CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston College got better because of a summer trip, weekly meetings during the season and simply listening to coach Al Skinner instead of tuning out his daily lectures.
It was that simple for the Eagles to go from worst to first in the Big East
in one season.
|  | | Al Skinner has paid back his Boston College bosses with a 17-2 record this season.
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Boston College didn't add any all-Americans. The Eagles' only new face was a
freshman named Ryan Sidney, another Midwesterner who the Big Ten got in on
too late, like another Eagle from the upper Midwest named Troy Bell who they grabbed the previous year.
Hard work in the offseason meant the same players got better. There's no
magic here. It's called patience and perseverance and the Eagles are living
proof that a coach can turn around a program if he's given a long leash
without feeling that every defeat means he's closer to the exit than an
extension.
Skinner, a leading candidate for national coach of the year, let alone the
Big East honor, didn't feel any heat from the BC administration when the
Eagles finished 13th in the 13-team league in his third season a year ago.
"Luckily, BC was patient," Skinner said after the Eagles clipped Syracuse
65-63 Wednesday night in Conte Forum in front of a capacity 8,606 rocking
fans who have made college basketball the top winter draw in the Hub once again.
"Not every school would have done that."
And not every school can improve without bringing in a host of
all-Americans. Seton Hall is proving that adding big names doesn't
necessarily mean the game changes. The basics still are needed, like role
play, team chemistry and having a confidence that they can win.
Skinner and associate head coach Tim O'Shea scheduled well enough to give
the Eagles confidence early, with the only big-time game at home against
Vanderbilt before New Year's Eve. The 9-0 start was the perfect prelude to
knocking off Connecticut in the Big East opener, ending a 23-game losing
streak to the Huskies.
Boston College then won in Miami for the first time since '97. Beat
Villanova in the Pavilion for the first time since '93, ending a six-game
losing streak in Philadelphia. Beating Syracuse on Wednesday ended a five-game skid against the Orangemen.
There aren't many revenge games left. The only thing that remains is to get
the Eagles to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since '97, when the
Eagles lost to St. Joseph's in the second round in Salt Lake City. That
might be all set with a 17-2 mark and an 8-1 Big East record.
"We're happy, but these are goals we set before the season," Skinner said.
"I don't bring a lot of limitations or expectations. Our goal is to play
hard and if we do that then we can be successful."
The Eagles were aggressive in the first half against the Orangemen,
frustrating sharp shooter Preston Shumpert into 1-for-7 shooting and
Syracuse into nine turnovers for a 34-23 first-half lead. But the attack
mentality slipped and the Eagles went into a passive approach against the
Orangemen's 2-3 zone. The window-washing offense around the perimeter
instead of attacking the interior of the zone allowed Syracuse a chance
offensively. They took advantage of it and raced out to a 17-3 run to take a
lead behind Shumpert's three 3-pointers.
The Eagles proved they are a veteran team that understands how to win
when they realized what was wrong. Bell drove inside to get a fourth foul on
Jeremy McNeil to tie the game with two free throws. Bell then took a
tight, one-point game and made it four points by slicing through the zone for a
three-point play later in the half. The aggressive offensive backboard work
paid off as the Eagles got to the line in the final minute to hit five of six free throws for the victory.
The little things won the game, as they have for most of the 17 the Eagles
have won to date. This is a team with one star, who doesn't think of himself
as such (Bell), a transfer from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (Xavier
Singletary) who finally is at home in the Big East, a few rugged athletes in
junior Kenny Walls, senior Kenny Harley and sophomore Uka Agbai and two glue
guys off the bench in Sidney and senior Jonathan Beerbohm.
"Teams can have all-Americans, but if they're not on the same page, then
they're not going to win ballgames," Beerbohm said. "It's all about
trusting each other. We base our team on our defense and you can't do that
if you don't know what each other is going to do."
Individualism ruled the Eagles a year ago. But that was erased in the hours in the gym during the offseason and on a trip to Europe in August.
"Last year we didn't do much out of practice," Beerbohm said. "Now, once a
week, we call a team meeting and talk about basketball and/or life. We go
over game plans on road trips. You can't have five stars. Everyone has to
accept their role."
Bell has. In fact, he thought his role was too pronounced last year. He said all he knew when he came to BC was how to score. He didn't understand how to get everyone else the ball. In the first half Wednesday, he had only five
points but had five assists, five steals and no turnovers and the Eagles
were up by 11.
"They wanted me to step up and be a leader last year, but I was only a
freshman," Bell said. "I didn't know how to do that. Everyone this year is
hungry. No one here has really won before."
Bell said the pressure on Singletary was too hard to deal with, especially
from Howard to the Heights after sitting out a season.
"They called him 'Xavier the Savior' and that's a lot of pressure," Bell
said. "That trip in the summer really helped us on and off the court. Now if
there's confusion we can talk about it. We get it all out. We didn't listen
last year. We do now. On paper, every Big East team is better than us. But
we've got a good team and our defense brings us together."
That's good enough to get to the top of the Big East, a year after being at
the bottom.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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Syracuse falls victim to BC's march to March, 65-63
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