After the inexplicable loss to Harvard last night, here’s what Boston College coach Al Skinner had to say in this article:

 

“[The team’s] not one person. I wish it was just one person because we could make that adjustment,” Skinner said. “It is the personality of this team. We play up and we play down and we did that this evening. You hope to be up more than down, but the fact of the matter is we as a team have to take responsibility for what happens on the floor.”

Just being up and down is more like beating Maryland on the road, then losing to Florida State at home.  This situation with BC is far from that.  The Eagles went to Chapel Hill on Sunday, controlled the entire game against a team that many thought would go undefeated for the entire season.  Then, you come back a couple days later and lose to Harvard?  Harvard???

There is no explanation… except coaching.  Do you really want your coach explaining away a loss like this by saying “some nights we’re up and some nights we’re down”?  We know that a coach is paid in part for recruiting and game-planning, but there is a huge element of motivating your team every night.  In the NBA, you play 82 games, so of course you will have the occasional off night.  The Lakers might win 60 games and have a loss to a team that has won 15.  But in college, you generally only play about 30 games in the regular season.

How can you let your team not have the focus to beat Harvard?  Harvard is 8-6 after the win.  The Crimson have a 13-point loss to William & Mary on the record, as well as losses to Northeastern, Rice, and Boston U.  BC just beat the mighty Tar Heels!  Then you got owned all night be Harvard?  Down 6 at the half?  Down 14 with about 9 minutes to play?  To Harvard???

And one final note on this unfocused rant - the above quote was not one of those we made up.  Not one from our “inside source.”  This was an actual quote from the BC head coach.  Wow.  He might as well have said, “They are who we thought they were.”