Coaching 101

[Dirtywater75]

Pasted below are some interesting comments on the VT game in the Globe. Its not mine but I thought it might be of interest.


Mitch16 wrote:
It's always easy to second guess after the fact. That's true. But, there is really little doubt that the coaches lost this game for the players---a game that the players fought their tails off to win---which is why the horrendous last 20 seconds of that game should have never taken place.

First of all, when Reggie Jackson calmly sank two free throws to to put BC up by 3 with under 30 seconds left...most coaches in possession of three timeouts would have used one there to set up the defense and to remind the players that the worst thing they could do right then was foul and stop the clock. BC did not call timeout and 5 seconds later Dallas Elmore (who played by far his best game of his young career) gets called for a blocking foul on the Hokies' best player Malcolm Delaney. All Elmore had to do was keep himself between Delaney and the basket and force Delaney to make a tough shot over him. Had this been explained to him in a timeout, the foul may not have ever occurred.

Delaney sinks both free throws to cut the lead to one. There are 20 some odd seconds left in the game. Time out to set up the critical out of bounds play? No---no timeout from Al Skinner. With three timeouts, there is NO coach in Division I basketball who would NOT call timeout in that situation. In fact, had it been Coach K, he would have used one timeout to get the play set, and then likely have used another timeout after he saw what defense the Hokies were in.

Now, mind you, having watched every BC game last year and this, the one player you DON'T want taking the ball out of bounds in that situation is Joe Trapani. Trapani has consistently botched that role the last two years because he's far too tentative and nervous in that role. Fine. Have Rakhim Sanders take the ball out, or even Biko Paris---you are running the baseline anyway if you have to.

The irony is when Trapani ran the baseline to his left, Reggie Jackson (the player you want to get the ball because he was hot from the line), broke free to the corner and was wide open.

Instead, Trapani does the LAST thing you want to do other than bounce the ball on the line, throw the ball away or eat a 5 second call: he throws it directly under his own basket to Biko Paris who is immediately engulfed by a triple team. Apparently, Paris said he called timeout, but he called it too late. He was exdpecting to be fouled, but the Hokies weren't fouling. Instead they reach in and tie him up. The Hokies had the possession arrow on their side---which is another reason to have called timeout before the play to remind the players that they can use timeouts if they get in trouble and to remind them that the arrow is not on their side.

BC is probably the worst coached team in the country as breaking presses. For one, Al Skinner never presses himself---not sure if he even has a press---down 14 to Harvard two years in a row, he did not press. Thus, BC doesn't face the kind of pressure in practice that they see in the game.

Secondly, regarding press breaks, the one thing you HAVE to do is pose a deep threat. When the opponent senses you might throw deep it backs the players off. When I coached I used to set up a box and set backscreens for the front two, thus sending them deep. Then you pop the screeners off the screens to wide open passing lanes.

Skinner, time and time again, runs the two guard stack play at the foul line...which is easy to swtich on and defend. Not only that, when BC does get the pass in, it's usually right to the spot where the other team wants to set the double team. And the BC guards are small and have a tough time passing over the traps...which means you have to try to split the traps or beat the trap up the sideline via the dribble...or pass it quickly back to the inbounds passer before the trap is closed...which is hard to do when 6'6" kids are running at you.

The other infuriating thing about Skinner and games like this one---Joe Trapani, the team's leading scorer and rebounder, incurs his third foul early in the second half---mind you, it's only his THIRD foul, and finds himself frozen on the bench for 14 minutes of clock time, while his teammates were playing hard, but turning the ball over in the half court repeatedly (21 times), several times because of shot clock violations. Had Trapani been in the game and found his offense, chances are BC wouldn't have even had to sweat out the last 30 seconds of the game. Skinner returned Trapani to the floor with under 3 minutes left in the game and Trapani promptly scored off an offensive rebound to tie the game.

Skinner did this to Trapani earlier in the year in the close loss to St. Joe's. Trapani sat for most of the second half with 3 fouls...and BC lost at the end in a somewhat similar fashion. And in the first half of that game Trapani was the only bright spot on offense and was the reason why the team was still in the game.

It's no wonder why Skinner can't recruit top recruits. Who wants to come play for a lackluster, pig-headedly stubborn coach who freezes his good players on the bench and forces them to play in a tight flex offense instead of the spread "drive and dish" offense that kinds love? Plus, real players press when they are behind, because they want to do everything they can to win the game. Virginia Tech pressed and won the game off their press.

The final box score tells us that Joe Trapani played 20 minutes of the 40...with only 3 fouls. Kind of like reading that the team had 3 timeouts left at the end too.
1/24/2010 8:42 AM EST

[BCEagle74]

Like Logo, me and others have said for many years, ALSLEEP is a bad coach in crunch times and big games and since Dudley and SMith left, BC's problems of talent and coaching are now huge puss filled goo boils and combined with a lack of motivation which is Alsleep's flex wearing thin.

Sadly, does GDF have the balls to fire ALSLEEP????

[Dirtywater75]

Like Logo, me and others have said for many years, ALSLEEP is a bad coach in crunch times and big games and since Dudley and SMith left, BC's problems of talent and coaching are now huge puss filled goo boils and combined with a lack of motivation which is Alsleep's flex wearing thin.

Sadly, does GDF have the balls to fire ALSLEEP????

No - my guess is that he and Al are holding hands and profusely weep together after each loss. We are in deep shit. Thank you Scott Brown for helping stave a deep winter depression from this winter of BC sports.

[BCEagles25]

That's an awesome post. I'm glad people outside EO recognize Skinner's deficiency too.

[BCEagle74]

That's an awesome post. I'm glad people outside EO recognize Skinner's deficiency too.

Yes, i forgot to extend kudomans to Dirty Water...great find and post.

[Dirtywater75]

FYI:

Sept. 4, 2007

Boston College head men's basketball coach Al Skinner has received a contract extension that will keep him in his current position through the 2012-13 season, according to an announcement made by Boston College director of athletics Gene DeFilippo.

"Al Skinner has led our basketball program to a level of consistent excellence," DeFilippo said. "He has established himself as one of the top coaches in all of college basketball. Our program is in very good hands, and we are pleased to have him continue as our head coach."

[claver2010]

FYI:

Sept. 4, 2007

Boston College head men's basketball coach Al Skinner has received a contract extension that will keep him in his current position through the 2012-13 season, according to an announcement made by Boston College director of athletics Gene DeFilippo.

"Al Skinner has led our basketball program to a level of consistent excellence," DeFilippo said. "He has established himself as one of the top coaches in all of college basketball. Our program is in very good hands, and we are pleased to have him continue as our head coach."

[BCEagles25]

FYI:

Sept. 4, 2007

Boston College head men's basketball coach Al Skinner has received a contract extension that will keep him in his current position through the 2012-13 season, according to an announcement made by Boston College director of athletics Gene DeFilippo.

"Al Skinner has led our basketball program to a level of consistent excellence," DeFilippo said. "He has established himself as one of the top coaches in all of college basketball. Our program is in very good hands, and we are pleased to have him continue as our head coach."

Well, to be fair... As of September 4, 2007 it WAS a program of consistent excellence.

[GlorytoBC]

That's an awesome post. I'm glad people outside EO recognize Skinner's deficiency too.

To be honest, just about every other fan base in the conference consider Skinner to be the exact definition of the word "average."

[eepstein0]

That's an awesome post. I'm glad people outside EO recognize Skinner's deficiency too.

To be honest, just about every other fan base in the conference consider Skinner to be the exact definition of the word "average."

I live in ACC Country and all my friends are ACC fans, and "average" Al Skinner is uttered a lot when BC is mentioned.

[GlorytoBC]

my only saving grace locally is syd lowe and his well behaved son. as long as he's effing up the rcc program, we could do much worse than al

I disagree, Sendek left the cupboard bare and the players he did leave over were lazy bums who were locker room cancers. This is the first in which he has all of his players in and they aren't doing that bad right now. I would MUCH, MUCH rather be in their position than ours right now (Which includes a top flight recruiting class)

The general feeling on Tobacco Road right now is that if Sid doesn't start bringing in the results by next year that he'll be seating directly on the hot seat, but it should be said that their AD is the most incompetent in the conference and is deeply HATED by State fans everywhere.