It's hard to see how BU head coach Kevin Broadus is going to make it through this chaos.
Similarly, it's difficult to stomach my school, a school I am so immensely proud of calling my alma mater, continuing to be the laughingstock of the Southern Tier, the America East and now, to an extent, college basketball.
We'll see how this turns out.
2.12.2009
Another one bites the dust
Theo Davis quit the team today.
That's right -- the same Theo Davis who sat out a full year waiting for eligibility; the same Theo Davis who originally committed to Texas, had interest from UNC and ended up "playing" a "season" at Gonzaga; the same Theo Davis who everyone thought would be the final piece of our guard-centric puzzle.
Instead, Theo did nothing this year at all, missed the last few games as a healthy scratch/didn't-travel-with-the-team, and decided he was done today.
When Davis didn't make the trip to Vermont, Broadus deemed it 'academic reasons.' When Davis quit the team today, Broadus insisted that Davis is 'in good academic standing.'
Um, coach, you're contradicting yourself.
Whatever, this doesn't come as any surprise to me these days. This team could win out and I've still lost almost all faith.
Press & Sun-Bulletin Digital Editor Jeff Platsky went to Monday's Albany game and told me the team looked good, but they looked tired near the end of the game. I told him hey ... that's no surprise -- when two major pieces of your team (Davis and the indefinitely-suspended-for-reasons-still-unknown four-year-senior guard Dwayne Jackson) aren't playing, you're going to get winded.
Just ridiculous. Go Bearcats, yeah whatever. KB has literally spoiled my enthusiasm for my alma mater. Tremendous.
That's right -- the same Theo Davis who sat out a full year waiting for eligibility; the same Theo Davis who originally committed to Texas, had interest from UNC and ended up "playing" a "season" at Gonzaga; the same Theo Davis who everyone thought would be the final piece of our guard-centric puzzle.
Instead, Theo did nothing this year at all, missed the last few games as a healthy scratch/didn't-travel-with-the-team, and decided he was done today.
When Davis didn't make the trip to Vermont, Broadus deemed it 'academic reasons.' When Davis quit the team today, Broadus insisted that Davis is 'in good academic standing.'
Um, coach, you're contradicting yourself.
Whatever, this doesn't come as any surprise to me these days. This team could win out and I've still lost almost all faith.
Press & Sun-Bulletin Digital Editor Jeff Platsky went to Monday's Albany game and told me the team looked good, but they looked tired near the end of the game. I told him hey ... that's no surprise -- when two major pieces of your team (Davis and the indefinitely-suspended-for-reasons-still-unknown four-year-senior guard Dwayne Jackson) aren't playing, you're going to get winded.
Just ridiculous. Go Bearcats, yeah whatever. KB has literally spoiled my enthusiasm for my alma mater. Tremendous.
2.01.2009
Comeback win vs. Maine
Nice little come-from-behind victory today as the team celebrated the five-year anniversary of the Events Center.
Brian Moritz writes that he began covering the 'Cats shortly after they moved to the Events Center. It's a shame -- that Jan. 31, 2004 game is probably one of my top-five BU basketball memories. Brandon Carter really, really lit it up that night. I still have the commemorative placard thing they gave out that day hanging on my wall.
Good win. Glad to see the students back.
Clearly, however -- no sign of Dwayne Jackson. I can hardly express how disappointed I am with D.J. -- who had always seemed like the model citizen, in the mold of Carter, Sebastian Hermenier and Mike Gordon.
Now the word is that Jackson is getting unique treatment in the media guide and annual statistics. Today's media guide doesn't even list Jackson on the roster anymore, although he does get a mention in the news section:
Senior wing Dwayne Jackson suspended indefinitely
Senior wing Dwayne Jackson was suspended indefinitely from the team prior to the Hartford game on January 19 for a
violation of team policy.
Then you check out the 2008-09 statistics:
Trust me when I tell you that I have absolutely no idea what Dwayne Jackson did, but if history provides any indication, he did something very, very bad. Pipe Dream's Cyril Cheriyan got this quote out of SID John Hartrick: “We can’t say anything much right now other than the fact that [Jackson] will not be back anytime soon.”
There's no doubt it's extremely embarrassing for the program to suspend one of its senior leaders "indefinitely." In my mind, it's more embarrassing for the athletics department to continue to cover up whatever it was that Jackson did. Silence does nothing but propagate more rumors and give the impression that you are trying to make things go away. Not that the BU athletics department would EVER try to stay silent on important legal matters -- oh wait, there's that whole Miladin Kovacevic international clusterf*ck that, of course, the BU athletics department has never said a peep about.
I'm going to stop short of making any bold declarative statements about the program this evening, but do take notice that the game results are far from the focal point of this post. My frustration with my alma mater is mounting. And, fellow ex-Bearcats I don't blame you if yours is, too.
Brian Moritz writes that he began covering the 'Cats shortly after they moved to the Events Center. It's a shame -- that Jan. 31, 2004 game is probably one of my top-five BU basketball memories. Brandon Carter really, really lit it up that night. I still have the commemorative placard thing they gave out that day hanging on my wall.
Good win. Glad to see the students back.
Clearly, however -- no sign of Dwayne Jackson. I can hardly express how disappointed I am with D.J. -- who had always seemed like the model citizen, in the mold of Carter, Sebastian Hermenier and Mike Gordon.
Now the word is that Jackson is getting unique treatment in the media guide and annual statistics. Today's media guide doesn't even list Jackson on the roster anymore, although he does get a mention in the news section:
Senior wing Dwayne Jackson suspended indefinitely
Senior wing Dwayne Jackson was suspended indefinitely from the team prior to the Hartford game on January 19 for a
violation of team policy.
Then you check out the 2008-09 statistics:
|---TOTAL---| |---3-PTS---| |----REBOUNDS----|
## Player GP-GS Min--Avg FG-FGA Pct 3FG-FGA Pct FT-FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO A TO Blk Stl Pts Avg
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
02 Rivera, D.J........ 21-19 719 34.2 151-308 .490 31-93 .333 94-144 .653 47 80 127 6.0 56 0 17 37 8 36 427 20.3
03 Alvin, Malik....... 18-14 553 30.7 69-166 .416 13-45 .289 77-96 .802 13 46 59 3.3 48 3 80 59 6 28 228 12.7
21 x-Jackson, Dwayne.. 17-2 423 24.9 63-151 .417 33-96 .344 40-54 .741 23 42 65 3.8 37 1 15 15 4 11 199 11.7
25 Fuller, Reggie..... 21-19 645 30.7 75-140 .536 0-0 .000 33-49 .673 48 88 136 6.5 72 5 14 27 32 18 183 8.7
32 Mayben, Emanuel.... 21-16 645 30.7 62-152 .408 19-46 .413 37-55 .673 15 60 75 3.6 61 2 88 62 4 19 180 8.6
22 Watson, Sean....... 2-2 54 27.0 4-17 .235 0-5 .000 4-8 .500 3 5 8 4.0 3 0 0 2 0 4 12 6.0
34 Lukusa, Chretien... 16-2 322 20.1 21-56 .375 5-18 .278 15-31 .484 17 36 53 3.3 34 1 13 25 1 14 62 3.9
01 Camara, Moussa..... 14-5 168 12.0 15-35 .429 12-27 .444 11-13 .846 4 8 12 0.9 16 0 4 6 0 5 53 3.8
04 Herbert, Brandon... 20-5 228 11.4 21-57 .368 16-39 .410 2-5 .400 5 22 27 1.4 25 0 15 9 1 9 60 3.0
33 Sutton, Kyrie...... 17-12 223 13.1 12-36 .333 0-0 .000 7-19 .368 22 32 54 3.2 37 1 4 9 25 1 31 1.8
15 Fine, David........ 10-0 51 5.1 6-12 .500 1-3 .333 1-4 .250 0 1 1 0.1 4 0 3 9 0 4 14 1.4
50 Montgomery, Jaan... 19-9 130 6.8 7-19 .368 0-0 .000 3-7 .429 12 14 26 1.4 36 1 2 13 3 2 17 0.9
23 Davis, Theo........ 6-0 57 9.5 2-13 .154 0-0 .000 0-2 .000 0 11 11 1.8 11 0 9 12 5 2 4 0.7
24 Mullins, Matt...... 3-0 7 2.3 0-2 .000 0-1 .000 2-2 1.000 2 0 2 0.7 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0.7
TEAM............... 37 32 69 3.3 0 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total.............. 21 4225 508-1164 .436 130-373 .349 326-489 .667 248 477 725 34.5 440 14 265 289 89 153 1472 70.1
Opponents.......... 21 4225 477-1133 .421 118-359 .329 373-525 .710 257 497 754 35.9 412 - 274 311 78 130 1445 68.8
x-Inactive player
Trust me when I tell you that I have absolutely no idea what Dwayne Jackson did, but if history provides any indication, he did something very, very bad. Pipe Dream's Cyril Cheriyan got this quote out of SID John Hartrick: “We can’t say anything much right now other than the fact that [Jackson] will not be back anytime soon.”
There's no doubt it's extremely embarrassing for the program to suspend one of its senior leaders "indefinitely." In my mind, it's more embarrassing for the athletics department to continue to cover up whatever it was that Jackson did. Silence does nothing but propagate more rumors and give the impression that you are trying to make things go away. Not that the BU athletics department would EVER try to stay silent on important legal matters -- oh wait, there's that whole Miladin Kovacevic international clusterf*ck that, of course, the BU athletics department has never said a peep about.
I'm going to stop short of making any bold declarative statements about the program this evening, but do take notice that the game results are far from the focal point of this post. My frustration with my alma mater is mounting. And, fellow ex-Bearcats I don't blame you if yours is, too.
1.18.2009
Barn-burner in progress at the Events Center
74 seconds left at the EC, with the BU women leading SBU 83-79. There's been more contact in the last minute than the entire B-Sens game I watched Friday night.
Andrea Holmes has 27 points with two free throws pending. If anyone else has been following this game ... that was certainly a foul on Laura Franceski, and the SBU coaching staff has a right to be flustered by the non-call.
The game is being televised on Channel 23 in the Binghamton area.
Andrea Holmes has 27 points with two free throws pending. If anyone else has been following this game ... that was certainly a foul on Laura Franceski, and the SBU coaching staff has a right to be flustered by the non-call.
The game is being televised on Channel 23 in the Binghamton area.
1.11.2009
BU d. UVM, BU loses to Utah Valley
Great win Thursday night. When push came to shove, I decided to stay home and watch Oklahoma/Florida instead of making the drive to the Events Center. I've got it DVR-ed.
Tough choice, yes. The UVM game is always huge for Bearcat fans, although it's sort of lame to schedule it with no students on campus. It sounds like Thursday's game was certainly no exception.
But really, the whole conference schedule gets me down a bit. While it's great to have so many AE games at home now, it's going to suck bigtime for the student body when they get back. The Bearcats could continue this great run, but without a nice lineup of home games, it'll be difficult to get the students behind them 100%.
Furthermore, what the hell was KB thinking scheduling this Utah Valley game on Jan. 10? ... in Utah?
Brian Moritz described this game in his preview as an obvious possibility for a letdown game. (Shockingly, Broadus denied that idea).
As usual, Brian was dead-on. Utah Valley led most of the way in a game that understandably would lack motivation for a team that's leading the America East. A Saturday night game, in January ... in Utah?
Did Broadus think that Schafer Jackson was still around or something?
I'm glad the Bearcats are getting to travel around the country and play some different teams. Good for them, really. But January is America East season. This team has not earned the right to go out and show off like this. Especially when teams like Cornell and Northeastern are erasing dates from the schedule during the preseason.
Once AE play starts, that's it for non-conference play, gang. I'll make an exception for the Bracket Busters. But this is just another example of bass-ackwards logic from the KB camp.
Tough choice, yes. The UVM game is always huge for Bearcat fans, although it's sort of lame to schedule it with no students on campus. It sounds like Thursday's game was certainly no exception.
But really, the whole conference schedule gets me down a bit. While it's great to have so many AE games at home now, it's going to suck bigtime for the student body when they get back. The Bearcats could continue this great run, but without a nice lineup of home games, it'll be difficult to get the students behind them 100%.
Furthermore, what the hell was KB thinking scheduling this Utah Valley game on Jan. 10? ... in Utah?
Brian Moritz described this game in his preview as an obvious possibility for a letdown game. (Shockingly, Broadus denied that idea).
As usual, Brian was dead-on. Utah Valley led most of the way in a game that understandably would lack motivation for a team that's leading the America East. A Saturday night game, in January ... in Utah?
Did Broadus think that Schafer Jackson was still around or something?
I'm glad the Bearcats are getting to travel around the country and play some different teams. Good for them, really. But January is America East season. This team has not earned the right to go out and show off like this. Especially when teams like Cornell and Northeastern are erasing dates from the schedule during the preseason.
Once AE play starts, that's it for non-conference play, gang. I'll make an exception for the Bracket Busters. But this is just another example of bass-ackwards logic from the KB camp.
1.07.2009
Bing beats SBU, 67-60
My first impression from following the Gametracker from my lovely corner desk at the Press & Sun-Bulletin last night was that BU pretty much had this game in hand from rail-to-rail.
The Bearcats jumped out to an early lead and seemed to never look back against an inferior Stony Brook team.
A late hiccup, though, allowed the Seawolves to climb to within a point.
There are two ways to interpret that late hiccup -- 1) The Bearcats fought off a tough SBU comeback to persevere and earn the 'W,' or 2) The Bearcats nearly choked away a win that it sure look like they had locked up for the whole game.
A bit surprising to me is that SBU attempted only eight threes the whole game, despite trailing from the start. It's a testament to coach Pikiell's patience -- although it appears that Chretien Lukusa's three to stretch the lead from 3 to 6 right before the half was a pretty big backbreaker for the Seawolves.
All things considered, it's another win for the Bearcats, although the string of conference cupcakes ends Thursday night with Vermont coming to town. Although I'm off from work, I'm on the fence about this one, considering the BCS Nat'l Championship Game will be played that night. Regardless, I'll be back soon to offer some more thoughts.
The Bearcats jumped out to an early lead and seemed to never look back against an inferior Stony Brook team.
A late hiccup, though, allowed the Seawolves to climb to within a point.
There are two ways to interpret that late hiccup -- 1) The Bearcats fought off a tough SBU comeback to persevere and earn the 'W,' or 2) The Bearcats nearly choked away a win that it sure look like they had locked up for the whole game.
A bit surprising to me is that SBU attempted only eight threes the whole game, despite trailing from the start. It's a testament to coach Pikiell's patience -- although it appears that Chretien Lukusa's three to stretch the lead from 3 to 6 right before the half was a pretty big backbreaker for the Seawolves.
All things considered, it's another win for the Bearcats, although the string of conference cupcakes ends Thursday night with Vermont coming to town. Although I'm off from work, I'm on the fence about this one, considering the BCS Nat'l Championship Game will be played that night. Regardless, I'll be back soon to offer some more thoughts.
1.06.2009
Local Sports on Demand
I just discovered the 'Local Sports On Demand' channel way up there on Time Warner's list of channels.
The channel offers the Bing vs. Buff State game from early in the season. I turned it on, and was immediately told in the pregame by Roger Neel that coach Kevin Broadus was looking to build on his success from last season, when he "led the Bearcats to the America East conference tournament."
As if it was a success that the team was not banned from the postseason it automatically qualifies for annually.
Sigh.
I'll have some feelings on the Bing/SBU game (I promised a Bing win, and I was right) tomorrow. (I did not have a chance to attend this game as I was working -- can you tell how happy that makes me.)
The channel offers the Bing vs. Buff State game from early in the season. I turned it on, and was immediately told in the pregame by Roger Neel that coach Kevin Broadus was looking to build on his success from last season, when he "led the Bearcats to the America East conference tournament."
As if it was a success that the team was not banned from the postseason it automatically qualifies for annually.
Sigh.
I'll have some feelings on the Bing/SBU game (I promised a Bing win, and I was right) tomorrow. (I did not have a chance to attend this game as I was working -- can you tell how happy that makes me.)
1.05.2009
I'm back - White-hot Bearcats win conference opener
Four straight wins, seven of nine -- the Bearcats are riding high as the conference schedule kicked off Saturday afternoon in Orono, Maine.
Bearcat Country has been on hiatus for about five weeks as I weathered an illness, a financially challenging holiday season and my general disdain for a team that I, unfortunately, consider an off-the-court embarrassment to my alma mater.
But as the saying goes, winning solves everything. D.J. Rivera has been the toast of the town, lighting up opposing defenses Andre Heard-style. Rivera, who I gushed about after watching him do a little bit of everything against Buffalo in an exhibition game (Full disclosure: I have not seen a BU game since that night), now leads the America East in scoring and, as Maine coach Ted Woodward said after yesterday afternoon's game, could be a legitimate POY candidate if he keeps at his current pace through conference play.
The team's win streak inspires me to praise the team's on-the-court success before breaking down some of the off-the-court BS.
Early-season success is not unprecedented in the team's D-I history. The greatest buzz I remember was 2005-06, when BU reeled off six straight conference victories after losing the AE opener at Albany. Win No. 6, a 61-60 2OT victory over Vermont, was perhaps the most dramatic sporting event I've ever attended.
Fans need to remember the position the Bearcats are in. Year after year, expectations have been high. This year, with a slew of high-risk, high-reward transfers filling the roster, the potential for success is probably even higher than it has been in the past. But season after season of postseason disappointment finally convinced fellow coaches to temper their preseason expectations.
This is a team that needs to at least reach a conference championship game to regain respectability, from the on-court perspective. (Most) coaches will play their media day interviews politically correct, but don't misread me here: Nobody fears playing Binghamton in the postseason ... nobody. This is a team that has never accomplished anything in the postseason; in fact, that may be an understatement. This is hardly the same team that failed in last year's tournament, and barely the same team that choked hardcore in Boston in March of '07.
Of course, the coaching change has a lot to do with that inconsistency since '06-'07 ... but if Dr. Joel Thirer had played things a bit more conservatively, he would've installed a coach who would've solved that sort of problem. Instead, Thirer theoretically pushed his chips all-in (I hate poker cliches, but I'm out of practice with my writing, so get over it). Choosing Broadus over, say, the hometown boy King Rice, Thirer, along with President DeFleur, gambled on a coach whose high-risk, high-reward qualities mirror those of the troubled recruits he's continued to bring in.
Sure, bringing in talented freshmen -- sans rap sheets -- would cause short-term consternation and probably not immediately deliver the conference championship that the BU men so desperately need.
But look what happened with Mike Gordon. He walked on campus an unheralded, six-foot-on-his-tippy-toes bench-warmer. He worked his ass off for four years -- and graduated a 39-minute-a-night, wish-you-had-five-of-him, community-loves-him, not-quite-MVP-caliber-but-you-could-mention-him-in-the-conversation-and-not-get-laughed-at model citizen -- someone who made you proud to be a Bearcat fan, a Binghamton resident or a BU alum (or in some cases, all three).
If Al Walker was going to keep his job, Mike Gordon was going to be the reason why.
Instead, Al Walker lost his job. To put it simply, he couldn't succeed in the postseason. But look a little deeper, and you identify two major underlying issues that Thirer, in the end, couldn't stomach: a pair of bad knees, and a troubled transfer.
You could write a 500-word novel about Nick Billings and not tell the whole story, but you can sum up his downfall in a five-letter word: knees. If Billings' career had continued on the upswing that blessed his freshman and sophomore seasons, Walker probably would've cut down the nets at the Events Center. But the lanky Alaskan's knees deteriorated to a point where he could not be the same guy he was from 2002-2004.
But Billings' troubles weren't limited to his knees. Billings flourished in an offense run by true point guard Brandon Carter -- another man you'd be proud to call a fellow Bearcat. When Carter graduated in the spring of 2004, Darel Lucas, a transfer student, was slated to start at the 1 the following season.
When Lucas' career evaporated that fall, a freshman named Troy Hailey -- a terrific young talent at the 2 -- moved to the point, thrust into the spotlight he should've been eased into over the next two seasons.
Hailey turned out to be an all-time great Bearcat. He's the program's all-time leading scorer -- undoubtedly in part because he got a lot more playing time than Walker originally planned.
But he was never the true point guard Carter was -- or Lucas was supposed to be.
The other pieces were there. (Four-year player) Sebastian Hermenier. Billings, with Alex Adediran. Heard. Jordan Fithian (whose misfortunes were more philosophical than physical). But underneath it all, everything disintegrated when Lucas skipped town mid-season.
And that brings us back to the present day. Jan. 5, 2009. The record looks nice. The on-the-court success is reviving old-school talk of BU being a postseason sleeper (although the season really started yesterday -- throw everything else out; an AE team will not win an NCAA tournament game for the forseeable future, and won't/shouldn't be seeded higher than 14, but that's a completely separate discussion).
I digress.
I am concerned that this team is built like a house of cards, constructed on a group of Darel Lucas's, an oligarchy that could collapse at any time. And none of Walker's recruits ever (allegedly) bowled over an old lady after (allegedly) stealing a case of condoms from the local Wal-Mart. Not to mention the Miladin Kovacevic case -- a Walker recruit, yes, but the crime happened on Broadus' watch (and anyone who tries to separate Kovacevic and Broadus because he was a Walker recruit is incorrect). And don't forget about Broadus' own transgressions.
Full disclosure: I attended a BU/Albany game at the Events Center clutching an "I'm a Kevin Broadus guy" sign. But if I was not a BU alum/fan, I could never defend the BU side of the shove-gate argument. (Could you?!)
Maybe I'm being too cynical, or overly cautious because I have seen this team fail in the postseason year after year -- and in my eyes, that's how teams -- especially teams with full funding, a beautiful on-campus facility, tons of student and community support, loads of talent annually, and a hotshot coach from Georgetown and GW -- deserve to be judged.
But I'm worried.
That's not to say I am worried about tomorrow night. I still think Stony Brook is a complete embarrassment to the America East conference, although I can give 'em some dap for toppling UMBC yesterday. The Bearcats should wipe the floor with SBU every year.
But if they win the next 10 games in a row, a part of me will still be worried that the team is just inherently unstable. And it'll be hard to sell me on the idea that building a team full of talented, non-criminal, graduating four-year players is not the proper way to build a program still less than 10 years in D-I.
Bearcat Country has been on hiatus for about five weeks as I weathered an illness, a financially challenging holiday season and my general disdain for a team that I, unfortunately, consider an off-the-court embarrassment to my alma mater.
But as the saying goes, winning solves everything. D.J. Rivera has been the toast of the town, lighting up opposing defenses Andre Heard-style. Rivera, who I gushed about after watching him do a little bit of everything against Buffalo in an exhibition game (Full disclosure: I have not seen a BU game since that night), now leads the America East in scoring and, as Maine coach Ted Woodward said after yesterday afternoon's game, could be a legitimate POY candidate if he keeps at his current pace through conference play.
The team's win streak inspires me to praise the team's on-the-court success before breaking down some of the off-the-court BS.
Early-season success is not unprecedented in the team's D-I history. The greatest buzz I remember was 2005-06, when BU reeled off six straight conference victories after losing the AE opener at Albany. Win No. 6, a 61-60 2OT victory over Vermont, was perhaps the most dramatic sporting event I've ever attended.
Fans need to remember the position the Bearcats are in. Year after year, expectations have been high. This year, with a slew of high-risk, high-reward transfers filling the roster, the potential for success is probably even higher than it has been in the past. But season after season of postseason disappointment finally convinced fellow coaches to temper their preseason expectations.
This is a team that needs to at least reach a conference championship game to regain respectability, from the on-court perspective. (Most) coaches will play their media day interviews politically correct, but don't misread me here: Nobody fears playing Binghamton in the postseason ... nobody. This is a team that has never accomplished anything in the postseason; in fact, that may be an understatement. This is hardly the same team that failed in last year's tournament, and barely the same team that choked hardcore in Boston in March of '07.
Of course, the coaching change has a lot to do with that inconsistency since '06-'07 ... but if Dr. Joel Thirer had played things a bit more conservatively, he would've installed a coach who would've solved that sort of problem. Instead, Thirer theoretically pushed his chips all-in (I hate poker cliches, but I'm out of practice with my writing, so get over it). Choosing Broadus over, say, the hometown boy King Rice, Thirer, along with President DeFleur, gambled on a coach whose high-risk, high-reward qualities mirror those of the troubled recruits he's continued to bring in.
Sure, bringing in talented freshmen -- sans rap sheets -- would cause short-term consternation and probably not immediately deliver the conference championship that the BU men so desperately need.
But look what happened with Mike Gordon. He walked on campus an unheralded, six-foot-on-his-tippy-toes bench-warmer. He worked his ass off for four years -- and graduated a 39-minute-a-night, wish-you-had-five-of-him, community-loves-him, not-quite-MVP-caliber-but-you-could-mention-him-in-the-conversation-and-not-get-laughed-at model citizen -- someone who made you proud to be a Bearcat fan, a Binghamton resident or a BU alum (or in some cases, all three).
If Al Walker was going to keep his job, Mike Gordon was going to be the reason why.
Instead, Al Walker lost his job. To put it simply, he couldn't succeed in the postseason. But look a little deeper, and you identify two major underlying issues that Thirer, in the end, couldn't stomach: a pair of bad knees, and a troubled transfer.
You could write a 500-word novel about Nick Billings and not tell the whole story, but you can sum up his downfall in a five-letter word: knees. If Billings' career had continued on the upswing that blessed his freshman and sophomore seasons, Walker probably would've cut down the nets at the Events Center. But the lanky Alaskan's knees deteriorated to a point where he could not be the same guy he was from 2002-2004.
But Billings' troubles weren't limited to his knees. Billings flourished in an offense run by true point guard Brandon Carter -- another man you'd be proud to call a fellow Bearcat. When Carter graduated in the spring of 2004, Darel Lucas, a transfer student, was slated to start at the 1 the following season.
When Lucas' career evaporated that fall, a freshman named Troy Hailey -- a terrific young talent at the 2 -- moved to the point, thrust into the spotlight he should've been eased into over the next two seasons.
Hailey turned out to be an all-time great Bearcat. He's the program's all-time leading scorer -- undoubtedly in part because he got a lot more playing time than Walker originally planned.
But he was never the true point guard Carter was -- or Lucas was supposed to be.
The other pieces were there. (Four-year player) Sebastian Hermenier. Billings, with Alex Adediran. Heard. Jordan Fithian (whose misfortunes were more philosophical than physical). But underneath it all, everything disintegrated when Lucas skipped town mid-season.
And that brings us back to the present day. Jan. 5, 2009. The record looks nice. The on-the-court success is reviving old-school talk of BU being a postseason sleeper (although the season really started yesterday -- throw everything else out; an AE team will not win an NCAA tournament game for the forseeable future, and won't/shouldn't be seeded higher than 14, but that's a completely separate discussion).
I digress.
I am concerned that this team is built like a house of cards, constructed on a group of Darel Lucas's, an oligarchy that could collapse at any time. And none of Walker's recruits ever (allegedly) bowled over an old lady after (allegedly) stealing a case of condoms from the local Wal-Mart. Not to mention the Miladin Kovacevic case -- a Walker recruit, yes, but the crime happened on Broadus' watch (and anyone who tries to separate Kovacevic and Broadus because he was a Walker recruit is incorrect). And don't forget about Broadus' own transgressions.
Full disclosure: I attended a BU/Albany game at the Events Center clutching an "I'm a Kevin Broadus guy" sign. But if I was not a BU alum/fan, I could never defend the BU side of the shove-gate argument. (Could you?!)
Maybe I'm being too cynical, or overly cautious because I have seen this team fail in the postseason year after year -- and in my eyes, that's how teams -- especially teams with full funding, a beautiful on-campus facility, tons of student and community support, loads of talent annually, and a hotshot coach from Georgetown and GW -- deserve to be judged.
But I'm worried.
That's not to say I am worried about tomorrow night. I still think Stony Brook is a complete embarrassment to the America East conference, although I can give 'em some dap for toppling UMBC yesterday. The Bearcats should wipe the floor with SBU every year.
But if they win the next 10 games in a row, a part of me will still be worried that the team is just inherently unstable. And it'll be hard to sell me on the idea that building a team full of talented, non-criminal, graduating four-year players is not the proper way to build a program still less than 10 years in D-I.
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