You look for the signs, indications that what is happening on the court is starting to wear on the players off the court.
"It's the little things really," said Tim O'Shea, who has studied the mood of basketball locker rooms since he was a player at Boston College 24 years ago. "You stand in the back of the locker room and you notice things. Is music playing? Are the players laughing and joking with each other? Do they get to practice early? Do they hang around after practice? All of those things give you an indication of what's going on in the players' heads. What's their attitude? Do they still want to be there or do they want the season to end?"
O'Shea is in his seventh season as coach at Ohio University. Before that, he was an assistant on Al Skinner's staff at BC for four seasons, and before that he was on Skinner's staff at Rhode Island. O'Shea knows BC and he knows Skinner. He also knows the rough patch the Eagles are enduring will end.
But it doesn't look like it will end this afternoon when third-ranked North Carolina comes to Conte Forum to face a BC team that has lost nine of its last 10 games.
The Eagles, however, are still in the hunt for a postseason berth. With a 13-13 record, including 4-9 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, BC has at least four games remaining. A berth in the NCAA Tournament, which the Eagles have earned each of the last four seasons, is not going to happen unless BC wins its last three regular-season games and the ACC tourney in Charlotte, N.C., March 13-16. That would mean a winning streak of seven games for a team that has won only once since Jan. 15. The Eagles need at least two more wins to have any chance at a spot in the National Invitation Tournament.
That's more realistic, but not by much. After facing the Tar Heels, the Eagles play on the road against surging Miami and at home against Georgia Tech, before a first-round ACC tournament game.
North Carolina (26-2, 11-2), which beat BC, 91-69, in Chapel Hill Jan. 31, could see the return today of point guard Ty Lawson, who has missed the last six games with a sprained left ankle. With or without Lawson, the Tar Heels have National Player of Year candidate Tyler Hansbrough and a host of other players who figure to give the Eagles problems.
Georgia Tech (11-15, 4-8) is tumbling as rapidly as the Eagles, and BC did beat Miami at Conte Forum Jan. 19, but the Hurricanes have turned their season around with victories over Duke and Maryland.
At the start of the season, a realistic goal for BC was .500 basketball. Jared Dudley, the leader of a team that had won 74 games the last three seasons, was gone. So was guard Louis Hinnant and center Sean Williams, who was selected in the first round of the NBA draft by the New Jersey Nets.
BC's roster included nine freshmen and sophomores, as well as junior guard Tyrese Rice, whose role was still being defined.
Still, the Eagles won 10 of their first 12 games, including on the road at Maryland. Freshman starters Rakim Sanders and Biko Paris were doing better than expected. Other freshmen, such as Corey Raji and Josh Southern, were playing valuable minutes off the bench, and the Eagles seemed to be one of the surprise teams in the ACC.
Skinner, always trying to remain on an even keel, called the Eagles a work in progress. But progress no longer applies. The losses are piling up and the Eagles seem to look worse by the game.
Skinner is trying to fix the problems as quickly as he can. In a 66-63 loss at Florida State last week, Skinner watched in frustration and anger as his starters, other than Rice, disappeared. Skinner talked about pride and not wanting to become the doormats of the ACC, which is very much a possibility. With a 4-9 record, the Eagles are 10th in the 12-team ACC, ahead of only North Carolina State, which they beat Feb. 14, and Virginia, which they lost to Feb. 17.
Skinner, who in 11 seasons is the winningest basketball coach in BC history, knows the Eagles should be better next season, with a year of experience, the debut of Vermont transfer Joe Trapani, and a solid recruiting class. But he also knows his team is competing in the ACC, where at least two high-profile players are needed to make a serious run.
Last season's team produced Dudley, the ACC Player of the Year and a first-round choice of the Charlotte Bobcats, and Williams. This year's team has Rice, and no other impact players.
"We have to remain consistent," said Skinner. "We can make some adjustments, but we have to remain consistent with our philosophy, which is defense and rebounding. Against Virginia Tech [Tuesday], we let things get away from us in the second half. We have to demonstrate some resiliency. We have to be able to bounce back.
"As a team, we have to be unified. It can't be just one or two guys or three guys. It's got to be 12 guys. And we can't say that what is happening is someone else's problem. You have to reach out to your teammates. One of the toughest things to obtain is team chemistry. Once you've got it, it's great."
UNC at BC
What: ACC basketball
When: Today, 3:30 p.m.
Where: Conte Forum
TV/radio: Ch. 5, WEEI
