Eagles Play the Game at Fast Forward
When the season started for Earl Grant he stressed unity, energy, and passion. From the opening game energy has been obvious and relentless. His way with others is direct and that way is relentless. Grant’s gritty approach brings a fighter mentality, a chip on the shoulder with the will to scratch and claw and prove they belong as players and as a team.
Now, two games into the ACC tournament the Eagles take a never done attitude that reflects Grant’s pre-season comment that he is not here to mess around. And he hasn’t. The loses have been hard but each time the team has put the idea of defense on fast forward. Always he is thinking of the team with unselfish zeal to get the ball into the hot hand, set plays, attack foul situations, and recognize mis-matches. Each week the Eagles have become more familiar with where to go with the ball and how to get it there.
2021-22 is the first time BC has made the ACC Tournament quarterfinals since 2017-18
At the root of it is that word, unity. Here it is on display with coaches that set an example. The low point this first season found the Eagles down, at home, to Albany by nine at the end of the first half. As they exited the court, Grant, as always was the last to walk off. A TV interviewer stood in his way with headset held out for an interview. Grant shoed him away and he hurried into the locker room. His interest was in his team not recounting a poor first half. For him every moment counts to work with his players and improve the second half. The Eagles lost that game but gained the understanding that the demand to play at a high level is a constant.
The Eagles season was said by many to be tough, tougher than tough, a basement dweller, an easy mark. In losses the scoring differential was cut in half versus the previous year, people began to notice a different energy around Conte forum. The attitude changed demonstrated by their fight against Duke and a dozen other games. But the work never ends. Grant made that clear in his first statements about rebuilding a storied program. He knows that consistent winners take attitude, approach, no excuses and to be, as he calls it “tough as nails.”
No team favors playing the Eagles in this tournament. Pittsburgh found out and now the Eagles vanquished another foe so highly ranked at the start of the year. Their ten-point run to tie the game in regulation against Wake Forest showed this to be more than a tournament game. It was a microcosm of the season. This opponent took to the court as if they just finished reading the pre-season publication predictions. The Demon Deacons didn’t learn from the regular season jousts and appeared content to turn their energy on and off. But laurel resting is dangerous and the Eagles took advantage. Plays and passes were more confident than earlier in the year, less freelancing, same dig-in attitude with certain fundamentals stronger like boxing out, following the shot, and a meshing of shared responsibility that made the sum greater than the parts. Picking out a player of this victory was easy. It was the team.
BC stunned Wake Forest on Wednesday
The Eagles know this is a first step, for a group bound together, not interested in hearing about overachieving, just winning and losing. They know well that this brand of basketball takes tremendous focus and to a man they recognize that great endurance makes it fun. These Eagles hard work has set a foundation for the future. Just like the first spade of earth moved for the new basketball practice facility, change is in motion and the Eagles know what it looks like to win.
