MBB Game 17: Boston College at Duke

I have some pretty harsh things to say about our men’s basketball team, but I shall reserve them until tomorrow night, unless this team discovers its sense of self-worth and puts forth a brilliant effort at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Now then, I may be supportive of Boston College athletics, but I am not a blind homer, nor am I (that) stupid.  I realize that there is probably at least an 80% chance that BC will not win this game tomorrow night, and since the regular season is basically already shot, I’m not going to break down in tears if that’s what happens.  Would I like BC to win?  Sure, if for no other reason, just to beat Duke at their place.  It could also help in ACC Tournament seeding later.

I won’t even get into key matchups, key stats, any of that; they only tell you so much.  In this post, I want to focus on things relating to effort.  BC isn’t exhibiting all of it, or at least that’s how Al Skinner feels.  He said, in part:

"“What’s happening is we’ve got maybe four guys playing hard at one time, three guys playing hard, and then sometimes we get five…”"

I had felt this way in watching them play this season, but it’s nice to see that the coach finally said it himself.  To not have everyone out on the court putting out maximum effort is frankly unacceptable, and it’s definitely not going to cut it in ACC play.  Hell, it didn’t even cut it in out-of-conference play.  The reason why and who’s to blame for it is a matter for another discussion; right now, we have to wonder if BC will play hard at Duke tomorrow night or if they won’t.  If Saturday’s BC shows up, then they’re going to lose, probably by a substantial margin.  If they give a damn, then perhaps it will be far closer. 

That’s really what this comes down to, in addition to their issues on defense and missing layups, amongst other things.  It’s a sad state of affairs, and tomorrow night, on national television, we’ll find out what remains of BC’s intestinal fortitude.