BC Pre- and Post-Game Articles and photo links

[DanMcQ]

Eagles make their point: BC rises again at crunch time
By Mike Shalin

sports.bostonherald.com/college/view.bg?articleid=65457


Williams catches on quick
By Mike Shalin

sports.bostonherald.com/college/view.bg?articleid=65456


Dudley does right
By Mike Shalin/ BC Notebook

sports.bostonherald.com/college/view.bg?articleid=65455


BC 78, PC 75
BC still hot on the trail
Under fire again, Eagles douse PC
By Mark Blaudschun, Globe Staff

www.boston.com/sports/colleges/mens_basketball/articles/2005/01/27/bc_still_hot_on_the_trail/


BOB RYAN
Another win pieced together
By Bob Ryan, Globe Columnist

www.boston.com/sports/colleges/mens_basketball/articles/2005/01/27/another_win_pieced_together/

[HoyaDestroya]

Need I say more?!!!!

[DanMcQ]

...free registration required, but get passwords at www.bugmenot.com/


Providence Journal: Men's basketball: PC lets Eagles fly away BY KEVIN McNAMARA

www.projo.com/pc/content/projo_20050127_pc27x.1c6b89.html

"The look in our eyes is like, 'Oh, my God. What's happening?" said Welsh. "Every game is (decided) in the last minute. You take away the last three minutes and our record almost could be reversed. But Dr. Naismith made this game 40 minutes. You have to really execute in the last two, three minutes of these games."

Bill Reynolds: Close still doesn't cut it for Friars

www.projo.com/pc/content/projo_20050127_renc27x.1c693f.html

Yes, the Eagles came in here last night 16-0, an incredible accomplishment. Yes, they are a smart, well-coached team that knows how to win close games. But are they a great team?

Interesting question.

They were in overtime against Holy Cross, in double-overtime against Yale, and went down to the final buzzer against Kent State. All of those games were at home. They came from behind to beat Villanova in the closing seconds, and trailed the Friars by 12 in the second half in their game in Conte Forum three weeks ago. In fact, you can make a case that old friend Al Skinner has done one of his all-time great coaching jobs with this team, a team that has gotten the most out of its potential.

What the Eagles do have, though, is experience, and this can't be overestimated. They return all five starters from last year's team that went to the NCAA Tournament. They have been in big games in ways this Friar team has not. Call it last night's sub-text.

Rule of thumb in the Big East? Veteran teams win. Young teams struggle.

Men's basketball: In the end, some real tough birds

Eighth-ranked BC is undefeated and atop the Big East for one simple reason: the Eagles seem to do all the right things when the game is on the line.

BY JIM DONALDSON (ND grad and Hoya Hater)

www.projo.com/pc/content/projo_20050127_bcsid27.1c66f5.html

"It's been a magical season," Dudley said. "We're one of the surprise teams in the country, if not the surprise team."

The Eagles have surprised even themselves.

"If anybody had told me we'd be 17-0," Dudley said, "I wouldn't have believed them."

Among the reasons the Eagles are undefeated is that they believe in themselves. They don't panic when they fall behind, and ooze confidence coming down the stretch with the game on the line.

"We don't shoot ourselves out of games," Dudley said. "So we're in every game."

It's tough to take the Eagles out of a game because they have so many players they can turn to.

Dudley and powerful forward Craig Smith tied for scoring honors last night with 21 apiece. Smith was 9-for-15 from the floor, Dudley was 6-for-12, and had a game-high 12 rebounds.

Quick guard Jermaine Watson added 17 off the bench and Sean Marshall had 10. Freshman center Sean Williams, who has a wingspan like a condor's, blocked six shots -- five of them in the second half, when he replaced veteran Nate Doornekamp.

"What it comes down to at the end of the game," Friars coach Tim Welsh said, "is execution. BC did a better job of getting better shots. They moved the ball and got the open look for Dudley. We shot a fadeaway, and a leaner in the lane.

"BC also did a nice job on Ryan (Gomes, PC's all-American forward) in the lane at the end. It was almost a box-and-one they played . They did a very good job defensively."

[DanMcQ]

Thomas Boswell: A Father's Pride Is Hard to Hide

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42965-2005Jan27.html

nice find, DFW

some quotes from Pops:

"Anybody who says they predicted before the season that Georgetown would do this is lying," Thompson said of the 13-5 Hoyas. "They've already won more games than I thought they'd win all year. John's a far better coach than I was as this point in my career." "They have some talented players," says the older Thompson, now 62, "but they are shallow on the bench. They're young. They start three freshmen. They've even got three walk-on players. I don't think I ever had as little talent as he does now.

"The brilliance of what John's doing is that he's adapting to the talent that he does have."

...and an insightful quote about big Roy by III:

...center Roy Hibbert, a 7-2 freshman, often becomes the nightly wildcard. "We need for him to play well," says Thompson. Someday, he will. For now, he sometimes does. "He plays best," says Thomspon, "when the moon is full."

[DanMcQ]

Bowman, Cook Back To High Standards
Hoyas Duo Making Marked Improvement

By Camille Powell

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42966-2005Jan27.html


Former high school mates Ashanti Cook (0) and Brandon Bowman (1) have things covered on the collegiate level. (Toni L. Sandys -- The Washington Post)

[jerseyhoya34]

Washington Times
Hope on the Hilltop
By Barker Davis

www.washingtontimes.com/sports/20050128-122524-3921r.htm

"I hate to say the buzz is irrelevant, but this is about us," said Thompson, whose surging Hoyas face No. 8 Boston College (17-0, 6-0) tomorrow night in Chestnut Hill. "I don't think it's good to look at the big picture. As we win games, sure, the perception of us changes. Winning is a good thing. But buzz or no buzz, we have to be better this week than we were last week. And it's still far too early to start assessing this season."

" The old offense was based on individual dribble-drive skills, traditional low-post entries and tenacity on the offensive glass — the college hoops version of dump-and-chase hockey. The new offense is based on constant motion, a high-post entry, a relentless series of cuts and patience — think Brazilian soccer.

"Coach is always keeping us focused on the next game, but making the [NCAA] tournament is something that is on my mind every day," Bowman said. "There's a thin line between passion and obsession, and I guess I'm closer to obsessed about it now. I've watched all my friends from home who play Division I ball make the tournament. When they're playing in the tournament and you're sitting at home year after year, you get hungry ... real hungry. And that part of it, the hunger, Coach doesn't mind."

BB, we're hungry too. Please keep up the fight!

[MEGAFAN]

Gotta love that quote by Bo Bo. Man, I hope we fight hard and pull off the huge upset @ BC!

I know, it's still early... and we must understand that this team is young and bound to hiccup at some point, but with tempered optimism, I can't help but feel we're witnessing something special in the works.

LET'S GO HOYAS!!! TAKE DOWN BC!

[DanMcQ]

Pleasant surprise: No. 8 BC one of just two unbeaten teams
By Mike Shalin


sports.bostonherald.com/college/view.bg?articleid=65630

And, so far, BC (17-0, 6-0 Big East) has won every game. These improbable eighth-ranked Eagles have also won 28 of their last 31, dating back to last year. They have won 11 straight Big East games, 10 in a row on the road. They have the fifth-best start in Big East history and have home games against resurgent Georgetown (tomorrow) and West Virginia (Tuesday), and a game at Seton Hall (Feb. 5) standing in the way of their becoming the first Big East team ever to start a season 20-0.
There seems to be some variation on the same theme game in and game out. There's always a first-half deficit and often one in the second. Against Providence, they trailed by nine points in the first half, caught up, fell behind by 11 in the second, caught up, went ahead by four, then trailed by four before shutting the Friars out for the final 3:19.

``Even though we're down 11, 20, 18 we just know we're going to win,'' said Craig Smith.

[DanMcQ]

Mark Blaudschun College Basketball Notes

www.boston.com/sports/colleges/mens_basketball/articles/2005/01/28/arizona_washington_set_pace?pg=2

Early favorites for Big East coach of the year have to be Boston College's Al Skinner and Georgetown's John Thompson III, who has guided the Hoyas back to respectability. Thompson says he has memories of the glory years of Georgetown basketball when he was a kid watching his father and namesake make magical things happen as coach. "I grew up with Georgetown basketball," said Thompson, who came to the Hoyas this season from Princeton. "It's a place that has very special meaning for me. I hope to bring Georgetown basketball to what it was."

[lichoya68]

i love jt3s comment that hibbs plays when the full moon is out his new nickname should be the wierwolf and you know whatever happens the full moon will be out tommarow go hibbs great press coverage were back and finally so is the press

[lichoya68]

barker davis you are a great hoya glad you got such great stuff to write about .. possible coach of the year brandon saying he makes you believe great article and true... go hoyas you make us all proud beat bc

[HoyaDestroya]

For future reference.

www.almanac.com/astronomy/moondays.php

[OldHoyafan]

.
"It was so bad it's hard to put into words," said junior forward Brandon Bowman, the Hoyas' leading scorer this season (15.2 points). "Teams looked at us like we were a joke. We walked around campus with our heads down. The whole year was humiliating."

Wow. I knew it was rough last year, but I never thought it had gotten that bad for Esherick. This team had no confidence in the staff at all. That's really sad.
On the positve side, however the teams morale was so low that they were willing to embrace JT3's system wholeheartedly. This ,I think, has allowed them to be ahead of the curve in their improvement. When you feel you are at rock bottom there is no where to look but up.

[McBricks]

It's tough not to get totally pumped after reading the Post and Times pieces. It's so great to have that feeling again. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to get it back. Well, it's back and we're back!

[hoyanick]

For me, Brandon's comments put the nail in the coffin of the esherick debate. He was a nice guy, but he was running the program into the ground. "Heads down" around campus? Other teams laughing at the "joke" that the Hoyas were last year? It almost make me mad to see how poorly the players felt while Esherick was dropping idiotic lines about how he would never be fired.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

Washington Post Preview Article
Smith, Eagles Earn Notice
At 17-0, No. 8 BC No Longer Obscure
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45839-2005Jan28.html

[TBird41]

"We're turning heads a little bit, but we're not as big as the Super Bowl," Smith said. "But if we can get close to a national championship, maybe. But you know, it might be our year. [The Patriots are] doing well, the [Red] Sox won the World Series. Why can't we win the Big East and a national championship? Why not us?"

Because karma doesn't like people or schools that grab the money and run, especially if they're betraying their fellow jesuit institutions??

[hoyanick]

Yahoo preview:

sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/preview?gid=200501290058


They call Craig Smith a Hoya. THE HORROR!

[jerseyhoya34]

Hoyas Facing Big Test at BC
By Barker Davis

www.washingtontimes.com/sports/20050129-120626-6843r.htm

"It's a major opportunity for us because if you beat an undefeated team at their place, that will show people something. The buzz that's started will really get loud then. I just can't wait because this game is a measuring stick to see just how far back Georgetown basketball has come."

Once again, great job, Barker. His article is much better than the one in the WaPo, which has a certain pro-ACC bias.

[Grandpa]

Boston Herald:

Eagles clash with resurgent Hoyas

sports.bostonherald.com/college/view.bg?articleid=65827