ is pretty brutal.
Rubin disappeared as a role player- can’t believe he’ll find confidence w more pressure. I think cupcake non conference is necessary, and im excited to see the freshmen. Until i see them in early season, id peg over-under at 3 acc wins
by cwm2005 on May 10, 2011 8:17 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
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