Clemson Debacle

Williams and McClain absent, the Eagles appeared lost today in Littlejohn Collesium. The players' facial expressions told to entire story: Boston College lacked the confidence and the desire to win this game.

Clemson is a solid team that applied unsettling defensive pressure and had success stroking it from the outside. Regardless, there is no excuse for today's result. It was a disheartening end to a week filled with negativity.

Boston College fans around the country eagerly awaited this game, hoping the momentum would continue despite Williams' departure. Fans dreamt that Oates and Blair would step up to fill the void. The Clemson game was a rude awakening that exposed the duo's inability to compete on the division one basketball court.

The Big Babies

John Oates looked like he was going to cry today. He pranced around the floor, with his elbows tucked in and his hands propped like a fairy. After the slightest physical contact, John appealed to the officials like a six year old begging for an ice cream sundae. On the offensive side of the floor, John tiptoed through the flex as if he was avoiding cracks on the floor for his mother's sake.

Defensively, Oates appeared to have gotten drilled by Manolete, the famous matador, allowing opponents to penetrate at will. John must have hemmeroids, because once a shot was hoisted, he refused to put his backside into the Tigers' big men. Wow, that's a lot of similes, but I'm just trying to paint the picture...

Tyrelle Blair was given the chance play significant minutes this game. Each time he returned to the bench, however, he should have been greeted with a pacifer rather than a towel and water. His presence was a bad joke: like Oates, the "shot-blocking" transfer contributed nothing on defense. Blair got physically dominated, and any attempt to establish defensive positioning was thwarted by a whistle for a hand check. I would offer that BC could have done more with his roster spot, but I guess we need ten guys to practice.

More frustrating to me than Blair's defense was his passivity on offense. I understand the Tyrelle will not be a scoring threat for us, but Boston College appeared to be trying to hide him. We cannot afford to handicap ourselves with four players handling the ball- especially against a team like Clemson, which effectively applies full-court pressure.

Coaching Difficulties

I don't know if it was the coaching scheme or the players' failure to execute, but the gameplan today was a dissaster. Hammonds dropped his first four three pointers before BC got a clue. Players were not supporting one another when their teammates were beat off the dribble, and it was clear that man-to-man defense would not work against the Tigers.

The flex offense was ineffective when BC has only two players that are viable inside scoring threats. Instead, the combination of our slow-moving offense and Clemson's defensive pressure inspired poor shot selection as the shot clock wound down.

The most frustrating coaching note was that Jared Dudley appeared the most proactive. At every stoppage, Jared was the guy trying to teach Oates and Blair how to play the game. At this critical juncture, I would like to see more energy from Al. He needs to get these guys ready to play!

Stepping It Up

Shamari stepped it up big time against Clemson. In my opinion, he is the only player that deserves accolades. Marshall and Rice were victims of trying to do too much- they have to play within themselves. Jared couln't focus on his own game because he was constantly coaching Blair and Oates. That is not his job. He needs to get inside position and take over the game when the Eagles are struggling on offense. The next few games will test whether he is really the ACC's best player.

What's Next

It is hard to say what this game means for the rest of the season. My opinion is that the recent distractions decided this game before it started. The Eagles are still well positioned in the conference, and they need to finish strong. Guys that have been doing it all year (Dudley, Marshall, Rice) need to play consistantly, and the guys who have been either sporatic or lacking (Spears, Haynes, Oates, and Blair) need to rise to the occassion and get us over the hump. BC must believe that they can compete, and I expect that confidence to translate into performance.

Go Eagles!!