Column: Creating A Space For The In Between

Saturday's painful game at Georgia Tech goes down as another notch in the loss column, the 16th of the season for Boston College. But the optimist in me prefers to see it as much more than that.

If only there were a third column next to wins and losses, a space for a third kind of game to be recorded—the building-block games that end up paying major dividends somewhere down the road. You know, the BB column, if you will.

BC has had a handful of these games this year in losses, and so the win-loss column is not doing this team any justice. It could be easy to look at their 16 losses so far this season and write them off as a young, inexperienced team that has not been able to survive in the ACC. While the Eagles certainly are young and inexperienced, they are not struggling to survive in the ACC. With the exception of their game at UNC, all of their conference matchups have been decided by a play or two gone wrong. Maybe one fewer turnover, one more made free throw, or even one more rebound could have turned any of those losses into huge ACC wins.

One could make the argument that any game could be changed by a play or two. While this is true, BC's downfall in its losses has usually come in the final 10 minutes of each game. The Eagles play 30-35 minutes of great basketball and keep up with bigger, older, and tougher competition, but lose it in the final minutes. This theme can be incredibly frustrating for fans and players alike. But it's important that these losses mean something for the future, and I think they definitely do.

What Steve Donahue has been able to do with his young squad is very impressive, to say the least. Before the season began, many pundits were expecting this team to be winless in the ACC and get blown out in the majority of its games. While the Eagles' two ACC wins thus far speak for themselves, the losses have been important, too. It's evident that Donahue is laying down the foundation for a terrific basketball program, similar to the one he built at Cornell. These losses are the building blocks for potentially great success as soon as next year.

Few coaches buy into the "moral victories" idea, but I think that Donahue might have to in a season like this. While it is evident that great strides of progress have been made so far this season, it's tough for a young team to see that improvement if the wins aren't coming with it. After a while, you need to see substantial results to show you that your hard work is paying off. BC's two ACC wins against Clemson and Virginia Tech are a step in the right direction of seeing that progress. It can often be tough to see improvement in losses though, and this is where that imaginary third statistic, the BB column, could come in handy.

Now, Saturday's loss was by no means a heavyweight battle. It was actually one of the uglier games of the season for BC, but remember that ugly games were somewhat expected for this year. There was a stretch of nearly 10 minutes in which the Eagles didn't score. Ten minutes. And they still almost won. I know a loss is a loss, and Georgia Tech is another struggling team this year, but if BC can go 10 minutes without scoring and still only lose by four points, you have to like its chances going forward.

This team is getting so close to pulling off a big win. Early on, the Eagles showed flashes of their true potential before turning back into a team with nine freshmen. Now, BC has been sustaining longer periods of great play, with the poor play only coming in a few plays or the final minutes.

If you build it, they will come. I know, different sport and completely different context. But Steve Donahue is building a successful program. The wins will come.